Here, in the latest installment of his fascinating series, Dr Michael Mosley reveals simpler, science-based tweaks to your daily habits that will change your life.
Dance for five to ten minutes every day
I’m not the most natural mover in the world, but I do enjoy the occasional salsa night with my wife, Claire. And if you also like to bust a few moves, you’ll be happy to hear that dance has been shown to be more effective at improving your muscles, balance and brain health than traditional fitness exercises. Vigorous dancing can get your heart rate up to more than 140 beats per minute and gives you a great mix of low and high intensity exercise in the process. It can relieve depression, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, boost memory and protect against dementia. Brain imaging studies reveal that it can increase the volume of the hippocampus (an area of the brain involved in spatial memory) and improve white matter (the number of nerve cells) in areas related to memory and processing speed. The great thing about reading fiction is that it works as a “whole brain” workout. When researchers at Stanford University scanned people’s brains while reading Jane Austen, they found a dramatic increase in blood flow throughout the brain. Apparently, we’re all (even me!) natural dancers. “Humans,” says Dr Julia Christensen of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, a former dancer turned neuroscientist, “are the only species with a specific connection between ear and foot, which means we’re hard-wired to tune in to rhythm of our movements”. She told me that the key to reaping the benefits of dancing is to be relaxed. So just enjoy yourself and dance like no one is watching (probably not). And, if you can, dance with others. The bonding involved has a stronger stress-reducing effect. Dancing enthusiastically with others can even help us manage pain, because it triggers the release of endorphins – powerful hormones that, in addition to relieving pain, can induce positive feelings.
Spend 20 minutes on new skills every day
I recently tried oil painting. It was the first time I had painted anything since I was a child and the first time with oils. When the model came in and got dressed on a chair, I was horrified. I had no idea where to start. The art teacher taught us the basics and then let us go at it for a few hours. I was surprised by how exciting it was. I got the model’s arms wrong and her legs ended up looking like ugly pink blobs, but I was quietly happy with the end result. Taking on new activities like this is very difficult, especially when you are my age (65). but this is precisely why they have such a powerful effect on the aging brain. Trying to learn new skills later in life can mean you’re creating new brain cells, according to Alan Gow, professor of psychology at Heriot-Watt University. The process of approaching something new, especially in a group, can change the way you think and feel. If the skill is challenging enough, your brain will be forced to forge new pathways and develop new connections, thus boosting your brain power. Professor Gow’s studies show that after three months of working on a new skill, people show improvements in thinking skills – especially in the areas of the brain most affected by ageing. “Processing and thinking speeds tend to be among the first areas of brain function to begin to decline with age, but we think it’s precisely these areas that benefit most from learning a new skill,” he explains. “It can reverse that ‘slow down’ feeling you get with age, and if you continue to master the skill, that benefit could extend to other thinking skills and improve memory as well.” As Professor Gow says: “It’s never too late to try new things and the longer you stick with them, the more benefits you’ll reap over time.” People who maintain their skills, he adds, “generally live longer, healthier lives — so it makes sense to embrace the opportunity to improve them.” One of the best things you can do for your brain is to learn a new language, because juggling between sounds, words, concepts, and grammar and social rules boosts blood flow and connections throughout the brain. It can even improve intelligence. But for maximum benefit, you should practice for five hours a week.
Enjoy a warm bath before bed
A relaxing hot bath is one of those rare pleasures in life that not only makes you feel great, but is actually good for you, lowering blood sugar levels and reducing your risk of heart disease. And a warm bath an hour and a half before bed could help you fall asleep faster and improve the quality of your sleep. When you take a hot bath, your core body temperature rises. But when you go outside and start to get cold, you get the sleep-inducing benefits. “As your core temperature drops, it mimics the onset of sleep, triggering the release of the sleep hormone melatonin and sending a strong signal that it’s time to sleep,” says Jason Ellis, director of the Northumbria Sleep Centre. A relaxing hot bath is one of those rare pleasures in life that not only makes you feel great, but is actually good for you, lowering blood sugar levels and reducing your risk of heart disease
Count your blessings
Last thing at night, write down three things you feel grateful for. There is solid science that getting into the habit of being grateful regularly can make you feel happier, lower your blood pressure, improve sleep, ease pain, and even refresh your brain. “Think of three things you can be grateful for that day,” advises Fuschia Sirois, a professor of psychology at Durham University who specializes in researching gratitude and its role in health. “Perhaps someone was kind to you, or you managed to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.” The goal is to develop what he calls a “grateful mindset.” “Gratitude opens your perspective, allowing you to appreciate the positives instead of focusing on your worries,” she says. “It reduces stress by helping us see things outside of the narrow perspective we adopt when our fight-and-flight mechanisms are activated.” In her studies, patients with chronic conditions who spent three weeks counting their blessings reported significantly less pain, as well as better sleep, than those in the control group. There’s solid science that getting into the habit of being grateful regularly can make you feel happier, lower your blood pressure, improve sleep, ease pain, and even refresh your brain.
