When it comes to harmful substances in our home, we often think of household chemicals and pesticides. However, it may come as a surprise that some of the everyday items we use, like bath sponges and tap water, can harm us. In this article, we’ll tell you all about the things we do and use in our life that are threatening to our health.
1. Brushing your teeth after a meal
According to some dentists, brushing your teeth right after you’ve had an acidic meal can damage their enamel. They suggest waiting at least 30 minutes or drinking a glass of water before brushing them. Although studies are not clear on the results, there are other specialists who claim that the benefits of brushing your teeth after a delicious meal outweigh the negatives. In the end, it comes down to what you feel is best for you.
2. Rice can make you sick
This news might surprise you because rice seems harmless, but you should be weary when eating it. Rice might contain dangerous bacteria, like B. cereus, which is typically found in the soil. These bacteria should not be a problem with freshly cooked rice since it doesn’t grow under high temperatures, but be careful because it grows in cooler temperatures.
3. Tap water might be damaging your skin
There are 2 main things about your tap water that might be damaging your skin. First, you should check the pH level of your water, normally your face should be around 4.7, and the pH of your water shouldn’t be above 5.
The second thing that might be damaging your skin is all the hard minerals your tap water might contain. High concentrations of minerals like calcium, magnesium, and iron might cause breakouts, and dryness.
4. Ripe potatoes
Potatoes are a great source of potassium and other essential nutrients. But when it comes to eating them after leaving them for many days on the counter, you need to be very careful. Potatoes contain natural toxins, like solanine, that can develop faster when it is exposed to light.
An increase in these toxins can make the potato’s skin and insides turn green. If you ever eat a green potato, you might feel abdominal pain, vomiting, and fever, and in some rare cases, this might lead to paralysis.
5. Wearing tight clothes
According to a dietician, wearing tight clothes can make any gastrointestinal disorder you have worse. “Tight-fitting clothes have the capacity, when ‘too tight,’ to put additional stress on the stomach and intestines.” Other conditions that can develop due to tight clothes are yeast infections and nerve entrapment.
You can easily check to see if your clothing is too tight: if it leaves marks on your body or if you feel discomfort. If you occasionally like to wear fitted clothes you shouldn’t worry, it’s the prolonged use that can lead to health problems.
6. Microwaved popcorn
We are sorry to be the ones ruining your movie night, but a few years ago, microwaved popcorn used to contain a chemical called Diacetyl, which, when inhaled in large amounts, could cause damage to your lungs. Although typically, it was popcorn factory workers who used to get sick because of that component. There was a rare case when a man who used to make popcorn daily developed lung disease.
Some years ago, big manufacturers decided to eliminate this chemical from their products. But if you still don’t feel like buying it, you can learn how to make it yourself.
7. Pre-cut fruits from the supermarket
When it comes to buying pre-cut fruit, we need to be careful because we can never be sure if the right sanitary steps were taken when the store sliced it. There can be a risk of contracting E. coli, salmonella, and other bacterial pathogens, although this is rare.
There was a study done in Canada where a scientist found that it was relatively safe to consume pre-cut fruit and vegetables. But there were some instances when they found enough bacteria to make consumers ill.
8. Tupperware with mold
It has happened to the best of us that we leave a delicious dish in the refrigerator and forget about it altogether. Then a couple of days later, it has mold on it. There are different kinds of mold. Some of them can cause allergic reactions, respiratory problems, or in some cases, if they produce poisonous substances, you can get sick.
If you encounter Tupperware with mold in your kitchen, be careful when throwing the contents away so that you don’t accidentally inhale its spores. This can cause severe respiratory illness. When washing your dishes, you also need to disinfect the affected container.
9. Your bar of soap
This fact might come as a surprise since, after all, soap cleans things. But it can also get dirty. When you drop your bar of soap onto a dirty floor, the floor doesn’t get clean, but the soap can pick up microorganisms, like viruses and bacteria. What you have to do, as weird as it sounds, is to rinse and wash your bar of soap so that those microorganisms die or get washed off.
