4 Daily Habits That May Not Actually Be Healthy

Do you really need to make your bed every day? What about brushing your teeth right after a meal?

We all want to find ways to improve our health but are some of the things we think are improving our health a waste of time?

Here’s 4 daily things that my colleagues and I at WebMD would like you to reconsider as you work on maximizing your health:

1. Brushing your teeth right after a meal. I’m all about good oral hygiene. After all, we know that the health or our mouth influences our heart as well as your gut. The problem here is that if you brush too soon after a meal, especially if it is acidic, is that the food or drink can soften your enamel. If you brush too soon, you could be scraping off your enamel. Instead, wait an hour or two after a meal to brush. That includes flossing too!

2. Monthly cleanses. It sounds like a good idea to “clean out” your gut but it just doesn’t work that way. You don’t need to do anything to clean your gut. That’s because your body naturally detoxifies itself, especially with help from your liver and kidney. Drinking some of these cleanses can put you at risk of losing important electrolytes. Sometimes patients tell me they feel it’s a good way to “reset.” Instead, I would suggest intermittent fasting for a day or two.

3. Popping Multivitamins. There are no magic pills when it comes to your health. Study after study has shown little value for multivitamins in terms of improving quality or quantity of…