She gives her TikTok followers the 4-1-1 on four bad habits to avoid.
Dr. Jess Andrade, a sports medicine specialist and pediatrician in Massachusetts, shares the four activities she won’t do: vaping, pulling an all-nighter, exercising less than 150 minutes a week, and consuming too many ingredients artificial and preservatives. .
Vaping
To prove his point, Andrade showed a photo of a popcorn lung — the nickname for bronchiolitis obliterans, a lung disease that makes breathing difficult due to damage to the small airways.
Johns Hopkins Medicine reports that the culprit is diacetyl, a chemical widely used to give popcorn its buttery flavor. It is now added to the liquid of some flavored e-cigarettes to evoke a buttery or creamy taste.
It appears some teens are already following Andrade’s advice to quit vaping.
September data shows that 1.63 million U.S. middle and high school students (5.9%) reported using an e-cigarette in the past 30 days, up from 2.13 million (7.7%) in 2023.
This is good news because in addition to bronchiolitis obliterans, vaping can cause lung cancer, organ damage, heart disease, asthma, respiratory problems and other conditions.
Do not sleep for 24 hours
“Having sleepless nights or not sleeping for 24 hours – the same as being legally drunk,” Andrade wrote in his June article.
Driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.08% or more is considered drunk driving.
Being awake for 17 hours mimics a blood alcohol level of 0.05%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says that being awake for 24 hours is the same as having a blood alcohol level of 0.10%.
Experts recommend sleeping seven to nine hours a night. A study published this week reveals that the effects of a restless night can linger on our brains for days.
Over the long term, poor sleep has been linked to a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, anxiety and other chronic health problems.
Not getting enough exercise
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle strengthening per week.
Andrade said failing to meet this threshold increases the risk of several diseases, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, colon, breast and uterine cancers, as well as obesity, high blood pressure and strokes.
Consuming too many artificial ingredients
Artificial ingredients and preservatives are often found in processed foods – the bad apples of a diet.
Eating too many ultra-processed foods can lead to obesity, diabetes, depression, heart disease, heart attacks, strokes and high blood pressure.
