If you want to live a long and happy life, says hospice nurse Julie McFadden, there are three common activities you should cut out now
Julie listed three things everyone should avoid(Image: hospicenursejulie/Instagram)
A hospice nurse who claims to have seen thousands of people die says she’s learnt there are three things people should avoid if they want to live a long and happy life.
Julie McFadden has racked up more than 600,000 followers to her YouTube channel Hospice Nurse Julie, where she gives eye-opening insights into her career. She previously explained how end of life patients often claim to see the same “beautiful” thing before they die.
And Julie also revealed that her patients regularly say they have the same regret about their lives on their deathbed. And now, in a new video, she explained the three mistakes people make that prevents them from living a longer life.
Alcohol
The first thing to avoid she says, is alcohol. Julie explains: “It has been clinically proven that it is it is not good for your health to drink daily.” The liver is a vitally important organ – apart from filtering and detoxifying blood it performs a number of important digestive functions.
In the video, she continues: “Our liver is a beautiful organ that does a lot of stuff for us and when it’s not working, it’s bad. I’ve seen enough people die alcoholic deaths, meaning from liver cirrhosis, because of drinking, to know that it is not good. And it is preventable.”
Julie says even moderate drinking can be harmful(Image: hospicenursejulie/Instagram)
Julie explains that while daily drinking of even small amounts of alcohol can cause significant harm to your liver, it’s a resilient organ that can bounce back from major damage given half a chance.
“You can quit and your liver will regenerate,” she says. “Your liver will improve. As long as it’s not too far gone, your liver will get better.
“So, the first thing I would not do is drink a lot for an extended period of time, you will have liver damage, and liver damage is not good because we need our liver for so many things to help us basically function normally. We need our liver.”
Stop smoking and vaping
Secondly, Julie continues, we should consider cutting out another bad habit. “I would not smoke or vape,” she says. “I know everyone hears this. Everyone says this.
Julie used to smoke herself, she admits, but gave up 10 years ago(Image: hospicenursejulie/Instagram)
“Not many people smoke anymore, but a lot of people vape. And vaping is just as bad… it affects more than just the lungs. It affects your whole cardiovascular system.
So, even if you don’t get emphysema or COPD or some kind of lung cancer or lung disorder, you will have cardiac issues. You will have thinning of the lining of your arteries and veins. You’ll have circulation issues.”
Julie says that watching people die from these debilitating conditions caused by smoking “isn’t pretty”.
Julie says ‘being present in present in the moment is the the most fun you can ever have.'(Image: Courtesy Julie McFadden / SWNS)
She admits that while she gave up about 10 years ago, she did once smoke herself, adding:: “So I could have damage done already.”
Don’t ride a motorbike
Finally, Julie adds, there’s a third activity that everyone could cut out very easily. She adds: “I would not ride a [quadbike] or a motorcycle. Helmet or no helmet. No bueno. This is because I was a trauma ICU nurse. You’d be surprised vehicles. They just are not safe.”
Julie has seen “so many deaths” as the result of motorcycle accidents, she says. “It’s just not worth it. Even riding a bicycle, she says, isn’t worth the risk.
“I would go on a bike, but I’d always wear a helmet,” she said, adding that cycling on the road can be really dangerous. She says that she may seem to be a killjoy, but she still manages to have fun without drinking, smoking or bike rides.
“I still have a lot of fun,” she says. “People think you have to drink to have fun. And I used to be one of those people. I now know that that is not true. Being present in present in the moment is the the most fun you can ever have.”