Take these 10 steps to live a longer life – from delaying breakfast to list-making
EATING 30 different fruits and vegetables a week, taking an early night and having a cold shower could be the key to living longer, preventing illness and losing weight.
Top neuroscientist Dr Julia Jones says simple changes to our daily routine are more beneficial than the gym.
She told Sun on Sunday Health: “Just making simple adjustments to our lifelong routine can add decades of healthy life.”
Julia runs an eight-week smart wellness longevity plan to help people boost their life expectancy.
Here she shares her top ten tips.
1. DELAY BREAKFAST
DELAYING your breakfast a few times a week can give cells the full time they need to do essential repair work, reducing your risk of everything from cancer to Type 2 diabetes.
Read more on dieting
Leave 16 hours overnight between your last meal.
Drinks during the fasting window are OK. Just don’t fill them with sugar or milk.
Stick with water, tea and coffee. Many scientists, including me, now regularly eat one healthy meal a day.
2. THINK 30-A-WEEK
RESEARCH has shown that people with a higher diversity of gut bacteria have a reduced risk of illness.
But eating the same five fruits and veg each day doesn’t boost diversity.
You should aim to try 30 different types a week to boost gut diversity.
Frozen fruits and veg work as well as fresh, so buy different frozen products in bulk to keep costs down.
3. GET OUT OF BREATH
YOU don’t need a full gym workout but get out of breath a few times a week. Stop using the lift and take the stairs.
Walk faster. Short bursts will work – simply adjust some if your habits.
TRIED AND TESTED
QUALITY sleep is so important for our health.
Getting enough of it helps to keep your in good shape, aids your emotional and mental wellbeing and can even help you maintain a healthy weight.
Meanwhile, not getting enough sleep or disruptions to your night cycle can lead to fatigue.
Here, Jane Atkinson looks at ways to get enough shut-eye . . .
SCENT
MANY aromatherapy essential oils may help to promote relaxation and sleep, and this new gadget is a brilliant way to fill your bedroom with them to help you nod off.
The Rove Aroma Atomiser scents your space directly from the oil bottle, without the need for water, so you get a potent dose of essential oils.
READ MORE ON SLEEP
You simply push an essential oil bottle into the base, switch it to the intensity and run-time you want, for up to 90 minutes.
It charges with a USB and lasts for 30 hours.
It is so dinky I have taken it, with a bottle of lavender essential oils, when I have stayed away from home to help me nod off.
Best to turn off before you actually go to sleep as it does have a little motor noise.
I love this.
It is compatible with 5ml, 10ml and 15ml oil bottles and costs £55. See .
WAKE-UP PILL
B-SYNC ON is the first and only supplement designed by sleep science and pharmacological experts to support and improve your wake-up process.
SUPPLEMENT
CHELATED magnesium has been described as the best pill to pop for all-round health.
It helps to regulate blood pressure, supports the immune system and could reduce a person’s risk of heart disease and cancer and boost overall health.
It is easily absorbed by the body and good for tackling fatigue, tiredness and lethargy.
I take it every day and am convinced it helps me sleep better.
Solgar Chelated Magnesium delivers 100mg of magnesium per tablet and costs £13.75 for a bottle of 100.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
You do need four a day though!