This evening, when you stand at the sink to brush your teeth, will you stand on one foot or both?
It may seem like a strange question, but you’d be surprised to know that many people balance on one leg – and TV doctor Michael Mosley tells us why.
Dr Mosley was tragically found dead on the Greek island of Symi earlier this year, aged 67. Today, Radio 4 paid tribute to this much-loved health expert, re-presenting some of his best tips and tricks for living a better life.
read more: How Dr. Michael Mosley revolutionized dieting, from the 5:2 diet to the Fast 800 diet
Speaking on the podcast series “Just One Thing,” Dr Mosley encouraged the public to make small changes to their lives that can dramatically improve their mental and physical health.
Each episode focused on one thing you could start doing right away: Whether it was standing on one leg, taking cold showers, or just being kind, Dr. Mosley’s suggestions had a surprising number of health benefits.
Here’s a look at some of our favorites.
1. Stand on one leg
The popularity of Dr. Moseley’s campaign to do “just one thing” to improve your life lies in its simplicity and effortlessness.
While any diet plan or fitness program requires some commitment, planning and time, Dr Mosley’s advice was to incorporate something extra into your daily routine so that you barely notice the change. Standing on one leg sums up his philosophy very well.
It’s amazing that such a simple movement can have such a big effect, but Dr Mosley says: “Practicing it is good for your brain, good for your balance and good for your leg muscles. Try doing it with your eyes closed to see how difficult it actually is.”
Dr Mosley said just four minutes of balancing on one leg could extend his life – his favourite time to practise was while brushing his teeth.
Standing on one leg improves your sense of balance and strengthens your leg muscles, while also testing your brain in different ways, he explained. “Balance is something we don’t really think about because we take it for granted,” he said. “But balance is actually a wonderful thing. Humans are pretty much the only mammals that can stand on two legs.”
Explaining why practising balancing on one leg is important, he said, “Accidental falls are the second leading cause of preventable death worldwide after road accidents. You want to practise your balance, especially as you get older and fall and break your hip. You can do tai chi or yoga to improve your balance, but I like to stand on one leg and balance when I brush my teeth.”
He says to stand on each leg for 30 seconds, alternating between each, and recommends using an electric toothbrush rather than a manual one, as it can be “really hard” otherwise.
Research has also shown that being good at standing on one leg may help you live longer. He explains: “There was a study done a few years ago, published in the BMJ. They took a group of middle-aged people and gave them a series of tests, one of which was their ability to stand on one leg – could they stand for a minute? And they followed them up 20 years later to see what happened, and it was the best predictor of who was still alive.”
2. Drink red wine
When it comes to food and drink, having a glass of wine a day isn’t usually at the top of the list of healthy habits, but Dr Mosley had a knack for making us feel a little more tolerant of such indulgences.
According to Dr Mosley, red wine is good for your heart and promotes healthy gut bacteria, so with that in mind, he suggests that if you enjoy alcohol, consider switching to red wine instead of beer or a gin and tonic.
He told Radio 4 listeners: “Red wine is my favourite alcoholic drink – in fact it’s the only alcoholic drink I drink. Not only do I love the taste and flavour, but red wine has some fascinating proven health benefits.”
“Unfortunately, alcohol itself is bad for you, so if you’re not a drinker I wouldn’t recommend starting right away, but if you’re already a drinker, maybe try swapping your occasional beer, cider, cocktail or spirit for red wine.” Just one small glass two or three days a week is enough to reap the health benefits, he said.
Dr Mosley explained that the popular drink is particularly high in polyphenols, compounds produced by plants that have a range of beneficial effects, including lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart disease, lowering cholesterol and positively influencing the gut microbiome.
A study found that red wine drinkers have a healthier, more diverse gut microbiome than non-drinkers, meaning there are more different kinds of microorganisms in your gut. More variety means your gut can become a “living pharmacy” and produce more of the healthful chemicals that are essential to aid your metabolism, immune system, and digestion.
But he warned: “If you drink alcohol every day, you’re likely to quickly reach levels that become more harmful than beneficial.”
