Doctor shares 'most dangerous habit' for your health everyone does without even questioning it

Dr Eric Berg has claimed that a common daily habit could be ‘silently’ damaging your health.

In a recent video, the chiropractor explains why snacking between meals may not be as harmless as we think.

The health educator says supermarkets are purposely filled with products designed to encourage frequent eating.

“The number one most dangerous habit is not smoking. It's not eating sugar. It's not eating junk food. It's not even something people feel guilty about,” he said.

“Your doctor probably has never warned you about this, and you've never seen a public health campaign against it.

“You've done it your whole life without even questioning it. And the majority of the grocery store, the granola bars, the protein bars, the chips, the crackers are all designed to keep you doing it.”

The danger of snacking between meals

Snacking between meals might not be good for your insulin levels (Getty Stock Images)

Dr Berg explains that ‘insulin's job is to push nutrition into your cells and bring your blood sugar down’ and that ‘every time you eat, your pancreas releases insulin’.

“If you eat three meals a day with no snacking, insulin spikes three times and comes back down between the meals. Your body gets these little windows where the insulin is low, and it can access stored fat. It can repair cells. It can reduce inflammation,” he said.

The problem is that when you're snacking between the meals, insulin never comes down.

Health educator Dr Eric Berg claims the habit is often the ‘hidden root cause behind’ several serious diseases (Getty Stock Images)

“What this leads to is a protective mechanism called insulin resistance, because the body has to protect itself from all this excess insulin,” Dr Beg added.

“Insulin resistance is the hidden root cause behind type two diabetes, heart disease, fatty liver, PCOS, which is polycystic ovary syndrome, and even certain cancers.

“By the time you find out about it, you're already a diabetic, simply because doctors never test fasting insulin.

“The most dangerous habit is constant snacking between meals. But here's the part that most people miss.”

He suggests that meal timing is just one of 10 biological signals that control how your body feels.

Krzysztof Czaja, an associate professor of biomedical sciences in UGA’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says that snacking in between meals is also why 'it's so hard to lose body fat'.

“We are not giving our bodies a chance to use it. Having fewer meals a day will allow these fat deposits to be used as an energy source rather than the sugar we keep consuming,” he added.