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Most people don’t take their health seriously until they’re forced to visit a doctor. Mental and physical wellness are so important and require a lot of care and attention. Even the tiniest positive actions all add up toward fitness, but sometimes folks forget or get off track and may end up doing even unhealthier things.

This list is full of the most destructive things people have done to their bodies. Although most of us might have done milder versions of some of these things, it’s a stark reminder that health is wealth.

More info: Reddit

#1

Man drinking sugary soda at night, illustrating one of the unhealthy human things linked to poor diet habits. Saw a guy chase 6 energy drinks with a cigarette and call it breakfast while saying sleep is a scam. I’m convinced his organs have a group chat to plan their escape.

Leah_Serene , Dragana_Gordic Report

Jrog
Community Member
7 months ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A guy I knew did something like this (except saying sleep is a scam, but 3 redbulls per night and a pack of cigs per shift). He is an ER doctor.

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    #2

    Young man appearing unhealthy and reflective, sitting alone at a bar holding a glass, illustrating unhealthy human things. There was a player at the casino who used to come in in his mobility scooter, order redbull and vodka over and over, smoke unfiltered camels, and play three video poker machines at a time for 36-48 hours. he weighed 380 at least, hated the entire world, and ordered food only from the fried chicken place. one day i went to wake him up and he was dead. so i'd go with that.

    Meet_the_Meat , The Yuri Arcurs Collection Report

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    #3

    Glass bowl of creamy dressing with herbs, highlighting an example of unhealthy human things in food choices. I was behind a person in a drive-thru once. She was in an SUV and it sagged on the driver’s side. Half-expected the suspension to break.

    She ordered a “medium ranch dressing.”

    The person taking the order was understandably confused so the lady figured it would help to scream her order. Finally she said “a medium drink cup filled with ranch dressing.”

    She pulled over to the side after she got her food. I passed her on my way out, and she was taking a huge bite of her burger and drinking the ranch as a chaser. Like it was actually her beverage.

    I have not eaten ranch dressing to this day.

    literacyisamistake , fahrwasser Report

    Although we all probably know that smoking can cause cancer or that eating too much junk food can lead to obesity, most of us keep making the same unhealthy choices over and over. According to research, we tend to do this because it activates the parts of our brain responsible for pleasure.

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    The more we engage in harmful habits that we find fun, the more our brain gets wired to prefer those options. It then becomes harder to stop ourselves or choose a healthier path. Delicious flavors and tantalizing sensations make it difficult for us to quit the bad habits we’ve formed, although it can be done.

    #4

    Middle-aged man using oxygen mask at home, highlighting unhealthy human things related to respiratory issues and health. Turn off their oxygen tank so they could have a smoke. That's real dedication.

    ibike2500 , freepik Report

    #5

    Young woman eating noodles with chopsticks from a takeaway box, illustrating unhealthy human things related to diet. I once watched someone with a food a*******n shoving food into their mouth so fast they hadn't chewed what was already in there, and some fell out when they opened their mouth to take more bites. They started shoving the food in with their fingers and kind of compacting it so they could chew.

    They were also shaking the entire time they were doing it and snorting because they could barely breathe.

    It was horrific.

    will_write_for_tacos , Polina Tankilevitch Report

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    #6

    Pepperoni pizza in open boxes on a desk, representing unhealthy human things in an office setting. I have a friend who only eats pepperoni pizza for every meal and drinks Diet Pepsi. Man has not had water in 10 years.

    prekpunk , Pixabay Report

    Huddo's sister
    Community Member
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My uncle died from complications caused by cigarettes and only drinking pepsi. He basically wore holes in his throat and stomach lining from drinking about 6L pepsi a day. We visited him about 6 months before he died and he could barely talk.

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    One of the most insidious unhealthy habits that a lot of folks find difficult to quit is the addiction to junk food. Its short-term effect is that it will make you gain weight, but the long-term effect can be observed on people’s sleep cycles, internal health, teeth, and even their ability to concentrate.

    Folks often find this harmful behavior harder to quit because it so easily becomes a part of a person’s life. Instead of making healthier eating choices, it’s sometimes more convenient to get fast food or to go out to eat. All of this adds up and can put a huge strain on a person’s physical wellbeing.

    #7

    Starbucks coffee cup on a table inside a cafe, illustrating unhealthy human things related to excessive caffeine consumption. I worked at Starbucks in college. We had a morbidly obese woman come through the drivethrough every weekday morning.

    Her order-

    Venti 6 shot white chocolate mocha with 11 pumps of syrup, whole milk, coat the inside of the cup with caramel sauce, whipped cream.

    I believe we calculated it to about 1500 calories.