Read fiction for half an hour a day
I love reading — and have since I was little. I was often seen walking down the street, reading while trying to avoid fellow pedestrians and lampposts. These days I grab my reading moments when I can, but I’m also in a book club and don’t need convincing that reading fiction is good for empathy and social skills. Nor that it can help improve memory and protect against depression. The great thing about reading fiction is that it works as a “whole brain” workout. When researchers at Stanford University scanned people’s brains while reading Jane Austen, they found a dramatic increase in blood flow throughout the brain. This is because when we are engrossed in a good book, our brains are busy imagining the settings, sounds, smells and tastes described, and this activates the many different areas of the brain that process these experiences in real life . Words like ‘lavender’, ‘cinnamon’ and ‘soap’, for example, will trigger a response not only in the language processing areas of our brain, but also in the areas dedicated to dealing with smells. Dr Raymond Mar, a neuroscientist at the University of York, says reading fiction can boost your empathy and interpersonal skills because the parts of the brain we use to understand stories overlap with those we use to understand other people . “Reading helps our brains get better at creating accurate models of real people and predicting what they might be thinking, feeling or doing,” she told me. Studies show that reading is also one of the best ways to escape the stresses of modern life. “Anxiety is about having our attention focused inward,” says Dr. Marr, “but reading forces our focus on the words and the story, and that can take us out of our minds and help us relax.” . Research from Yale University found that those who read for 30 minutes a day lived, on average, 23 months longer than those who did not read. Adapted from Just One Thing: How Simple Changes Can Transform Your Life by Dr Michael Mosley, published by Short Books £16.99. © Dr Michael Mosley 2022. To order a copy for £13.99 (offer valid until 15/11/22, UK P&P free on orders over £20), visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.
title: “Dr. Michael Mosley Reveals Tiny Tweaks To Transform Your Health " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-07” author: “Jessica Harris”
Here, in the latest installment of his fascinating series, Dr Michael Mosley reveals simpler, science-based tweaks to your daily habits that will change your life.
Dance for five to ten minutes every day
I’m not the most natural mover in the world, but I do enjoy the occasional salsa night with my wife, Claire. And if you also like to bust a few moves, you’ll be happy to hear that dance has been shown to be more effective at improving your muscles, balance and brain health than traditional fitness exercises. Vigorous dancing can get your heart rate up to more than 140 beats per minute and gives you a great mix of low and high intensity exercise in the process. It can relieve depression, reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, boost memory and protect against dementia. Brain imaging studies reveal that it can increase the volume of the hippocampus (an area of the brain involved in spatial memory) and improve white matter (the number of nerve cells) in areas related to memory and processing speed. The great thing about reading fiction is that it works as a “whole brain” workout. When researchers at Stanford University scanned people’s brains while reading Jane Austen, they found a dramatic increase in blood flow throughout the brain. Apparently, we’re all (even me!) natural dancers. “Humans,” says Dr Julia Christensen of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, a former dancer turned neuroscientist, “are the only species with a specific connection between ear and foot, which means we’re hard-wired to tune in to rhythm of our movements”. She told me that the key to reaping the benefits of dancing is to be relaxed. So just enjoy yourself and dance like no one is watching (probably not). And, if you can, dance with others. The bonding involved has a stronger stress-reducing effect. Dancing enthusiastically with others can even help us manage pain, because it triggers the release of endorphins – powerful hormones that, in addition to relieving pain, can induce positive feelings.
