Weight loss guru shares four health habits that 'changed his life'
We all want to live a longer, healthier life. But how can we give ourselves the best chance? A conclusive answer would be far too long for one article. After all, there are a multitude of steps we can all take to improve our daily routines - so many that it's often tricky to know where to begin.
Thankfully, TV doctor Michael Mosley has shared four of the "good health" habits that have "changed his life" - which suggests they're a pretty good place to start.
In his recent book, Just One Thing, the health guru tried and tested a number of simple changes that may bring about more than simple effects, and he shared a few of his favourites during an episode of the ZOE podcast, with Professor Tim Spector and Jonathan Wolf.
Cold water swimming
Both Dr Michael Mosely and his wife have added cold water showers to their routines, he revealed, albeit more regularly in the summer months than the winter months.
He does not think the science is "as firm as some of the advocates would say" but maintains "there is definitely something", as there are possible benefits for your immune system and your mental state if you dare to go cold water swimming.
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As for how long you should stay in a cold shower, the expert explained: "What I do these days is I go and have my warm shower, wash myself, and then I blast it to cold, and then I stay in there for about 40 seconds. I normally sing vigorously while I'm in the shower because that detracts from the cold."
He added: "I spoke to a guy called Mike Tipton, who is a professor at Portsmouth University and who studied the effects of cold water immersion, and he advised me that what you need to do is stay there long enough until you stop gasping because your first reaction of cold water immersion is, and then you have to slow it down.
"And when your heart rate and well, basically when you stop gasping, that probably means you've been there long enough."
Going green
Gardeners rejoice. When asked if adding plants to homes and gardens can boost our mood, Dr Mosley replied: "I think they can make you feel happier. Yes."
"Spending time in green spaces is really good for you. And there's also research showing that spending time in blue spaces, which is down by the sea or by a river is also kind of good for you," he added.
He went on to share the impressive results of an experiment - one he thought would "never, never work" - he took participated in with the University of Lancaster.
"What we did is we were looking at the health of people living near a busy road and we've got them to wear pollution monitors, and they had quite high levels of some of the nastier pollutants like, the small particle stuff," he explained.
The team then planted silver birch trees in front of select houses. "I thought a few silver birch trees are gonna make no difference whatsoever, but surprisingly enough, yes, the houses in where the silver birch is were in front, the levels of pollution in the houses was lower, and that seemed to be because the silver birch's were capturing the pollution in the leaves," Dr Mosley revealed. "And then when it rained, they were sort of flushed off and they went down the sewer."
Deep belly breathing
Explaining the importance of breathing, the pro said: "This is a really good way of coping with an anxiety attack or if you're feeling anxious. But also it's something I do at three in the morning when I'm waking, you know, and lots of restless thoughts. I just practice this breathing and it's surprisingly powerful."
"You put your hand on your gut and you should feel it kind of go up and down rather than breathing," he instructed. "You do really slow, deep breaths and one technique is called 4-2-4. There are quite a few other ones, but essentially you breathe in through your nose to count of four, hold it for two, and then you breathe out your mouth to count of four. And when you do that for even a minute or so, what happens is your heart rate will start to drop and you'll kind of begin to feel calmer."
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Three types of exercise
"Essentially, there are three types of exercise you need to prioritize," said Dr Mosley. "Aerobic, exercise. Running, walking, swimming, cycling.
"Then there is resistance excise when a lot of people forget about or don't wanna do, which is press up, squats, lifting weights. And the third one is balance because balance is an incredibly important part of, you know, being healthy and growing old and it falls off pretty fast. So you need to do all three."
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