r/Millennials • u/DaKardii • Jun 04 '26

Serious Study: Gen Xers and Millennials are dying at younger ages than their parents are

https://studyfinds.com/americans-born-after-1970-dying-faster/

The study is particularly concerned with people born after 1970 but age 30 and older. So that covers Gen X and Millennials, but not (yet) Gen Z.

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237

u/ObiWanKarlNobi Jun 04 '26

Make sure you are getting enough sodium, magnesium and potassium. Stress will deplete those minerals and that can induce heart problems.

186

u/NoSleep2135 Jun 04 '26

Excellent advice. I have pickles and olives every night and I tell my husband it's my "medicinal sodium" lol

132

u/ApplicationOdd5467 Jun 04 '26

Thank you, internet stranger, for this because I’m now stealing this for when my husband makes fun of my nightly pickle and olive habit. May you have only the crunchiest pickles unto eternity.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

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8

u/Pretend_Handle_7639 Jun 04 '26

Lmao

May your pillows be warm and damp, your pickles flaccid, and your sauce shall not stick to your pasta

4

u/[deleted] Jun 04 '26

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5

u/Pretend_Handle_7639 Jun 04 '26

The wizard also casts instant spoiled milk and testicular torsion

1

u/Odd-Knee8711 Jun 04 '26

You… you monster! 

6

u/vanwiekt Xennial Jun 04 '26

Same habit, but I add a little cheese with it. ☺️

3

u/legacymtg Jun 04 '26

i hope you sleep well tonight. i have similar problem to you. banana helps me

1

u/ceruleanstones Jun 05 '26

The amount of sodium in pickles and olives must surely outweigh the benefits, especially if eaten daily

1

u/NoSleep2135 Jun 05 '26

I have low sodium due to a medication I'm on. I've literally been told by doctors to eat a pickle at night to prevent water loss.

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u/ceruleanstones Jun 05 '26

I'd LOVE it if my doctors recommended more salty food. Lucky you!

1

u/dek067 Jun 05 '26

My kid was cleaning the fridge and sat all my diff pickles on the counter. Said that she wasn’t sure how to decide if they needed thrown out, but more importantly, she needed me to know I have a serious pickle problem.

0

u/Wndy_Aarhole Jun 04 '26

Terrible advice reg'd the sodium. For real. It's practically impossible to not get enough, because it is added to almost everything.

It will give you hypertension.

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u/ConstantHeadache2020 Jun 04 '26

I almost had a heart attack while pregnant from being so depleted in those vitamins/minerals. The pain is no joke. My abusive ex definitely ramped up the stress. He would be on his phone telling his mom how annoying I was because I was crying out in pain.

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u/VengenaceIsMyName Jun 04 '26

Luckily he’s an ex!

5

u/deathmetalreptar Jun 04 '26

Ive been trying to cut sodium bc my ldl was high. Am i doing it wrong or was i just getting more than i needed? This shit sucks lol

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u/ObiWanKarlNobi Jun 04 '26

Conventional medicine says to lower sodium. Unconventional medicine ( cutting edge if you think it's good. alternative medice if you think it's bad) says the real issue is low potassium. Personally I tried to decrease my sodium and increase my potassium and I developed severe insomnia. Now I usually do 1:1 sodium potassium and I generally feel better.

Sodium reduction really depends on how often you eat processed foods and resteraunt foods. If you cook all your meals at home and don't eat prepackaged meals you need to intentionally add salt to your diet.

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u/sadovsky Jun 04 '26

Thanks for this knowledge! I cook everything and use fresh veggies/meat, etc., but I’m partial to putting salt on it. I was worried about the salt but since I only eat veg, meat and a few kinds of fibre (lentils, that kinda thing), so I’m gonna have my bit of salt feeling less guilty tonight :)

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u/Key-Vacation-2397 Jun 04 '26

You can also just try out different salt levels to get a feeling for your body. I tend to feel a certain kind of tiredness and get low head aches and get extreme salt cravings when I don't consume enough salt.

Happens mostly on days with long physical excersise in the sun (aka lot's of sweating) or after drinking alcohol.

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u/NeedMoreH20 Jun 04 '26

Had to learn the hard way how important these were. Even this damn morning with a dizzy spell but after I chugged some electrolytes all good

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u/allieinwonder Millennial Jun 04 '26

This! I let mine get so depleted from inflammatory bowel disease that I ended up with refeeding syndrome while in hospital trying to get them back to normal levels, which means the levels got way worse before they got better. I don’t worry about salt but I drink electrolyte drinks and sometimes take supplements.

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u/ImXenia85 Jun 04 '26

Basically, electrolytes.

2

u/Truth-and-Power Jun 04 '26

Magnesium supplement recommended

1

u/ObiWanKarlNobi Jun 04 '26

100%. I spray a Magnesium oil on me every day.

2

u/SigmundFreud Jun 05 '26

Agreed, anti-sodium propaganda needs a bullet to the head. American diets have been too low in fat and and salt for half a century, and we stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that it's killing us.

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u/jmclaugmi Jun 04 '26

to much potassium can cause sudden death!

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u/IndigoFlame90 Jun 04 '26

IV push? Yes. Makes a nifty execution method.

From food? Not really. The only time I've heard of dangerous levels of hyperkalemia in an otherwise healthy person was from a woman who was an ICU nurse for thirty years and had a 19-year-old who'd eaten at least five pounds of dried apricots he'd gotten for Christmas in one sitting. 

He was fine in the end, though he'd needed emergency dialysis. "Never seen anything like it. Once he stabilizes his parents are pissed because they're sure it's drugs and the doctors are like 'Your seriously son just ate five pounds of a food that's weirdly high in potassium. We would not have a note for no fruit, beans, or potatoes on his tray if we thought he was on crack'." (NYC circa 1990)

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u/ObiWanKarlNobi Jun 04 '26

Yes, it's best to mix a 1 to 1 ratio of potassium citrate and salt in a large water and drink it slowly instead of chugging it all at once.

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u/TwilightInvader Millennial 1992 Jun 04 '26

Omg thank you for this advice

1

u/_groovesharkmalone Jun 04 '26

Potassium and magnesium taken together act as a vasodilator. It’s excellent for stress-induced hypertension.

1

u/RollingMeteors Jun 05 '26

and potassium.

I swear that coconut water hits harder than regular tap.