Spend 20 minutes on new skills every day
I recently tried oil painting. It was the first time I had painted anything since I was a child and the first time with oils. When the model came in and got dressed on a chair, I was horrified. I had no idea where to start. The art teacher taught us the basics and then let us go at it for a few hours. I was surprised by how exciting it was. I got the model’s arms wrong and her legs ended up looking like ugly pink blobs, but I was quietly happy with the end result. Taking on new activities like this is very difficult, especially when you are my age (65). but this is precisely why they have such a powerful effect on the aging brain. Trying to learn new skills later in life can mean you’re creating new brain cells, according to Alan Gow, professor of psychology at Heriot-Watt University. The process of approaching something new, especially in a group, can change the way you think and feel. If the skill is challenging enough, your brain will be forced to forge new pathways and develop new connections, thus boosting your brain power. Professor Gow’s studies show that after three months of working on a new skill, people show improvements in thinking skills – especially in the areas of the brain most affected by ageing. “Processing and thinking speeds tend to be among the first areas of brain function to begin to decline with age, but we think it’s precisely these areas that benefit most from learning a new skill,” he explains. “It can reverse that ‘slow down’ feeling you get with age, and if you continue to master the skill, that benefit could extend to other thinking skills and improve memory as well.” As Professor Gow says: “It’s never too late to try new things and the longer you stick with them, the more benefits you’ll reap over time.” People who maintain their skills, he adds, “generally live longer, healthier lives — so it makes sense to embrace the opportunity to improve them.” One of the best things you can do for your brain is to learn a new language, because juggling between sounds, words, concepts, and grammar and social rules boosts blood flow and connections throughout the brain. It can even improve intelligence. But for maximum benefit, you should practice for five hours a week.
Enjoy a warm bath before bed
A relaxing hot bath is one of those rare pleasures in life that not only makes you feel great, but is actually good for you, lowering blood sugar levels and reducing your risk of heart disease. And a warm bath an hour and a half before bed could help you fall asleep faster and improve the quality of your sleep. When you take a hot bath, your core body temperature rises. But when you go outside and start to get cold, you get the sleep-inducing benefits. “As your core temperature drops, it mimics the onset of sleep, triggering the release of the sleep hormone melatonin and sending a strong signal that it’s time to sleep,” says Jason Ellis, director of the Northumbria Sleep Centre. A relaxing hot bath is one of those rare pleasures in life that not only makes you feel great, but is actually good for you, lowering blood sugar levels and reducing your risk of heart disease
Count your blessings
Last thing at night, write down three things you feel grateful for. There is solid science that getting into the habit of being grateful regularly can make you feel happier, lower your blood pressure, improve sleep, ease pain, and even refresh your brain. “Think of three things you can be grateful for that day,” advises Fuschia Sirois, a professor of psychology at Durham University who specializes in researching gratitude and its role in health. “Perhaps someone was kind to you, or you managed to get outside and enjoy the fresh air.” The goal is to develop what he calls a “grateful mindset.” “Gratitude opens your perspective, allowing you to appreciate the positives instead of focusing on your worries,” she says. “It reduces stress by helping us see things outside of the narrow perspective we adopt when our fight-and-flight mechanisms are activated.” In her studies, patients with chronic conditions who spent three weeks counting their blessings reported significantly less pain, as well as better sleep, than those in the control group. There’s solid science that getting into the habit of being grateful regularly can make you feel happier, lower your blood pressure, improve sleep, ease pain, and even refresh your brain.
Read fiction for half an hour a day
I love reading — and have since I was little. I was often seen walking down the street, reading while trying to avoid fellow pedestrians and lampposts. These days I grab my reading moments when I can, but I’m also in a book club and don’t need convincing that reading fiction is good for empathy and social skills. Nor that it can help improve memory and protect against depression. The great thing about reading fiction is that it works as a “whole brain” workout. When researchers at Stanford University scanned people’s brains while reading Jane Austen, they found a dramatic increase in blood flow throughout the brain. This is because when we are engrossed in a good book, our brains are busy imagining the settings, sounds, smells and tastes described, and this activates the many different areas of the brain that process these experiences in real life . Words like ‘lavender’, ‘cinnamon’ and ‘soap’, for example, will trigger a response not only in the language processing areas of our brain, but also in the areas dedicated to dealing with smells. Dr Raymond Mar, a neuroscientist at the University of York, says reading fiction can boost your empathy and interpersonal skills because the parts of the brain we use to understand stories overlap with those we use to understand other people . “Reading helps our brains get better at creating accurate models of real people and predicting what they might be thinking, feeling or doing,” she told me. Studies show that reading is also one of the best ways to escape the stresses of modern life. “Anxiety is about having our attention focused inward,” says Dr. Marr, “but reading forces our focus on the words and the story, and that can take us out of our minds and help us relax.” . Research from Yale University found that those who read for 30 minutes a day lived, on average, 23 months longer than those who did not read. Adapted from Just One Thing: How Simple Changes Can Transform Your Life by Dr Michael Mosley, published by Short Books £16.99. © Dr Michael Mosley 2022. To order a copy for £13.99 (offer valid until 15/11/22, UK P&P free on orders over £20), visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.
