#HealthFix: Give Your Well-Being A Boost With These Easy-Do Tips

Eat Clean, Keep Hydrated

Drink a couple of glasses of water as soon as you wake up. This will help cleanse your system. Follow it up with a glass of lemonade or green tea. Kick-start your day with a healthy, whole­some breakfast. Have small but frequent meals through the day. Keep dinners light and finish it up by 8 p.m. Include lots of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet. Go for wholegrains and complex carbs and reduce your intake of refined carbs. Get your protein from beans, lentils, lean meats and fish. Keep fat intake to a minimum—especially the artery-clogging trans fats. Ditch high-calorie, as well as packaged, foods that come with additives, artificial colouring and preservatives, all of which speed up ageing. Consume organic foods as far as possible to reduce your exposure to toxins. Drink at least 8-10 glasses of water through the day.

Jump for Joy

In your 30s, take advantage of the fact that your joints can still handle high-intensity aerobic exercises, such as jumping rope and jogging. A recent study finds these kinds of heart-pounding workouts can actually slow the build-up of plaque in your arteries; the more intense the aerobics, the more marked the slowdown. Weight-bearing aerobic exercises such as jumping rope do triple duty, helping you maintain strong bones and clean arteries while you burn calories. Whatever aerobic regimen you choose, aim for 30 to 60 minutes at a sweat-breaking pace 4 or 5 times a week.

Ayurveda slows Ageing

Panchakarma treat­ment—a set of five therapies designed mainly to cleanse the body of toxins—is known to delay the onset of ageing when started early and done on a regular basis. Make sure you visit a reputed ayurveda clinic to get one based on your constitution and symptoms.

Feign Away

New research vouches for the ol’ ‘fake-it-till-you-make-it’ approach, show­ing that walking in an upbeat style—shoulders back, gaze forward, and arms swinging by your sides—is a simple, quick way to lift your spirits. Adjust your presentation, lift your gloom.

Lower your Brain Age

Give your mind a promotion: Doing any kind of job—paid or unpaid—that uses creative thinking can shave up to six years off your brain age. ‘Creative’ can even mean crunching numbers or writing memos, just so long as it involves questioning, problem-solving and learning. Find a new hobby that you’re passionate about; it will provide the same anti-ageing benefits.

Collated from articles previously published in Prevention magazine