30 tiny tweaks guaranteed to transform your health

16 DRINK WITH A STRAW TO PROTECT TEETH

SUGARY, acidic drinks — including fruit juices — can erode your teeth by wearing down enamel, their outer coating. Even sparkling water has this effect, according to studies, as it is made by adding carbon dioxide under pressure, creating carbonic acid, which also eats away at tooth enamel. Drinking through a straw directs the liquid away from the teeth, and can prevent discoloration, decay and irreversible damage.

17 PILLOW CAN BEAT HEARTBURN

SLIDING a couple of pillows underneath the mattress at night, or propping up the legs at the head of the bed, could banish the agony of heartburn.

Also known as acid reflux, the problem is caused by a fault with the one-way valve that should allow food into the stomach without letting acid escape.

If the valve is weak, the acidic stomach juices can leak back up into the oesophagus, or gullet.

‘Symptoms can be worse when lying down, simply due to gravity,’ says GP Dr

Ellie Cannon.

‘Place the pillows in the area where your head lies. This elevates the throat and the oesophagus so that any acid leaking from the stomach doesn’t travel as easily up to the chest, causing the pain of heartburn.’

A recent review of 37 studies exploring the head elevation effect found that the optimum head height to prevent acid reflux was eight to 11 inches.

18 GAFFER TAPE EASES BLISTERS

SPECIALISED blister plasters can be expensive. Take a tip from hikers and long-distance runners, who use gaffer tape.

Ideally, apply the tape at the first sign of a blister, sticking it down as smoothly as possible. If the blister has already formed, protect the area from the gaffertape glue by cutting a piece of gauze large enough to cover it and attach it to the centre of the tape before applying.

19 DRINK MILK TO PROTECT TEETH

A TIP dentists swear by: if you nip downstairs for a midnight snack, wash it down with a glass of milk.

When we eat sugary foods, the bacteria in plaque on our teeth produces acids that can harm the tooth enamel.

Researchers at the University of Illinois found that after volunteers ate a bowl of dry, sugary cereal, drinking a glass of milk rather than water or apple juice was most effective in reducing the amount of acid on the teeth.

If you’re not a milk-drinker, snack on a small piece of cheese instead — it has the same effect.

20 WHEN A SAUNA IS AS GOOD AS A BIKE RIDE

SCIENTISTS in Germany found that spending 25 minutes in the heat of a sauna raised participants’ heart rate just as much as a 25minute cycle ride.

Regularly increasing the heart rate has been shown to strengthen cardiac muscle, reducing the risk of heart problems.

Other studies have linked regular ‘sauna bathing’ to as much as a 25 per cent lower risk of fatal cardiovascular disease — including heart attacks and stroke.

However, researchers warn that people with low blood pressure should take care when using saunas, as the intense heat can cause a further drop in blood pressure and cause fainting.

21 SHOUT YOURSELF FITTER… IT BOOSTS OXYGEN INTAKE

ROARING at the top of your voice during strenuous exercise — much like many elite athletes do — can give your performance a substantial boost.

Scientists at Taiwan’s I-Shou University found that cyclists who shouted out when they felt like quitting generated more power compared with when they were told to keep quiet, and that while yelling it took them longer to reach the point of exhaustion.

The researchers believe shouting increases oxygen intake, helping the body push through fatigue.

22 MISS A FEW MEALS FOR A BETTER SEX LIFE

SKIPPING lunch or dinner a couple of times a week could work wonders for a man’s love life.

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine, found men who fasted intermittently were twice as likely to have a healthy sex life, free of erectile dysfunction, as men who never skipped a meal or fasted.

Occasional calorie restriction is thought to reduce damage to the body’s circulation, which can harm a man’s performance.

Intermittent fasting has become a popular weight loss remedy in recent years.

One of the most high-profile techniques is the 5:2 diet, where calorie intake is normal for five days of the week — at 2,500 for men and 2,000 for women — but restricted to 500 to 600 calories on the remaining two days.

