Just One Thing: How simple changes can transform your life

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This was such an inspiring book! I’ve followed Michael Mosley’s books and TV programmes for a few years now and enjoy his ideas about diet and physical health. In fact before reading this book I’d already implemented a couple into my daily routine after all the indulgence over Christmas and New Year, without realising they were in the book, so that was a nice surprise! I was surprised to read about the benefits of eating beetroot (who knew) and enjoyed learning that the temperature decrease that happens after a warm bath mimics the body's natural drop in core temperature prior to sleep. This is why Doctors always recommend a hot bath 90 minutes before bed to aid sleep. Did you know that eating chocolate can help your heart, that singing can give you a natural 'high' and that having more house plants can improve your mood and boost your productivity?

One of the most popular episodes from the first series of Just One Thing explored the risks and benefits of cold water immersion. For this episode I started having cold showers every morning, starting with a brief burst of hot water, followed by 45 seconds or so of an icy cold blast. Emerging evidence suggests that unless you are doing 40 minutes of moderately vigorous exercise every single day, you cannot undo the damage that sitting causes. And even worse, if you sit for long periods each day, you could be decreasing the benefits of any exercise you do." Chapter entitled Stand Up Dr Michael Mosley is very easy to listen to and I've watched quite a few of his documentaries, however surprisingly, this is my first time reading any of his - many - books. Just One Thing - How Simple Changes Can Transform Your Life presents simple and easy changes you can make daily that will have significantly positive impacts on your overall health and wellbeing. I highly recommend ‘Just One Thing’ if you are interested in a healthier life but feel intimidated by all the information out there. Dr Michael Mosley is an engaging and approachable author who genuinely cares about your health and well-being.

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So what happened? Well the average systolic blood pressure of the volunteers at the start was 133.6mmHg. On the beetroot diet, this went down to 128.7mmHg. Consuming two cloves of garlic a day gave a similar result (129.3mmHg). Get that brolly out! It may feel deeply counter-intuitive - but rainy days could offer a host of health and mood-lifting benefits. Rain improves air quality, literally washing fine particulate pollution away, and rainfall also releases Geosmin, a fragrant compound which is linked with relaxation and increased serotonin levels. What’s more, Professor Michael Terman, from Columbia University in New York, introduces Michael to negative air ions created after rainfall. He is researching how high levels of negative ions could potentially reduce stress, stave off depression and maybe even boost your immune system. Meanwhile, our volunteer Dennis steps outside and embraces the rain. Each 'thing' is grouped according to the time of day Dr Mosley recommends you try the activity, although naturally they can be done at any time. The categories are: Early Morning, Breakfast, Mid-Morning, Lunchtime, Afternoon and Evening. I really liked that right at the beginning of the book he tells you to only try one thing at a time, as it just won’t work if you do more.work. Also if the one thing you do try doesn’t work, don’t worry about it, as it might not be the right time for it, so try something else instead. Isn’t that refreshing?

It certainly perks you up, but is there anything more to it than that? Well, there was a Dutch study published in 2016 in the journal PLOS Onewhere they recruited 3,018 people online and then randomly allocated them to having a cold shower every morning for a month, or to a control group who continued as normal. Those having the cold shower were further divided into those asked to do it for 30 seconds, 60 seconds or 90 seconds. Based on the popular BBC podcast, Just One Thing, this book brings to life Dr Mosley's mission to find things you can introduce into your daily routine which will have a big impact on your mental and physical health. An ideal healthy systolic blood pressure is between 90 and 120mmHg, so what can you do if your blood pressure is slightly too high? Well, losing a bit of weight, exercising more and stopping smoking will all help, but so can consuming certain foods – or at least that is what we discovered on Trust Me, I’m A Doctor, when we did a small experiment with Dr Andy Webb at King’s College, London, a few years ago.Just One Thing is a non-fiction book by British author and podcaster, Michael Mosley. It basically summarises the information contained in his popular BBC podcast series of the same title. It is in no way necessary to have heard the podcast to benefit from this book, but readers may wish to access it after reading this. There are so many brilliant ideas that I want to try, like improving my balance by brushing my teeth whilst standing on one leg, dancing and singing more, eating chocolate, yes really, and standing up more, rather than sitting around reading all day! New episodes will be released on Wednesdays, but if you’re in the UK, listen to new episodes, a week early, first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3zqa6BB The name comes from the fact that contracting your muscles (to climb stairs or lift weights) is called ‘concentric exercise’, but any work that goes into those muscles while they are stretched and elongated (as you go downstairs or lower the weights) is known as ‘eccentric exercise’ (pronounced ‘ee-centric’).