    EDIT: friend found a calorie calculator on Starbucks and this is actually closer to 600 calories. Not sure if the syrup formulas have changed, our original calculations were wrong, or maybe she was coming through a couple times a day and I only saw her in the morning. 1500 calories is still stuck in my head. Still not healthy. I seem to remember her getting patries, too, so maybe that was it. I dunno. I'm old, my memory ain't what it used to be.

    PickanickBasket , Josh Sorenson Report

    Ms.GB
    Community Member
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That's about half the amount of calories she should be having per day.

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    #8

    Young man in pajamas sitting on bed holding head and showing signs of pain related to unhealthy human things I had a patient once get an infection in a very small surgical wound that started out as 1cm wide.

    Well, he knew something was wrong but didn't get it checked out until he couldn't lay on his back anymore.

    He had a flesh eating bacteria called necrotizing fasciitis that ended up eating his skin from the middle of his thighs all the way up to his middle back.

    It was so bad that when he came into the hospital he was given about a 30% chance of surviving. I'll never forget that smell.

    diabetes_says_no , Andrea Piacquadio Report

    detective miller's hat
    Community Member
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    We had a client who caught that from a hospital. It basically ate his whole arm. He emailed us a bunch of close up photos of it. No warning whatsoever about what the email contained. Those images are burned into my brain forever.

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    #9

    Close-up of unhealthy human things pork rinds with a white scoop resting on crispy chips in a bowl. Setting a bag of pork rinds and a 2 liter bottle of Pepsi on the nightstand so her toddler kids wouldn't wake her up for food in the mornings.
    (And lectured me about working, rather than collecting welfare and staying home with my teenaged kids after their dad died.).

    NayaDragonfly , EyeEm Report

    supertall
    Community Member
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That qualifies as child abuse, in my book.

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    Even though it might be tough to quit an unhealthy habit, it’s not impossible. It just takes some time and consistent effort to make happen. The first step is to identify your cues and triggers. For example, some people crave chocolate or salty food when they are feeling stressed or sad. Identifying how the feelings connect to the action is the first step to getting control over it.

    Once you figure out what emotions are connected to your unhealthy habits, you can start replacing them. It’s hard to quit something cold turkey, but it's easier to slowly start doing other things instead of them. Replacing a few unhealthy foods with healthier and equally delicious options can help get you used to them over time.

    #10

    Three young people eating burgers outdoors, showing unhealthy human things in their casual meal choices. There is a place in vegas called the heart attack grill, where customers over 350 pounds eat free. They serve burgers up to 64 oz. If you don't finish you are paddled by a nurse, Then escorted to your car in a wheelchair by your own private nurse

    rowenaravenclaw0 , freepik Report

    Jrog
    Community Member
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "The restaurant's spokesman, 575-pound (261 kg) Blair River, died on March 1, 2011, aged 29" NO SH|T...

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    #11

    Close-up of a person inserting a contact lens, illustrating unhealthy human things related to eye care habits. Clean a contact lens in their mouth and then put it back in their eye.

    Kittenunleashed , kuprevich Report

    A girl
    Community Member
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ick. I had a friend that did that

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    #12

    A family in a kitchen with a toddler drinking from a bottle, highlighting unhealthy human things in everyday life. Pour Mountain Dew into a baby bottle and hand it to their toddler.

    ContrarianSwift , RDNE Stock project Report

    Mel in Georgia
    Community Member
    Premium
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I saw a young mother visiting my workplace put Coke in a bottle for her baby. My jaw about hit the floor. Wonder what their teeth look like now ...

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    If you’ve ever tried to break free from an unhealthy behavior, you probably know how difficult it is to make that happen. After a lot of trial and error, you might be able to make it happen, but many people find that it takes too long, and they give up. 

    Our brains and nervous system are connected, and they send pleasure chemicals associated with different actions. So, since our brains prefer the path of least resistance, we often keep falling back into bad patterns, no matter how destructive they might be. As long as we are aware of the harmful behaviors we have, we can always work toward changing them.

    #13

    Person opening a beer bottle inside a car, highlighting unhealthy human things related to drinking and driving risks. I once worked with a frequent flyer with alcoholism whose teenage son had to drive to the hospital for detox. She would always be bloody from her falls. I heard from a coworker that they found her deceased in a restaurant parking lot on their lunch break, bottle still in hand.

    EndlessMantra , energepic.com Report

    Fire Singer
    Community Member
    6 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So sad. :( Getting help for any a*******n is not easy or attainable by everyone.

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    #14

    Person climbing a rocky cave over water at sunset, illustrating unhealthy human things like risky physical activities. Personally, saw a 70 year old dude fall 43 metres down a cliff while climbing with two people who’d never climbed before.

    I had to climb over to him, calm the other two and sit there for 8 hours keeping him conscious and the others safe while rescue crews tried to get to us.

    Massive injuries including c*****d open skull.

    Remarkably he didn’t die.

