6 Doctors Spill Their Worst Health Habits — And How They Repent
We’re only human — and that includes doctors. (Photo: Getty Images/Dazele)
All of us have our vices — and doctors are no different. Sure, they may know a lot more about health and medicine than the rest of us, but that doesn’t make them perfect. We asked six top doctors to dish on their lingering bad habit, and how they’re able to keep it in check. Find out their responses below:
(Photo: Getty Images/Anthony Saffery)
“I eat too quickly. My wife is always on my case about it, always telling me to slow down.”
- Frank Lipman, MD, integrative and functional medicine expert and author of The New Health Rules
(Photo: Stocksy/Boris Jovanovic)
“I’m an impatient guy. If you allow that impatience to get the better of you, you just get frustrated all the time. I try to find my way to be satisfied to go at a 10th of the speed I’d like to be going and getting only a 10th done.”
- David Katz, MD, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center and author of Disease-Proof: The Remarkable Truth About What Makes Us Well
Related: How Doctors Stay Young
(Photo: Getty Images/Altrendo)
“I don’t always get enough sleep, which is important to good health. I fight this problem by sticking to a rigorous schedule of going to sleep at a reasonable time every day.”
- Steven Nissen, MD, chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic
(Photo: Corbis/Dan Saelinger)
“I have a sweet tooth for ice cream. I could literally eat ice cream every single day. The way I keep that in check is I get these frozen bananas already cut up and they are really delicious. I also get chocolate-covered bananas or I freeze grapes. But I still have ice cream with my kids once in a while.”
- Michael Breus, PhD, sleep expert and author of The Sleep Doctor’s Diet Plan: Lose Weight Through Better Sleep
Related: 6 Favorite Healthy Meals Of Doctors
(Photo: Getty Images/Gina Sabatella)
“My bad habit is sugar. I used to eat a pint of Haagen-Dazs every day. When I became vegan, I gave it up and found non-dairy ice cream and some great vegan chocolate. You can still get the fix without the animal-based product, but it’s still sugar. I try to substitute it with natural sugars like fruit, or if I have sparkling water and put some fruit in it, it will sometimes take that craving away.”
- Hilda Hutcherson, MD, gynecologist and associate dean of the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and author of What Your Mother Never Told You About S-E-X
(Photo: Getty Images/Daniel Scneider)
“Who says I can keep it in check? Snacking after dinner and going to bed too soon after eating.”
- Neal Schultz, MD, New York City-based dermatologist and founder of DermTv.com and creator of BeautyRx by Dr. Schultz
Read This Next: What Doctors Do When They Get Sick
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