Health hacks that will help make you feel amazing every day

carotenoids, support eye health and hormone production.

Green options, containing sulforaphane and glucosinolate, safeguard against certain cancers and blood vessel damage.

Blue/purple choices, with anthocyanins, act as powerful antioxidants, reduce cell damage, and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. Finally, white/beige foods, featuring anthoxanthins, can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, inflammatory conditions, and provide essential nutrients like vitamin C and potassium.

■■Top tip: Try serving crudites before meals to up the veg count, enjoy a fruit salad for dessert, and work some veggies – from basics like tomatoes and mushrooms to spinach or avocado – into your breakfast.

Let’s dance!

Engaging in just five minutes of dancing every day helps to improve psychological wellbeing and cognition, promotes selfconfidence and self-esteem, and enhances heart health.

Dance can aid in weight management, strengthen bones, and reduce the risk of osteoporosis. A study published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity examined the effects of a dance intervention for older adults. The participants engaged in daily dance sessions for six months and the group saw significantly improved physical health, reduced depression and enhanced quality of life. ■■Top tip: Find a space where you can move freely, put on some music that inspires you and let yourself be carried away by the rhythm. Remember, the focus is on enjoying the movement and connecting with the music, not on how you look to others. All you need is to lose yourself in the music and feel the rhythm. Enjoy it!

Pause for breath

The 4-7-8 breathing technique is a simple yet powerful relaxation exercise. Originating from yogic breathing practices and developed by American medic Dr Andrew Weil, this technique has been shown to decrease anxiety, reduce stress, improve sleep, manage emotions, control food cravings, calm the nervous system, and reduce muscle tension.

■■Top tip: Sit comfortably. Breathe air out through the mouth then breathe in through the nose for a count of four. Hold the breath for seven counts. Then breathe out through the mouth in a whooshing sound for a count of eight. This is one breath. Now inhale again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths. At first, stick to just four rounds, twice a day. Any more may make you light-headed. After a month you can increase up to eight rounds.

Mealtime mindfulness

Let’s dive into the world of mindful eating and how it can transform your relationship with food. Its benefits include aiding weight loss, improving healthier eating habits, and reducing overeating and binge eating.

It involves being aware of the physical and emotional sensations associated with eating and paying attention to factors such as hunger cues, portion sizes, and environmental influences.

A 2014 study demonstrated that mindfulness was associated with reduced impulsive eating, lower calorie consumption and healthier snack choices.

■■Top tip: Eat at a table away from your work desk or TV. Turn off phones and technology while you have your meal and really notice the food on your plate – smell and taste each mouthful.

Alternatively, try the raisin exercise, a fun activity popularised by Jon Kabat-zinn, an American professor emeritus of medicine and founder of the Stress Reduction Clinic. It involves holding a single raisin and engaging all your senses – seeing, touching, smelling – before finally tasting and chewing it. It’s a powerful way to slow down, appreciate the food in front of you and truly savour each moment.

Say thanks to yourself

Gratitude practices are like a secret superpower that can improve your life by recognising the good stuff, no matter how small. Instead of focusing on what we don’t have or the things that didn’t go our way, gratitude shifts our perspective and helps us appreciate people, things, and even ourselves.

A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that gratitude interventions led to increased happiness and reduced depressive symptoms. It also brings improved sleep, boosts the immune system, and dials down aggression. It’s like a gratitude party for your overall wellbeing.

■■Top tip: Grab a journal and jot down three to five things you’re grateful for each day. Alternatively, create a gratitude jar. Write your gratitudes on slips of paper and pop them in the jar. When you’re feeling down, take out those slips and remind yourself of all the good stuff.

Find a cosy spot, close your eyes, and with each breath, breathe in thoughts of thankfulness. Inhale the good vibes for three counts and exhale any stress for four counts.

Embrace the chill

Cold showers, despite being initially daunting, offer numerous benefits for the body and mind. They improve circulation, promote deeper sleep, boost energy levels, reduce inflammation, strengthen the immune system, lower stress levels, increase endorphins, enhance concentration and alertness, and even aid weight loss.

A study published in the Public Library of Science journal, PLOS One, revealed that cold water immersion resulted in increased circulating immune cell numbers, suggesting an improvement in immune function.

■■Top tip: A good way to start is by reducing the temperature of the water at the end of your shower for between 30 seconds and a minute and gradually increasing both the temperature reduction and time spent under cold water. Breathe deeply and steady your breath and aim to relax, this will help decrease the initial discomfort.

■■Words by Kerry Sanson, holistic lifestyle and fitness coach and author of The Book of Health Hacks (£22.50, Brown Dog Books)