It’s a week to the publication of my new book on walking in nature. To celebrate, my next few posts will be on some of the astonishing (and often little-known) benefits of walking. We hope you’ll also join our free book launch webinar – details below. May and June are our favourite months for moving…
COULD WINTER SEA SWIMMING LIFT YOUR MOOD?
Last week Teenage Daughter asked me to go for a sea swim with her. It was February. It was cold. I had just rolled out of my deliciously warm bed. But having spent the last year saying ‘No’ to all her requests (Can I see a friend? No. Can I go out? No. Can I…
WHAT IF THERE WAS ONE VITAMIN THAT SLOWS AGEING? AND A LONGEVITY-BOOSTING RECIPE
Wouldn’t it be lovely if there was just one thing we could do, one food to eat or one supplement to take which would slow down ageing? It would make everything so simple. But ageing is such a complex process that one quick fix is as likely as flying pigs. There has, however, been a…
WHAT’S HAPPENING IN YOUR BODY AS YOU AGE, AND A BRAIN HEALTH MASTERCLASS
Hi there, how are you feeling? I was so hoping that 2021 would be a fresh start for us all, but here we are (in the UK at least) back in lockdown and facing a rather grim first few months of the year. So I’ve been looking at fresh starts in other ways – not…
THE SILVER BULLET FOR ALZHEIMER’S? AND OUR FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS RECIPES
It’s going to be a strange Christmas for many of us: plans scrapped at the last minute, not seeing friends and family in the way that we hoped and potential food shortages. Honestly, who’s stockpiling lettuce?! The only option is to make this festive season the best we can, finding joy in the small things…
WHY I’M EATING MORE MEAT AND MY NEW FAVOURITE SALAD
I know it’s controversial, and I know I’ve written a lot about eating more vegetables – and my own almost entirely plant-based diet – but recently I’ve started eating more meat. After years of reading and research, I’ve come to the conclusion that a little good quality meat isn’t the dietary bogeyman which will decimate…
WHY WRITING BY HAND IS GOOD FOR YOUR BRAIN, A PRIZE DRAW TO SPUR YOU ON, AND SIMPLE STUFFED PEPPERS
Has anyone else noticed the surging number of people writing in public? In London, where I walk beside the River Thames every day, I’ve become increasingly aware of people sitting on benches, writing. Not playing with their phones or ipads, but writing by hand in note books and on paper. I began lamenting the loss…
EAT MORE GARLIC AND KEEP MAP-READING
Yes an odd combination, but both of the above could help preserve our memories. And both are easy enough to do. We all love the convenience and effortlessness of Google maps and any other digital map app or satellite navigation system we might be using. But a growing body of research suggests we may have…
How diet boosts brain power: the science
Annabel and I read hundreds of research articles each month to keep up to date with the latest findings on healthy longevity. We’ve learned to decode the different methodologies to understand which are the most meaningful, and relevant, to The Age-Well Project. There’s such a broad span of research methods, from investigating the insides of…
HOW TO AGE HAPPILY IN 2020
Happy New Year from The Age-Well Project! We hope that you’re looking at the year, and the decade, ahead with optimism. Optimism is a great tool for health and happiness. Research published last summer assessed the optimism levels of almost 70,000 people in the US. It found that the most optimistic individuals lived between…