"I Almost Died Both Times I Tried It": 27 So-Called "Healthy" Habits That Actually Ended Up Single-Handedly Destroying People's Lives

As a certified Gullible Person whose occupation is to peruse the internet, I'm perpetually seeing viral wellness crazes that radical curse are life-changing — and for a moment, I judge them. But successful reality, a ton of wellness fads are much oregon little conscionable BS, and tin really harm much than help.

So precocious connected Reddit, radical got highly existent astir the alleged "healthy" habits that ended up being mode much harmful than helpful. And information beryllium told, I've been waiting for idiosyncratic to talk up astir galore of these (ahem, fig 19). Here's what radical said:

Note: Just a heads-up, these are opinions from net people, not aesculapian advice. Always cheque with a healthcare pro if you person questions.

Also, this station contains treatment of eating disorders.

1. "The full 'early bird' thing. I tried the 5 a.m. regular for similar 3 months, and conscionable felt similar garbage perpetually — it turns retired my assemblage really runs amended connected 7–8 hours of slumber starting astir midnight, alternatively than forcing myself into immoderate productivity guru schedule."

–Legal-Lychee2265

2. "It's embarrassing, but I ever brushed my teeth excessively hard. I didn't cognize you were expected to bash it softly to support your enamel. I had large teeth increasing up, and got braces. Later, successful my mid-twenties — combined with a batch of java depletion — my enamel got truly effed up, and I person delicate teeth now. I was truthful arrogant of my teeth and my flossing/brushing habits, but I was doing it wrong."

–civiltwilite

3. "I person a fittingness tracking ticker that I've been utilizing for the past respective years. I'm a idiosyncratic trainer, truthful I recognize the value of exercise, and I'll admit that it does support maine much accordant than if I wasn't wearing it. Without it, I'm inactive active. The past year, I've had the contented of not being capable to instrumentality it off... And if I do, it lone lasts a time oregon 2 earlier I consciousness this 'need' to enactment it backmost on. I consciousness similar I'm losing information and progress, and that I'm exercising for the ticker alternatively of for me."

–ChrisT182

4. And similarly: "Getting 10,000 steps a time turned from a wellness extremity into an obsession that made maine spell retired moving past 11 p.m. to get my last steps in. It's perfectly unhinged. I've been trying to footwear the eight-year-long obsession for portion now, but looking astatine my measurement number inactive triggers anxious and self-deprecating feelings."

–aardpeertje

5. "Going vegan. When I went vegan, I started losing tons of hair, and felt horrible. I was acold each the time, and had aggravated bony and associated pain. I inactive don't bask eating meat, but I've started devour immoderate meat, fish, and eggs, and consciousness overmuch better. My tummy was ne'er truly capable to tolerate dairy again aft 5 years of not eating it. I inactive navigator a batch of vegan meals and bask them, but a much balanced fare has made maine consciousness truthful overmuch better."

–housesoftheholy

"I astir died some times I tried. 

As a kid, my parents didn't cognize however to marque up for the missed nutrients you suffer erstwhile you're vegan, and arsenic an adult, it made maine ace fatigued and dropped my intelligence health. It turns retired that I person fructose intolerance, truthful the bully worldly I replaced nutrient with didn't hold with me."

–followthedarkrabbit

"I went vegan, and it was the worst happening I ever did. I mislaid each my musculus mass, 24/7 reasoning astir food, oregon conscionable chewing my mode done it. I mislaid friends, too."

–robredzulu

6. "Self-help books and videos. Or immoderate of them, astatine least. I figured that my intelligence wellness battles conscionable needed brushed attraction and attention, but I was neglecting the information that I conscionable needed to excavation heavy and bash the things that were holding maine back. The lone videos that really enactment are the ones that equilibrium telling maine to conscionable get the fuck up and go, but besides person caring explanations connected wherefore these things volition enactment — oregon astatine least, what worked for that idiosyncratic (Struthless is simply a bully illustration of this that I tin recommend). I conscionable recovered myself speechmaking the aforesaid self-help books aggregate times alternatively of conscionable getting disconnected my arse and doing the damn dishes."

–thecurtehs

7. "Losing value — it turned into an eating disorder, and I'll ne'er spot nutrient the aforesaid mode again. I did 30-day fare programme with my woman 1 time, and not lone did I make depression, but I besides developed an eating upset toward the end. I mislaid a ton of value and my bloodwork was awesome, but I was besides emotionless, and my dick stopped working. And I thought this acquisition was unsocial to me."

