Trying to maintain healthy habits can be tough as an adult, for myriad reasons. But it may be more difficult to hear when a habit you thought was healthy is actually having a negative impact on your life.
So when Reddit user u/FartyMcShart asked, "What is something super detrimental to your health that most people don’t realize?" thousands of people provided their thoughts. Here's some of what they had to say:
This article is not meant to replace seeing medical professionals. Health issues are specific to each individual.
But while none of the individuals below are medical professionals, we provided expert-backed links to provide more context to all of these claims. It's important to consult with a doctor for personalized medical care.
1. "Shift work. Working nights, followed by late shifts, followed by early shifts. Physiologically so destructive. I work for the emergency services, so it's essentially 24/7. The management is pretty good, but we've been shafted on pay at a national level. It's still attritional on the body."
2. "Gatorade and other sports drinks are really bad for your teeth."
"My dad was a machinist for 50 years. One company he was at had contracts to make bottle fillers for Coke and Pepsi. The filler they had to replace the most was for Gatorade because it would rapidly corrode even the most stainless steels they worked with."
View this 2009 research manuscript and this 2016 published study.
3. "Not doing things that you loved as a kid before you were concerned with adult responsibilities. Stress is bad for your brain, and a lot of people don't have healthy ways to relieve it."
4. "Not keeping on top of dental hygiene. Not only does it affect your teeth and gums, but gingivitis can affect your joints and cause pain. Plus, bacteria in your mouth can go into your bloodstream and affect your heart. There was a period of time when I didn’t go to the dentist for three years (moved to a new state for college, was extremely busy with schoolwork, and never had a chance to find a new place), flossed maybe a few times here and there, wasn’t always brushing twice a day, and I was right on the cusp of having periodontal disease, with irreversible consequences. At that time, I also had increasing joint pain in my hands, wrists, knees, and hips. Don’t skip the dentist."
View a 2000 research study here.
5. "Missing sleep."
6. "For the love of god, drink some plain water and eat some vegetables! Signed, your X-ray tech and physicians. LOL."
"I take constipation or chronic constipation X-rays multiple times a day — abdominal pain, gas bloating? Ninety percent of the time, you just need to poop! I could retire a rich lady if I could charge per exam."
View a 2021 study here (however, there is still a shortage of high-quality studies available) and a 2003 study here.
7. "If you do a lot of sitting (like with a desk job or a lot of commuting or trucking) and keep your wallet in your back pocket, you're going to fuck up your spine."
8. "Constant stimulus from our phones. It makes us easily bored and increases feelings of loneliness. It makes doing things without also watching anything on our phones or being with someone a lot more mentally taxing."
View a 2023 study here and a 2022 study here.
9. "Not stretching your body every day — hell, at least a few times a week."
10. "Comparing yourself to other people. It's terrible for your mental health."
"This is part of why social media is so damaging, especially to kids. We all have a phase in our childhood where it seems like our life sucks and something is wrong with us. But now with social media, you're surrounded by people trying to portray their lives in the best possible way — it amplifies the effect of this phase by making kids think everyone else's life is so fun and glamorous, and theirs must be really terrible because it's nothing like what people are showing on social media. It has a real, significant effect on their perception of what's normal and on the quality of their own lives."
View an expert-backed article here and a 2022 study here.
11. "Shitty people, especially if they are family."
"This is so true, and for those who are in the 'Just love your family, no matter what they do' crowd, they certainly have no idea what it is like having a toxic family that is constantly putting you down or causing constant drama. They just cannot relate in the slightest amount to what the toxicity is like, along with the pain of knowing that those people who are supposed to help you out the most (family) are actually the people who are first to put you down and stab you in the back."
View an expert-backed article here.
12. "Losing a pet, 100%. It's definitely not taken as seriously as other familial losses, and it should be. It can take a serious toll on your mental health AND physical health."
13. "Poverty. Now, of course, we all know poverty isn't good for anyone, but even now, I don't think we as a society realize just how bad it is. It backs you into so many corners concerning your health: worse food, less time for exercise, more stress in life, and less money to address physical issues, and it keeps you stuck in toxic environments (both mentally and physically). It's just a lot of negative compounding interest."
"Oh, man, I was just talking to my good pal about this. We both suffer from bad mental and physical health, and we just cannot improve because poverty is destroying all our resilience. With money, I would still never be healthy, but I could eat better, turn the heating on, and not have such chronic stress."
View a 2006 expert-backed review here.
14. "Negativity."
Do you believe there is something super detrimental to your health that most people don’t realize is happening? Let us know what it is and why in the comments below.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.