Recently, Redditor u/bishinishii asked medical professionals in the Reddit community to share the health-related things everyone should be doing but doesn’t, and some of these responses might be a wake-up call. Here’s the advice those in the medical field are begging everyone to consider taking:

1. "Increase your fiber intake, especially the gooey kind from oatmeal, chia, okra, etc. It helps lower cholesterol in multiple ways, plus you’ll shit more easily."

—Five-Oh-Vicryl

2. "Have an advanced directive and encourage your older relatives to have one, too. Way fewer people would want to be a full code if you saw us doing CPR on your 90-year-old grandma."

—nerd_fighter_

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3. "Schedule preventative health exams and screening procedures as soon as you’re eligible (mammogram, colonoscopy, etc.) And always stretch."

—Hot-Artichoke6317

4. "Brush your teeth!"

—Celebrindae

5. "Wash. Your. Hands. Hand sanitizer doesn’t count in most cases. Norovirus is going to hit hard, and alcohol-based disinfectant doesn’t kill it. Use soap and water for at least 20 seconds."

—qwertyuiko

6. "I’m in billing, but a lot of people don’t realize that you can apply for financial aid for medical bills, especially from major hospitals. They make the majority of their money from insurance companies, so most hospitals have funding set aside for ‘charity’ — they just don’t really tell you. I had a free hysterectomy at Vanderbilt. After you get a bill, you can call the billing department and ask how to apply for financial aid. I had to send some tax returns to prove I’m broke, but it’s super easy if you qualify. If you have a hospital bill lying around, call the hospital when you can."

—sparkleytophat

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7. "Breathe. Take a few deep, purposeful breaths here and there. Pause for a second. Take belly breaths (to engage the diaphragm). As long as you breathe, you are alive. Alive is good."

—gypsyem

8. "Flossing."

—fetusphotographer

"Waiting for this one. Dental health is crucial to overall good health."

—Anderkimsen

9. "DO NOT SMOKE. Don’t smoke anything. Just don’t do it. Your lungs, heart, blood vessels, and everything else in your body will be so much better off."

—casapantalones

10. "People should be involved in some kind of exercise program that they can tolerate and will participate in. Make it fun, like walking while listening to your favorite podcast. You don’t need to break records, just move your body. I tell people all the time that if exercise were a pill, everyone would be on it."

—thomport

Related: 22 "Mild" Health Symptoms That People Often Ignore Until It’s Just Way Too Late

11. "Supplementing magnesium. I’m an emergency medicine pharmacist, and most people have a magnesium deficiency, even if labs are normal, because that lab represents the magnesium in circulation, not cells (which is where magnesium is needed the most). I take magnesium glycinate (the highest absorption) and threonate. If you have a kidney impairment, be cautious with this. Hypermagnesemia is rare, but err on the side of caution."

—tikosyn_daydream

12. "As someone who works an ambulance, know your damn medical conditions and medications. The number of times I pick people up who have a Ziploc full of mixed pills or conditions they can’t remember is astounding. A very real conversation I had this month started with me asking, ‘You have any medical conditions?’ They said, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘Take any medications?’ They replied, ‘Yeah, insulin.’ GET IT THE FUCK TOGETHER!"

—ButtSexington3rd

13. "Clean any wound you get! Even if it’s just a paper cut, just please go wash it out."

—Advanced-Mode9966

14. "From your 20s and onward, actually start going to the doctor. Even if it costs you something, like, $500 a year for the one visit, catching stuff early is priceless. Second, start planning for retirement in a serious way. A moderate rainy day fund for old age means you’ll be able to home and get decent care. It doesn’t take a fortune, but people need to know they will need more money when they are 60 vs. 30."

—Dr_Esquire

15. "Every single person should know a fair amount of nutrition. Almost everything people are taught about it is wrong."

—Firm_Ratio_621

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16. "People should fight off a cold themselves. You do not get a sinus infection at the same time every year; you do not need antibiotics, as they will not help a virus. Stop demanding antibiotics because ‘you know your body.’ You do know your body, but you likely don’t understand how bacteria vs. viruses work, how medicine works, etc. You do not need an antibiotic! The obsession with antibiotics in American medicine is wild. Patients think you are gatekeeping a hidden gem of medicine."

—ImportantDetective34

17. Lastly: "Everyone should be fighting for reform and Medicare for all."

The Good Brigade / Getty Images

—loweredvisions

BRB, scheduling a doctor appointment as we speak. If you’re a medical professional, what’s something everyone should be doing, but isn’t? Let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your advice using the form below!

Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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