Strange But True Health Tips
- Health Tip 1: Want to nap better? Just drink coffee!
According to the Japanese, they conducted a survey where people took coffee naps, i.e. by consuming COFFEE and then taking a 20-minute power nap or rest. These people felt more alert and did well on their tests. But isn’t drinking coffee supposed to keep you wide awake? When one consumes coffee, the caffeine kicks in and clears the adenosine, a molecule in the brain that triggers alertness. So, when Adenosine levels increase, they make one more tired. Therefore, napping at this time helps to flush out the adenosine, and drinking coffee, reduces the effect of the molecule further. This results in better naps!
- Health Tip 2: Want beautiful pearly whites? Don’t brush your teeth right after you eat!
Au contraire to what people say, don’t brush your teeth right after you eat or drink. This holds true for when you have just had foods that are acidic – citrus fruits, health drinks, soda, tomatoes, etc. It softens the teeth’ enamel and brushing can chip it off. It may also erode the layer beneath it. It is best to wait for at least half an hour before brushing.
- Health Tip 3: Want to be a size smaller? Put on weight!
Befuddled? Well, putting on weight to get into a smaller size means merely putting on muscle weight. This is apparently possible because a pound of fat and a pound of muscle weighs the same, but muscle takes up less space. So, if you have bigger muscles, even though your weight may be the same, your clothes size may be smaller.
- Health Tip 4: To eat less, eat more
Are you someone who believes that eating a small packet of chips or pretzels or a tiny slice of cake will not affect their diet or harm their weight? But these sweet and salty snacks only make you hungrier and you end up eating more as the small amounts of carbs spike your blood sugars and leave you hungry. Therefore, it is essential to have a protein-rich snack or meal such as paneer chat or lentil soup. These may be higher in calories, but the quality of consumption becomes less as the protein and fat help you satiate hunger faster and feel fuller.
- Health Tip 5: Tired? Stay away from energy drinks
There are umpteen reasons why we reach out to grab an energy drink. What we don’t realize is that an energy drink has at least five times more caffeine than coffee. The energy boosts they give us are fleeting and pass soon. But these are not without side effects namely irritability, palpitations, increased heartbeats, and nervousness. These drinks also contain very high levels of taurine – a stimulant for the central nervous system and 50 gms of sugar per can/bottle. The sweet juice or aerated drink will spike your blood sugar levels, and give you an energy rush but crash soon, leaving you tired and dizzy.