3. Eat snacks while exercising
Getting healthy may feel like a chore, but Dr. Mosley’s “exercise snack” method proves that anyone can find the time to exercise.
Exercise snacks involve short bouts of exercise rather than full workouts all day long, and the health guru himself says this is the change most likely to be sustainable.
“I’m definitely going to continue with ‘snacks during exercise,'” Dr. Mosley said. “Three 10-minute sessions of brisk walks, squats, and quick stair-climbing throughout the day. It’s good to hear that I’m getting the same or even better fitness and health benefits as a full 30 minutes of exercise, which can be hard to find the time for on long work days.”
He recommended three 10-minute bouts of exercise or six five-minute bouts of exercise each day, and although each session is short, it provides the same, if not more, fitness and health benefits than doing longer sessions, he explained.
Snacking during exercise can provide an additional opportunity for weight loss individuals to boost their metabolism, resulting in increased calorie burn. Short bouts of exercise can also help improve blood sugar and blood pressure.
Simple ways to incorporate exercise as a “snack” include taking the stairs instead of the elevator or getting off the bus a few stops earlier.
Anita Rani, presenter of Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour and Dr Mosley’s former guest on The One Show, said snacking while exercising was a tip he gave her that she “absolutely adheres to”.
“For someone like me who’s always running around the country, this makes perfect sense,” she said. “You just find moments where you can do little things. I like to squat down a little while watching a TV show. I never stand on an escalator, I always walk up it. I also recommend putting your arms down on the sofa while watching TV. I watch a lot of TV, so maybe I have time to exercise.”
4. Take a cold shower
It might sound counterproductive, but turning off the hot water when you shower may actually help prevent you from getting sick over the winter, says Dr Mosley.
He suggested that “hot/cold cycling” could be the secret to surviving cold weather without catching a cold – starting your shower with water that’s just a little warmer than body temperature, then switching to cooler water.
A Dutch study split more than 3,000 people into two groups: those who took hot showers and those who alternated between hot and cold water. “The following winter, the hot/cold group took nearly 30% less sick days and most reported increased energy levels, so after the study ended, almost two-thirds of participants continued to take hot/cold showers,” Dr Mosley explained.
The water doesn’t need to be freezing, just about the temperature you’d expect a cold glass of water to be.
Dr Mosley, who has tried the method himself, says he starts by washing quickly with warm water, then washing with cold water for 30 to 40 seconds. “I usually time myself by singing a few verses of a song, which helps to reduce the shock,” he says. “You can also do a second hot/cold cycle in addition to the first, but I haven’t seen any compelling evidence that this is particularly effective.”
5. Be kind
The final episode of Dr Mosley’s “Just One Thing” series focused on the benefits of simply being kind to others, which he said not only improves mental health, but also has a positive impact on the immune system and reduces pain.
Dr Mosley told the audience: “Practicing kindness in general increases happiness and reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, but what I’ve found particularly striking is that it appears to have a powerful effect on the immune system by reducing inflammation.”
In 2023, a study was conducted on three groups of people with mild symptoms of depression and anxiety. One group was instructed to perform acts of kindness three times a week, a second group was told to be more sociable, and a third group received written tests on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). The study found that being kind had the greatest impact on mood, leading scientists to conclude that acts of kindness have greater health benefits than existing CBT techniques.
Speaking of the science behind kindness and happiness, Dr Mosley explained: “Brain scans show that when people decide to be generous or cooperate with others, an area of the brain called the striatum becomes active. This is the brain structure that responds to things we find rewarding, like eating delicious food or taking an addictive drug. Activation of the striatum is thought to be the biological basis for the warm glow of good feelings we get from being kind.”
Brain scans have also shown that kindness helps ease pain: In one study, people were given electric shocks while deciding whether or not to donate, and those who chose to donate experienced reduced pain.
Dr. Tristan Inagaki of San Diego State University said research has shown that people who perform acts of kindness have lower levels of systemic inflammation, which could reduce the risk of many major diseases.
Dr Mosley said doing just three acts of kindness each week may be enough to reap the benefits of being kind.
