Lying to your doctor about certain issues is potentially illegal and definitely not a safe practice. Here are some common facts we hide from medical professionals and why you should admit them to your doctor so he or she can look out for you.

Stuff you should always admit to your doctor

1. Bad eating habits: Many people don’t keep track of their eating habits and do not realize how much unhealthy food they are consuming. Some do and still do not admit that they are eating too much fried foods or high sodium take out food to their doctors.

An unhealthy diet is far too easy to deprioritize during a doctor’s office visit. But this is an important detail to share with your doctor so that blood work can be ordered with annual physicals to track and manage lipids and cholesterol. If there are issues, they can be a great wake up call to change diet habits asap and make an informed decision about what you eat daily. A healthy diet is an important basic for a healthy life.

2. Alcohol or Drug use, recreational or addiction: Many more young adults are smoking recreationally marijuana these days and it’s often not disclosed during doctors visits. But even importantly, addiction to alcohol or other drugs is often not disclosed, especially if the addiction is not acknowledged.

Alcohol and drugs affect your body in a multitude of ways, and can help explain certain illnesses, appetite or energy issues, etc. Knowing that a patient uses alcohol or drugs, recreationally or abusively, can provide a whole new lens on your medical care. Even at the most basic level, many medications should not be taken in conjunction with alcohol and drugs.

3. Severe Constipation or blood in stool: It could be embarrassing to talk about this with anyone, including your doctor. Some people even accept constipation as a way of life or ignore blood in stool if it only happens once.

But either could indicate severe gut bacterial problems or an even more severe and life threatening illness. It is important to mention these issues to your doctor in case they could be evidence of a larger health problem.