Dental Plan!

{Lisa needs braces}

This post will be about something you do twice a day (and if you don't, please do it for the sake of the people around you). This is about brushing your teeth. Essentially you are scrubbing your teeth with an abrasive.

Now, why do we need to do this? Well, we humans have a great appreciation for sweetness and the taste of sugar. The industrial revolution made production very cheap so it started to be added into everything. In fact sugar is presumed to be in everything we eat that some items without sugar have to be deliberately marked as 'sugar-free'. Sugar is a carbohydrate - you eat it and it gives you a lot of energy. When you eat or drink it it sticks to your teeth. Bacteria in your mouth feeds off this sugar and sticks to your teeth forming plaque. The byproduct of this bacteria feeding is acid and over time this breaks down your teeth causing cavities...

We brush our teeth to remove this plaque from our teeth - stopping it from doing any damage. Turns out that this act of brushing can actually do damage to the teeth. Toothpaste+toothbrush is an abrasive that scrubs plaque off teeth. If done directly after eating or drinking (especially acidic foods) it can actually cause loss of enamel which is the stuff teeth are made of. Consuming high acidic foods causes the enamel to soften and in cases like these it is better to leave the teeth as it is instead of brushing it.

Flossing is the best way to go as it removes bacteria without being harsh on the teeth. It is still recommended to brush your teeth twice a day, just do it away from meal times and use a soft brush.

By the way, funny thing happens when you drink orange juice right after you brush your teeth.

You're shitting it wrong

This post will be related to previous one which said that sitting is bad for you. Sitting makes your body form a position which, held for a long period, is unhealthy can may even bring early death. It turns out that in most of the western world you sit when you shit - and this can cause problems.

Most people in the western world are familiar with the sitting toilet - you sit on it like a chair (you're probably doing it right now). Now there is a problem with pooping in this position - namely that you are forming an angle between where the poop is and where its going to come out. And when sitting or standing there is a muscle that contracts to prevent accidents. According to some experts when poop tries to come out this way it can strain the bowel and cause veins to swell leading to hemorrhoids.

The best way to poop is by squatting and this is the method use in most of humanity's history and by people in the non-Western world (namely, those that don't have access to a sitting toilet).

Source: (slate.com) How bathroom posture affects your health.

sitting?

I hate slow internet... (and in other news, adsense payment came!)

anyway, before the last post I said stuff about the story of humans and how we came to be what were are now (sort of). Well now these next few posts will be talking about several things you, as humans in today's society, are doing wrong.

First off, sitting.

It turns out that there is something you need to do to remain healthy besides eating and excersizing - and that is to not sit for long, uninterrupted periods. It turns out that the human body was not designed to sit for so long which doesn't flow well in today's day and age between our homes and offices and our cars which takes us between our homes and offices.

Sitting greatly increases the rate of all-cause mortality, especially from causes including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity - and this does not go away even if you exercize.

Sitting cuts of circulation of blood in some parts of the body. Blood contains enzymes called lipase which breaks down fats.

Remember those postures guides you may have come across telling you the best way to sit while using a computer? Forget about those, sit how ever you want. Just don't do it for too long.

I've tried to deal with this, I stand up when using my computer. It's a laptop so I just prop it up with some boxes or thick books. For the more dedicated theres desks that can move up for when you're standing and move down for when you are sitting.

And after doing something like that for a while, you start to feel more energized and focused and alert. Back is less sore and you get a good posture. And seeing as standing takes more effort than just sitting down you will burn fat and lose weight.

And you know what? Sitting down after standing up for a while becomes soothing rather than painful due to a flat bottom.

Via: Medical Billing And Coding

Please note, your feet may start to hurt.

http://zenhabits.net/stand/

New York Times - Is Sitting a Lethal Activity?