–Public-Platypus2995, xcrystalcastless

8. "Therapy. Don't get maine wrong, it works, but it's each astir getting the close therapist. The incorrect 1 tin fuck you up. I had 1 therapist that decided I was her friend, and started utilizing our therapy sessions arsenic a clip to drawback maine up with her life. I'm specified a radical pleaser that I kept it up for implicit a year. Another kept maine ruminating connected the aforesaid contented — if I got past it, she'd bring it up again, truthful I kept repeating the aforesaid trauma implicit and implicit again."

–not_a_barbarian

"When my doc recommended therapy to maine helium told maine not to consciousness atrocious if I didn’t click with the archetypal one. He said connected mean it takes astir 3 therapists earlier you find the close one."

–HermitToadSage

9. "Running, oddly enough. I developed plantar fasciitis, which past led to achilles tendonopathy, and present bottommost abdominous pad syndrome. For the past 12+ months, I've been incapable to enactment retired the mode I utilized to, adjacent earlier the running. So overmuch regret."

–PeakEnvironmental3

"There isn’t a azygous idiosyncratic I cognize who got into moving that doesn’t person immoderate benignant of recurring injury."

–tchock23

10. "Confronting my trauma. It turns retired that it's not ever the healthiest determination to effort truly hard to retrieve things you went through, particularly erstwhile you've forgotten arsenic a defence mechanism. I was doing ace good mentally — immoderate accent and anxiety, but thing similar my puerility years. About a twelvemonth ago, I work a memoir astir CPTSD (complex post-traumatic accent disorder). It brought up a batch of things I'd forgotten — emotions I hadn't felt successful a agelong time. I started digging more. I wanted to retrieve my trauma truthful badly. Within a week, I was regressing to panic attacks, crying, worsening anxiety, and carnal symptoms of the stress, similar gastro issues and headaches. It got truthful bad, it triggered an eczema flare for the archetypal clip successful my beingness (three antithetic types, to beryllium exact). I'm present undoing what I did to myself. Digging into your trauma without a circumstantial extremity for healing tin beryllium dangerous."

–BallCruncherSupreme

11. "Stretching, peculiarly over-stretching. Apparently my limbs aren't expected to beryllium feeling tingly — similar they're falling dormant — erstwhile I'm trying to scope for my toes. I was ne'er taught that I should lone agelong to my extremity scope of motion, oregon what my extremity scope of question is."

–VintageStrawberries

12. "Refusing to admit valid antagonistic emotions similar grief and anger. By doing that, you forestall yourself from processing them. Many radical deliberation the denial signifier of grief is denial the lawsuit adjacent happened. But that's conscionable 1 furniture of the onion. The denial you're adjacent grieving is the worst part, and immoderate radical don't past this part."

–CimdyBea, sirli00

13. "I stopped utilizing fabric swabs to cleanable my ears for six months, due to the fact that everyone says it's dangerous. But I ended up with wax blockage successful some ears truthful bad, I couldn't hear, and had to spell to urgent attraction to get them flushed out. There's a metallic lining, though: getting your ears flushed retired feels REALLY good."

–lunajmagroir

14. "Drinking water. I drank excessively overmuch and poisoned myself. It was a REALLY lousy fewer days. I went from drinking astir thing too soda to drinking tons of water, and erstwhile I made the change, I started shaking (my legs were truly unsteady), had a migraine, couldn't deliberation straight, was sluggish, and my pee was wholly and wholly wide (it's not expected to beryllium indistinguishable from the toilet water). I didn't cognize what the occupation was until I talked to my mom, a retired doctor, and she was like, 'Why are you poisoning yourself?' I was told to portion much h2o by my doctor, and drank 80 ounces a day, but that was seemingly capable to overdo it for me. I had to devour brackish and get electrolytes into my body, and erstwhile I did, I felt mode better."

–jaybird-jazzhands

15. "I went and got a colon cleanse done 1 time, and the woman moving determination was raving astir activated charcoal powder, saying it's a 'game-changer' and 'so bully for you.' I decided to springiness it a go, and beatified shit, what a mistake. I didn't recognize that it removes each poisons and different worldly from your body, truthful it instantly stopped my antidepressants from working. It's unsafe to discontinue my medicine acold turkey, truthful I became SO unwell for a fewer days. I privation she had fixed maine much of a heads-up astir this."

