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ZOE Science & Nutrition

Michael Mosley: 4 habits that changed his life

ZOE Science & Nutrition

ZOE

Nutrition, Science, Health & Fitness, Education

4.65.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 March 2023

⏱️ 51 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

If you had to do just one thing to improve your health, what would it be? Our busy lives mean it can be difficult to keep up healthy habits, and with so much conflicting advice out there it’s tricky to separate fact from fiction. In today’s episode, Jonathan is joined by medical doctor, journalist, and presenter Michael Mosley, who is alongside ZOE regular Tim Spector, to discuss Michael’s four key habits to improve our health.  Michael’s latest book ‘Just One Thing’ explores these habits and has seen him speak to singing scientists and eccentric iceman to healthy habit experts and evangelists. And of course, being Michael, he tried every habit out himself. We talk about which methods are the most effective, which he has incorporated into his life, and how he makes his new habits stick. Download our FREE guide — Top 10 Tips to Live Healthier: https://zoe.com/freeguide Timecodes: 00:00 Introduction 00:12 Topic introduction 01:38 Quick Fire Questions 03:24 Michael's simple changes to improve health 04:26 Are cold showers good for you? 05:54 How long do you need to be immersed in cold water for the benefits to work? 06:40 Can cold showers improve mental wellbeing? 10:25 Potential dangers of cold water swimming 11:58 Do cultural differences present different outcomes across the world? 13:08 Can these small stressors help us? 13:28 What is the theory behind this working? 15:21 Will this work for everyone or is this very personalized? 17:45 What effects does breathing have on your health? 18:57 How breathing exercises affect our brain 21:23 How do you keep up the breathing exercises? 22:36 ZOE app breathing exercise 24:44 Is there a difference between breathing through your nose and your mouth? 26:04 How important are plants and nature for our health? 29:21 Can exposure to nature improve things like mental health and even gut health? 31:01 Can herbs also help improve our health? 31:27 What are the benefits of exercise? 32:42 What are endocannabinoids? 33:41 Are preferences for exercise genetic? 35:12 Is it endorphins that make us feel good after / during exercise? 36:31 How exercise affects us is extremely personalized 38:42 How do we encourage people who don't enjoy exercise to do it? 40:13 Tips to improve your exercise routines 43:08 Are there benefits to walking downhill? 45:42 Summary 48:34 Goodbyes 49:08 Outro Episode transcripts are available here Michael Mosley’s book is available to buy here Follow ZOE on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoe/ Have an idea for a podcast? Contact Fascinate Productions to bring it to life.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to Zoe, Science and Nutrition, where world-leading scientists explain how their

0:04.9

research can improve your health.

0:11.2

If you had to do just one thing to improve your health, what would it be?

0:16.4

It's a question that medical doctor, journalist and presenter Michael Mosley set out to answer

0:22.0

in his book, Just One Thing.

0:24.9

From seeing scientists to eccentric icemen, Michael spoke to healthy habit experts and

0:30.1

evangelists to separate fact from fat.

0:34.1

And of course, being Michael, he tried every habit out himself.

0:40.9

What we wanted to know was having tried them all, which are the most effective, which

0:46.2

is he incorporated into his life, and how does he make his new habit stick.

0:51.4

Today, Michael joins us alongside Zoe regular Tim Spector to discuss his four key habits

0:56.7

to improve our health.

1:02.0

Michael and Tim, thank you for joining me today.

1:04.7

I feel surrounded by an amazing amount of knowledge on lifestyle and nutrition, and I'm

1:11.2

really looking forward to this.

1:14.0

We always start the podcast with a quick fire round of questions from our listeners, and

1:20.2

the rules are very simple.

1:21.5

You can say yes or no or a maximum of a one sentence answer, but no more than that.

1:28.0

And I want to have a little bit of fun this week because I think having Tim here with

1:33.0

you, Michael, I know that Tim is a bit of a rebel.

1:36.2

He doesn't really like to agree with anybody.

1:39.6

And so I thought it would be quite fun to ask each of these questions and have Michael

...

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