    Climbing_Monkey1970 , photobac Report

    Blondie23
    Community Member
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    why would the word c*****d be censored???? what kind of a world are we living in?

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    #15

    Surgeons in protective gear examining a patient's leg during surgery, highlighting unhealthy human things in medical care. Someone with such unmanaged diabetes that they have had 6+ surgeries removing toe after toe, chunk of foot after chunk of foot. she has stubs for feet now, no toes. and she continues to eat sweets and fast food. she’s basically immobile now unless she has special shoes on and uses a walker, which she usually chooses not to use. she sleeps sitting up on her couch. her adult children provide all of the sweets and food for her because “she is her own person, if she wants it, she can have it.”

    eta: she had a quad bypass a year and a half ago, and multiple people brought her cookies and jams in the hospital.

    sammy5585 , Ana Master Report

    LakotaWolf (she/her)
    Community Member
    7 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is basically my entire family. I'm white af but I was adopted into a Hispanic family where "food is love". Most of my family members are morbidly obese. One of my cousins died aged 24 due to obesity/diabetes/kidney failure. His mom (also obese) later had to have both feet amputated (she died shortly thereafter.) My younger cousin (age 36) has non-alcoholic fatty liver disease due to her obesity/eating habits (she is conveniently "allergic" to nearly every food except desserts.) Her mom, who was an ER nurse for decades, is even more obese and once had a hernia-repair incision that did not heal for FOUR YEARS because the fat layers would not heal/knit back together. And HER mother had had an arm amputated due to diabetes-related gangrene caused by, you guessed it, obesity! I've lost so many family members to completely-preventable obesity-caused conditions/comorbidities. My mother is obese (though not morbidly) and she insists she is "completely healthy". Sigh.

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    Although we know that this list contains some of the most shocking and unhealthy things people have engaged in, we can probably figure out how they ended up at that point. Just because someone is engaging in self-destructive things doesn’t mean they’ll always be that way. There’s always hope for change, and hopefully, these people make it happen.

    Have you ever witnessed someone doing something extremely unhealthy to their body? If so, do share your experience in the comments.

    #16

    Young boy wearing a yellow shirt with stains, holding a soda bottle, illustrating unhealthy human things related to diet choices outdoors. As a toddler my grandmother babysat me every day while my parents worked, this was in the 90's. I wasn't given juice or milk, just regular pepsi, all day every day. So I of course started having panic attacks at age 4.

    Apprehensive-Age2135 , spa_rkl Report

    Kat
    Community Member
    6 months ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I remember growing up, my aunt always had a lot of sodas in her kitchen and my cousins were drinking it all day, instead of water. As a child, I was so jealous, bc my mother bought sodas only for like a family parties etc. ...I am so glad she made me drink normal water, as all of my cousins are on the brink of diabetes now...

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    #17

    Young woman drinking from a cup while sitting at a table with laptop and books, highlighting unhealthy human things. Wouldn't say it's the worst thing I've seen but..
    A girl around 22 i worked with for about 2 years said she has only drank coffee and caffeinated drinks for a good 10+years, never drank water because she didn't like it for some reason.
    Complained often about having headaches, stomach pain, joint pain, overweight, eye issues and various other issues.

    Kept on her for the duration of me working there and towards the last 6 months of being there, i noticed she had a half gallon water jug and asked her why the sudden change?

    Said she went to the doctor the other day and told me all of the things the doctor said to change .. namely quit caffeine and drink/eat healthier.
    By the time i left, she lost a good amount of weight and basically never complained about the issues said earlier.


    Another one i witnessed was from an ex girlfriend, she had been drinking well over a 12 pack of Mountain Dew with minimal water a day for around 10 years. Doctor told her she was forming a hole in her stomach from the excess soda drinking... Never stopped her though.

    NyquilDreamin , Mike Jones Report

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    #18

    Bowl of instant noodles being lifted with chopsticks, representing unhealthy human things and fast food habits. I once knew someone who lived on only energy drinks, instant noodles and cigarettes for months. Barley slept, constantly stressed and refused to go to the doctor even when they where clearly crashing. It was like a slow motion train wreck😔.

    TastyyCupcake , KamranAydinov Report

    Jrog
    Community Member
    7 months ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As I said in the other entry: this could easily be my MD friend (well, acquaintance) back in his ER days.

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    #19

    Several cockroaches scattered on a concrete floor representing unhealthy human things in an outdoor setting. I have a friend who just like consistently has bug infestations in her apartment, no matter where she lives.

    insonobcino , D.Andrianto Report

    #20

    Person holding a wooden plate with two sticks of butter, highlighting unhealthy human things related to diet. Deep fried stick of butter.
    America, you are something.

    DaPino , Felicity Tai Report

    The Dave
    Community Member
    6 months ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Judging 340 million people on one person’s gross act is pretty ridiculous.

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