23 PLAY DRUMS TO FIGHT INFECTION

AS stress-busting measures go, it’s hard to beat drumming. But the benefits go way beyond just easing mental pressure.

US researchers found playing the drums also increases the production of infection-fighting Tcells by our immune system, helping us to ward off viruses like flu.

Stroke researchers say drumming helps victims recover as the repetitive arm and leg movements helps to ‘rewire’ circuits in the brain that are damaged after being starved of oxygen-rich blood.

24 WIGGLE LIMBS TO AVOID BACK PAIN

WIGGLING your limbs in the morning before getting out of bed can reduce the risk of back injury.

The majority of back injuries occur between 7am and 10am, when the muscles are still stiff after sleeping, according to a 2015 University of Sydney study.

Stretching before getting out of bed can help wake up the body and reduce the risk of injury.

Scientists say it may even help prevent falls.

25 MICROWAVE YOUR SWEET POTATOES

A RAW sweet potato (average size) contains about 115 calories, and roughly one and a half teaspoons (5.6g) of sugar. But this all changes depending on how it’s cooked. Baked, the same sweet potato would be 180 calories and

26 DON’T RINSE AFTER BRUSHING YOUR TEETH

IT might seem the natural thing to do but rinsing your mouth out with water or mouthwash after cleaning your teeth could do more harm than good. Most toothpastes contain fluoride to help reinforce the enamel that covers teeth — rinsing simply washes this away. ‘Fluoride is the single most important ingredient in toothpaste,’ says Dr Nigel Carter, of the Oral Health Foundation. ‘It strengthens enamel and reduces the amount of acid that bacteria on your teeth produce. If you use mouthwash, do it at a separate time to brushing to ensure you get the full benefit from your toothpaste.’ deliver just over four teaspoons (16.9g) of sugar, as the cooking process turns the starches into sugar. A 2016 study found that the best method for minimising the sugar content was to microwave sweet potatoes. The rapid heating method led to less starch being converted to sugar.

27 AN APPLE A DAY FOR FRESH BREATH

DENTIST Dr Harold Katz, author of the Bad Breath Bible, suggests that high-fibre foods including apples, celery and carrots can help prevent bad breath. Fibre-rich foods break up the odour-emitting plaque that builds up on your teeth throughout the day, he claims.

A study in the Journal of Dental Research explains that this is because these foods contain polyphenols, a natural compound that has an antioxidant effect, blocking bacteria in the saliva from thriving, in a similar way to tooth-brushing.

28 BE POLITE TO BOOST MENTAL HEALTH

POLITENESS costs nothing – and it could also be great for your mental health.

Several studies have found that routinely saying thank you, opening doors for others and carrying out small acts of kindness boosts self-esteem and wards off anxiety and depression. Some research even suggests practising gratitude on a daily basis may boost your immune system and help you ward off sickness.

29 EAT PASTA BUT ENJOY IT COLD

PASTA is not always healthy because it’s a form of carbohydrate which can cause blood glucose to spike, then crash, making the body hungry again soon after. Dr Denise Robertson, a nutritional physiologist at the University of Surrey, says that cooking pasta and cooling it down changes its structure, turning it into ‘resistant starch’. This means that the pasta becomes more resistant to the enzymes in the gut which break carbohydrates down, slowing the release of glucose. This is much better for the body as it increases the time before hunger returns, which is a bonus for anyone watching their weight.

30 SIT-DOWN MEALS CAN PILE ON POUNDS

Researchers at Anglia Ruskin University found that when participants ate a brownie while standing, they rated it as significantly less delicious than when they were seated — making it less likely that they would over-eat.

Standing while eating seems to dull taste perception, as it puts more physical stress on the body, causing the heart to pump faster and blood to flush away from tthe nerves in the nose and mouth.

And the release of stress hormones can slow neural connections in the brain — decreasing taste perception.