Doctor and diet expert Michael Mosley has revealed a way you can prevent yourself from constantly developing annoying colds. The 'short, sharp shock' treatment could help people avoid colds according to the expert, reports Wales Online.
Michael appeared on BBC Radio Wales to talk about his new book - Just One Thing - which is out in paperback. His new book is about how people can make small changes to their lifestyle that can dramatically improve their health and aid weight loss.
However presenter Behnaz Akhgar asked him if there were any ideas which didn’t make the cut - as Michael tends to test out all the ideas he is suggested by himself.
There was one suggestion - taking a cold shower - the doctor said was of great benefit, and he shared how he manages to psyche himself up to do it - in a rather unusual way.
Behnaz Akhgar said: "You seem to present lots of positive ideas, lots of simple ideas within the podcast, within the book that we could be doing, I was just wondering if you’ve been looking at some other ideas that have been sent to you, you’ve tested it, and you’ve decided ‘actually, no’ and you’ve rejected it."
Mosley replied: "There have been one or two things I’ve tried out, for example one of the suggestions was to have a hot bath about an hour before you go to bed.
"And that was said to help you drift off to sleep and indeed this idea came to me from a sleep expert who does it.
"But to be honest I don’t have problems with falling asleep - I have greater problems waking up at three in the morning and staying awake - that’s why I do the breathing - and I’m not about to go and have a hot bath then.
"I tend to have my shower in the morning. I’m currently having cold showers. That was one of the suggestions - have you had a go at cold showers?"
Behnaz replied: "Ah yes love that but in the summer it’s much easier isn’t it?"
Mosley said: "This is the time of year to start if you’re ever going to do it. What I say to people is go in, have it on one to start with, obviously wash yourself, then you switch it to cold and initially just try to stay there for about 20 seconds.
"I sing a song while I’m doing it because singing is good for you and also takes away some of the pain. I do a couple of verses and that normally gets me through about 45 seconds which seems to be enough."
Behnaz joked: "Are you singing or screaming?"
Dr Mosley replied: "Well I’m singing although my wife might think it’s screaming."
Cold water is meant to help the body's resistance to certain illnesses, helping them experience them less frequently and more mildly. For example, cold water swimmers are said to have fewer upper respiratory tract infections.
Scientists believe it might be the cold water rather than the exercise that benefits the swimmers, as the body gets more resilient with training itself for stress - and a cold shower provokes a stressful response.
A study found having a 30-second cold shower in the morning for 60 days in a row could decrease the number of sick days by 30 per cent.
Mosley commented on the issue of breathing affecting your sleep, as he said: "One of my favourites and what has been genuinely life-changing is doing the slow deep breathing exercises.
"They’re really simple called 4-2-4. What you do is you inhale through your nose for four, you hold it for a couple of seconds and then you breathe out through your mouth for kind of four.
"You do that for a minute or so, your heart rate slows down. “If you’re feeling a bit stressed through the day it has a big impact. But say you’re awake in the middle of the night and you’re worrying about stuff.
"You do that for a minute or so and you’ll be surprised that nine times out of ten you’ll just drop off to sleep. In the book I kind of go into the science of that and also variants on it.
"It is amazing how much difference just changing your breathing pattern can do. It’s something really really simply but it has a profound effect."
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