Is there always someone reminding you in your life that you should sleep for 8 hours a day, drink 8 glasses of water a day, walk 10,000 steps a day, brush your teeth for 2 minutes with an electric toothbrush… However, these numbers are really scientific and standard ?
Brush your teeth for at least 2 minutes
As the saying goes, “Toothache is not a disease, but it can kill you”. In fact, keeping your mouth clean is not just to avoid the dentist’s drill and expensive oral treatment costs, but also because research has pointed out that periodontal disease-causing bacteria may be associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and dental Weekly disease patients also have a 2- to 3-fold increased risk of stroke and heart disease. It seems that brushing your teeth matters a lot.
Keep brushing for 2 minutes
Brush your teeth with an electric toothbrush, and the time limit is mostly 2 minutes. Once the 2 minutes are up, the toothbrush will stop rotating. But the “rule” that brushing your teeth should be twice a day for 2 minutes each time is actually unclear. Some scholars believe that brushing once a day can achieve good oral health, but because brushing is not so comfortable, most people do not brush thoroughly, so brushing twice a day is better. Dutch dentists found that if people brush their teeth for 2 minutes, they can remove about 41% of the plaque at most, while those who brush their teeth for only 1 minute only remove at most 27%. People are only a minority. In 2010, a report by the British Dental Health Foundation showed that the average British brushing time is only 45 seconds a day, which is not even half of the officially recommended standard brushing time. Such brushing time is really enough to remove harmful microorganisms such as plaque. ? Also, for those with a sweet tooth, or those with cavities, is 2 minutes of brushing really enough? It can be seen that how long it takes to brush your teeth each time also varies from person to person.
Walk 10,000 steps a day, health is guaranteed
In the 1960s, a small device resembling a plastic pocket watch, the “10,000 Pedometer”
was marketed in Japan, the world’s first commercial pedometer. Some scientists see 10,000 steps as a commercial gimmick rather than a scientific health goal. Is that so?
To prove this number, scientists studied the daily activities of the Hadza people in Tanzania who lived on hunting and gathering for more than 2,000 days and found that the Hadza men walked an average of nearly 20,000 steps a day, and women walked about 10,000 steps a day. Compared with people in Western countries who do not like to walk, the Hadza are at a much lower risk of developing certain chronic diseases. It seems that, within a certain range, walking more is indeed beneficial.
In a 2019 study, women who walked an average of 4,400 steps a day had a lower mortality rate than women who walked an average of less than 3,000 steps a day, and the mortality rate decreased as the number of steps increased and was not observed until around 7,500 steps. additional benefits. As a result, the researchers believe that the more steps you walk a day, the better, but not necessarily 10,000 steps. In principle, how many steps should be taken cannot be generalized. The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends that adults walk 6,000 steps a day. Individuals can vary according to their age, physique, health, and exercise conditions.
Decide the number of steps per day according to your personal situation
Daily water intake varies from person to person
Drink 8 glasses of water a day
Whether you’re walking 10,000 steps or 4,400 steps, hydration is essential. Water is extremely important to the human body: it transports nutrients, helps expel metabolic waste, helps cells maintain their shape, lubricates joints, and regulates body temperature. According to a 2018 study by Georgian scientists, 2 hours of vigorous activity in the sun without water is enough to impair our cognitive function, but do we really need to drink 8 glasses of water a day?
The data of 8 glasses of water can be traced back to the dietary guidelines issued by the US authorities in 1945, which recommended supplementing 1 ml of liquid for every 1 calorie (about 4.186 joules) consumed, which means that if a person consumes 2000 per day. kcal, then he should add 2 liters of water accordingly. But over time, this standard was expressed as drinking 8 glasses of water (250ml each) a day. However, this recommendation is misunderstood by many to include only drinking water. In fact, the 8 glasses of water recommended in this guide include all liquids in vegetables, fruits, and beverages. The water in the food we eat every day accounts for 30% to 35% of the total water intake. It can be seen that if you take in more calories, you should drink more water. If you eat fruit, you can drink a few glasses of water less. After exercising, you should drink more water, instead of 8 glasses of water for everyone.
Get enough sleep for 8 hours
When it comes to 8 glasses of water, we have to say another “8” in our daily life. “Eight hours” is often considered the optimal length of sleep. Sleep is not just about meeting our daily physical needs, it’s about our life and death. Experiments confirmed that sleep-deprived rats died within a month, while sleep deprivation in humans showed a certain degree of cognitive impairment, emotional impact, reduced alertness, and unresponsiveness. US scientists believe that sleep activates waste-disposal networks in the brain to remove harmful metabolic debris, including amyloid, which may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
However, to be healthy, you don’t necessarily have to get 8 hours of sleep. A 1964 American Cancer Society study of more than 1 million adults showed that men who slept seven hours had a lower mortality rate than men who slept less than seven hours, while men who slept five hours had a very high risk of death. risk of premature death. On the other hand, there is preliminary evidence that sleeping too much can also be harmful, with prolonged sleep being associated with cardiovascular disease, diabetes, stroke, coronary heart disease and obesity. Therefore, the “Healthy China Action (2019-2030)” recommends that adults should maintain 7-8 hours of sleep.
400 grams of vegetables and fruits
The World Health Organization recommends that each person consumes at least 400 grams of vegetables and fruits per day. A study found that compared with those who ate 40 grams of vegetables or fruits a day, those who ate 400 grams of vegetables and fruits a day had a 14% lower risk of coronary heart disease, while those who ate 800 grams of vegetables and fruits a day had a lower risk of coronary heart disease. Risk dropped by 24%.
The study also found that certain types of vegetables and fruits, such as citrus fruits, apples, pears, and cruciferous vegetables such as kale, may be more beneficial. The researchers suggest that the public may be wiser to focus on the quality of vegetables and fruits they eat, rather than the quantity.
Why do vegetables and fruits give us these benefits? Take cucumber as an example, 96.5 grams of a 100-gram cucumber is water. So, aren’t eating cucumbers and drinking water the same thing? It’s really different, because in addition to water, there is 0.5 grams of dietary fiber in every 100 grams of cucumber. This part of dietary fiber that cannot be digested by us can help us defecate and maintain a healthy intestinal flora. Dietary fiber is one of the essential nutrients recognized by the World Health Organization. Intake of vegetables and fruits rich in dietary fiber is a good habit to maintain good health. In addition to dietary fiber, vegetables and fruits also contain a variety of antioxidants such as polyphenols and anthocyanins, which can effectively inhibit the activity of free radicals that damage the human body. In this way, the importance of vegetables and fruits cannot really be ignored.