–HisMagicTrick

16. "Eating a high-protein diet. It started disconnected large — I was losing value and doing well. And then, TMI, I got earnestly constipated, to the constituent wherever I was legit scared. I had to instrumentality truthful galore supplements and pills to get myself to go. This was TWO YEARS AGO, and I STILL person on-and-off constipation from it. (And earlier you ask, yes, I absorption connected fibre, but excessively overmuch fibre besides makes this worse for me)."

–creepshow926

17. "I tried taking biotin supplements for hairsbreadth loss. It didn't truly assistance much, but I noticed that whenever I changed the amount, I'd get truly atrocious acne breakouts. I did immoderate much probe and learned that it tin messiness with your protective obstruction that helps support ungraded retired of your pores, oregon thing to that effect. At the aforesaid time, I besides learned that hairsbreadth nonaccomplishment is attributed to biotin deficiency successful a tiny percent of those losing their hairsbreadth — and that percent was astir exclusively large women. As an early-30s man, it astir decidedly did not use to me."

–liverdawg

18. "Intermittent fasting, oregon skipping breakfast. I had a fewer scary incidents that turned retired to beryllium reactive hypoglycemia! I had 4 episodes successful full — the signifier for maine was that it would hap aft having a peculiarly ample and carby repast for precocious luncheon aft fasting since dinner. Ever since the past one, which landed maine successful the ER, I've started eating a bully meal each day. I americium besides mindful astir eating a balanced repast if it's been a portion since my erstwhile meal. I consciousness loads amended since making this change!"

–BoxOfManyFoods

19. "Not eating capable salt. I assumed that I was getting capable done what I ate — I lone enactment it connected fries, which I seldom ever eat. It turns retired that I request to person a ton of brackish and h2o each day. I was withering distant for years. Everyone's needs are different, truthful it's important to spell to a doc and get checked."

–Beaglester

20. "Every clip I way my calories, I consciousness similar I'm successful a prison. I erstwhile spent 2 weeks religiously tracking my calories, to the constituent wherever I denied wanting to devour astatine my favourite edifice due to the fact that they didn't person a calorie number connected their paper — and it was conscionable a spread successful the wall, truthful I knew tracking apps wouldn't cognize either. It was truthful dumb. I virtually didn't privation to devour determination due to the fact that I wasn't ace duper definite astir however galore calories I would extremity up eating. I mislaid 2 pounds successful those 2 weeks, but I was miserable and paranoid the full time."

–Live-Orchid1552

21. "Trying to summation power of my ain thoughts. As idiosyncratic with intrusive thoughts, it is truthful damaging trying to combat it oregon power it — it'll ever nonstop maine into immoderate benignant of attack. The champion mode is to fto it happen, not justice it, and fto it instrumentality its clip until it decides to go. And spot me, it will. Just beryllium diligent and loving toward yourself."

–Bunnibunhops

22. "Last twelvemonth I was connected a wellness kick, and I started taking tons of supplements. I ended up giving myself a kidney chromatic connected my birthday...and I besides had the flu astatine the aforesaid time. I person since stopped taking supplements and upped my h2o intake. So basically, beryllium discerning astir what you're taking."

–GoldenCanadian

23. "Hyper-fixating connected my hygiene. I utilized to scrub myself with soap and a brushwood astatine slightest erstwhile per time to enactment clean, but it turns retired that it's a unspeakable habit, and caused a batch of tegument issues."

–TastyTarget3i

24. "For me, it was drinking zero-cal sodas. Before I started drinking them, I wouldn't scope for soda owed to the sweetener content. Now that I tin bask 'guilt free,' I portion mode more, and I cognize my teeth volition endure for it."

–kvabr

25. "Trying to optimize each 2nd of my day. It started arsenic being productive each the time, and ended with maine feeling blameworthy immoderate clip I relaxed."

–Lopsided_Sound1486

26. "Having a strict 'sleep routine.' Eff that. Just perceive to your body; it volition archer you its needs. And those alteration daily."

–Xador85

27. And finally, arsenic a wide rule: "Tracking everything: h2o intake, slumber score, bosom complaint variability, steps, calories. It started arsenic self-improvement, and dilatory turned into this low-grade anxiousness wherever I couldn't bask a remainder time without my ticker telling maine I was being unproductive. I ended up much stressed astir my wellness metrics than I ever was conscionable surviving without them."

–aeSun9

What's a communal "healthy" wont oregon inclination that you tried, lone to observe that it was really BS? Tell america your communicative successful this anonymous form, oregon successful the comments below!

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Note: Some responses person been edited for magnitude and/or clarity.