Friendship
Make time for friends and you are investing
in your own wellbeing. Good friendships don’t only make us happy – research
shows that they also help us to de-stress, feel good about ourselves, provide
vital support when the going gets tough, help us live longer and keep our
brains healthy as we get older, too.
Make
time for friends and you are investing in your own wellbeing
Good Bugs
Is it worth taking probiotic yogurts and
supplements for a healthier gut? If you have an infectious tummy bug, suffer
from IBS or imflammatory bowel disease, the answer may be yes, says Professor
Roger Jones of the charity Core, which fights gut and liver disease. You can
also help feed your body’s supply of good bugs by eating more lentils, oats,
bananas, asparagus and leeks – they’re all rich in prebiotics that stimulate
the growth and activity of beneficial probiotic gut bacteria. Take probiotics
for at least four weeks to see an effect, but remember they are all different
and the effects are train specific, so if one type doesn’t work, try another.
Hair
‘When it comes to your general health, hair
is an incredibly sensitive barometer. It’s also one of the fastest cell
reproducers in your body – second only to bone marrow’, says leading
trichologist Philip Kingsley. ‘The hair’s reaction to illness is an invaluable
diagnostic tool and sudden hir loss or hair thinning can indicate an underlying
problem like anaemia, thyroid dysfunction, hormonal disturbances or nutritional
inadequacies.’ For healthy hair, he recommends including iron-rich meat, fruit,
salad and plenty of water in your diet.
IBS
If you suffer from irritable bowel syndrome
and struggle to find anything to calm troublesome symptoms, it could be time to
try hypnosis. Recent research carried out by Gloucestershire Royal Hospital
revealed that some 90% if IBS patients treated with hypnotherapy experienced a
significant improvement in symptoms, and 40% found that their condition cleared
up completely. Hypnosis works by inducing a state of altered consciousness that
appears to relieve symptoms and help people feel more in control.
Joint Health
The latest research suggests that fish oils
may go beyond relieving joint pain and could actually slow down the progress of
osteoarthritis. Bristol University researchers who gave omega 3 fatty acids to
guinea pigs (an animal that naturally develops the disease) found that those
treated with fish oil had a 50% reduction on disease. ‘This research brings us
closer to understanding how omega3 might fundamentally interfere with the
osteoarthritis process and that it could potentially be taken as a treatment,’
says Professor Alan Silman, medical director of Arthritis Research UK.
Knitting
Believe it or not, clicking away can induce
relaxation, improve mood and even relieve pain. Betsan Corkhill, a former
physiotherapist who runs a knitting group in the pain clinic at Bath’s Royal
United Hospital, says: ‘It’s the bilateral, repetitive, rhythmic movements of
knitting that make it so helpful, and the research shows it can bring on a
meditative-like state, which helps relieve stress and pain, and promotes
general wellbeing.’ The effect is so powerful that Betsan’s group www.stitchlinks.com is now launching a
network of therapeutic knitting groups around the country.
Laughter
There’s no better guarantee to lighten your
load, melt away stress and give you a health boost all at the same time than
having a good laugh. Numerous studies show that when we laugh, stress hormones
decrease, immunity improves and cholesterol and blood pressure levels drop. In
fact, a study of more than 50,000 people by scientists at the Norwegian
University of Science and Technology found that people with the highest ‘humour
score’ have far better life expectancy than those who were less inclined to
have a good giggle.
