WE all know 10,000 steps a day can be good for our health but new research suggests less than half an hour’s walking can cut risk of a fall in old age.
It is estimated one in three elderly have a tumble each year, many ending up in hospital with broken bones or knocks to the head.
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Yet there are many ways, other than walking, to boost your health now rather than wait till it’s urgent.
They range from naps to . . . a rule that helps eyesight.
With the help of GP Dr Thomas Matthews, founder of health site mbewellness.com, Clare o’Reilly talks you through some simple ideas . . .
Protect your eyes with 20/20/20 rule
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MANY of us spend hours each day staring at a screen, whether it’s for work or scrolling through social media.
And this can cause eye strain and headaches.
To protect your peepers and give them a much-needed rest, the Royal National National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) suggests adopting the 20/20/20 rule.
This involves taking a 20-second break every 20 minutes and looking at an object that is at least 20ft away from you.
Take more naps during the day
SLEEPING for half an hour extra every day could make you more alert.
Research in Sweden, at the University of Stockholm found hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock when it goes off can work wonders for health.
And Dr Matthews adds: “It eases us into being awake, rather than the abrupt nature of alarms.
“Being awoken by an alarm can cause a sudden release of cortisol which can lead to a stressed start to the day.
“It’s also thought “eureka” moments happen in sleep’s latter stages.”
Walk up five flights of stairs
RISK of heart disease or stroke is cut by a fifth if you regularly slog up enough stairs.
US research at Tulane University in New Orleans found five flights of steps a day can do the trick.
Stairs are a thing most of us have ready access to at home or work and they could be a quick fix for the 100,000 people in the UK hospitalised with heart disease each year.
Dr Matthews says: “If this is something you can do when given the opportunity it all adds up.”
Fend off diabetes with a cup of tea
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THE simple act of putting the kettle on could nearly halve risk of type 2 diabetes.
Scientists in Australia at the University of Adelaide found those who drink a daily cup of tea cut their risk of this condition, that costs the NHS £10billion a year, by 47 per cent.
Dr Matthews adds: “There are so many varieties of tea and it supplements your body with naturally occurring ingredients.
“It can also help stave of food cravings which means consuming less sugar and calories and decreasing risk of diabetes.”
Forget five fruit and veg, you need ten
If you struggle to get your “five a day”, you may be surprised to hear roughly doubling it could prevent up to 7.8million premature deaths worldwide every year.
A team at Imperial College London found 800g of different fruit and veg daily reduced risk of cancer by 13 per cent, stroke 33 per cent, heart disease 24 per cent, cardiovascular disease 28 per cent and premature death 31 per cent.
Dr Matthews adds: “We evolved to eat primarily food grown from the earth, not diary and meat, and this is what our body craves to function optimally and be healthy.”
Green bananas reduce cancer risk
IF you end up letting your bananas go brown in the fruit bowl, start buying the green ones and don’t let them ripen before eating.
They are packed with starch that acts like fibre in our bodies to feed “friendly” bacteria in the gut.
These then convert the starch to a fatty acid found to reduce risk of colon cancer.
Dr Matthews says: “Risk of colon cancer is increased by exposing cells that line the colon to toxins in our waste.
“So decreasing transit time for waste is in our bowel reduces this exposure and risk.
“One key to this is increasing our intake of fibre or fibre-acting substances.”
It’s a myth that you can be fat but fit
BAD news for the plus-size fitness bloggers, research finds it is not possible to be both fat and fit.
The hashtag has more than 27,000 mentions on Instagram but German researchers at Leipzig University found any obesity carries with it health risks.
Dr Matthews adds: “Excess fat raises risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, especially when deposited around the tummy. Some individuals may be healthier than others independent of weight, but excess fat is not healthy.”
Don’t drink eight glasses of water
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MANY believe this regular glugging is vital but it is not clear where the recommended number of drinks comes from.
With a fifth of daily fluid requirement in the food we eat, experts say age, weight, gender and activity levels should be taken into account when it comes to hydration.
Dr Matthews says: “The amount of water we need depends on many things, from the weather to how active we are, but if urine is anything but pale yellow or clear you need to drink more.”
To lose weight, cut down on fructose
IF you want to lose weight, cut your intake of fructose – a processed sugar in corn syrup, which is in many processed drinks and foods.
Scientists in the US, at the University of Colorado, found high counts of it in soft drinks, chocolate and other sweets make our metabolisms go to sleep so you feel hungrier.
Dr Matthews says: “Natural sugars such as in fresh fruit are helpful, especially in aiding our brains to function, but anything processed disrupts our gut metabolism.”
You don’t need more than eight hours’ kip
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BETWEEN six and eight hours’ sleep a night is plenty, experts agree, and more may be harmful.
A study in the European Heart Journal found even one extra hour raised risk of cardiovascular disease by five per cent, while that rose to 41 per cent for those regularly kipping for ten hours.
Dr Matthews adds: “If you find yourself requiring more than eight hours regularly it might be a sign of a lack of quality sleep, which can lead to its own increased health risks.”
