Science-Backed Lifestyle Hacks To Reboot Your Health

07 February 6 min read

Running on empty for no obvious reason? Try these simple tweaks to your everyday routine to reboot before hitting up your healthcare provider.

☝️ Disclaimer. This article is for those who feel tired because of their lifestyle and/or eating habits. If a healthy diet, good sleep and exercise do not help you cope with fatigue, it is time to talk to a doctor.

In a previous article, we reviewed the main lifestyle factors that could be destroying your energy levels and even your health. To check out this evidence-based investigation, just click on the link immediately to your right.

Our species has made incredible discoveries and technological advances, but we are now individually accountable for managing the health consequences of modern life. In this instance, the first rule of #FightClub is to accept that change is hard, so be compassionate with yourself, because here’s what you stand to gain:

Better sleep
Improved mood
Satisfactory digestion
Enhanced brain function
Disease prevention

For those who want the fixes without the inside story, here’s the low-down on what’s eating away at your energy levels, brain health and wellbeing in the modern world.

Lifestyle-killing-mojo-1
How and why your lifestyle's killing your mojo

Back to basics: mojo killers 101

The human body hasn’t evolved as fast as technology. Like your grandparents, it's at odds with the modern world. Working and living are a lot less physically taxing than before, and these changes can affect the brain’s ability to generate new neurons.

This process is called neurogenesis. Although it was discovered back in the 1960's, this field has only recently been getting airtime and research funding. Inhibiting this essential process is associated with a lot of bad things, like depression and Alzheimer's.

High-fat, high sugar diets and a combination of both can affect neurogenesis. This biological operation happens in the brain’s centre for memory, emotions and spatial awareness. Poor sleep (and lack of it) may also negatively impact this essential process.

24-hour living, especially shift work, is detrimental to human health. Not in the least because it affects how the body metabolises sugar and fats. Working at night is associated with insulin resistance, a metabolic condition that is known to proceed the onset of diabetes type II.

We are now individually accountable for managing the health consequences of modern life.

Even if you are not on the night shift, coffee and alcohol both affect the brain’s sleep chemical adenosine, delaying and disrupting your slumber. These beverages have also been pinpointed as inhibiting the creation of new neurons. Not to mention that, at night time, booze has the improbable ability of pitting actual brainwaves against each other that mess with your shut-eye.

And if that weren't enough, the body has a circadian rhythm, a 24-hour master clock that abides by information from the eyes. It sets off the cascade of events that puts you to sleep for the body to heal and prepare for a new day. Light is the main input that influences your circadian rhythm.

In particular, LED light from electronic devices like smartphones and flat screens can really confuse your body’s natural clock. The blue light they emit has been shown to delay and shift your circadian rhythm by several hours compared to other colours on the light spectrum.

1. Do more sport

After all, that’s what your body is designed for. As you already know, physical exercise is tiring, and that’s why it’s an excellent remedy to fatigue. Basically, it’s dual purpose: the more you exercise, the more energetic you feel, and the better you sleep!

9 in 10

cases of diabetes in England approx. are type II.

In fact, medical science is looking to muscles for clues to combating preventable illnesses that are influenced by the Western lifestyle like diabetes type II. It was recently revealed that muscles respond to exercise by secreting substances with health benefits when stressed (in a good way) by activities like sports.

Physical exercise also has the power to relieve symptoms of depression and increase feelings of wellbeing. This is, in part, because exercise causes a post-workout dump of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good neurotransmitters.

2. More fibre, less sugar

Get off the glucose rollercoaster. It might not be easy, but you can progressively cut down your sugar intake. Challenge yourself to replace sugary snacks with fruit and set yourself calendar goals to phase out fizzy drinks. At the same time, remember to increase your fibre intake slowly by introducing whole plant-based foods to your diet.

30g

recommended amount of fibre per day for disease prevention

Fruit, vegetables, pulses, nuts, seeds and whole grains are all excellent options. Try new things, mix and match. Challenge yourself to buy one ingredient every week that you don't recognise. Just don't forget to google it before you start cooking.

If you are new to this whole fibre shindig, try adding a portion of simply prepared veg to your meals, and eat it first, before anything else touches your lips. From there, work your way up to at least 30g of fibre per day to enjoy its disease-prevention benefits. Just ease in gently or you might get a bout of the botty burps. Don’t worry though, this should blow itself out after 1–2 weeks.

3. Find your circadian rhythm

At the peril of sounding like entitled millennials working for a preventive healthcare company, working late evenings and nights is really not good for your circadian rhythm. Neither is social jetlag, that little habit we've developed of behaving on weekdays and letting rip until 3am on Friday and Saturday.

3–4

hours shift in circadian rhythm caused by blue light compared to green light

So try to keep your schedule steady. Remember that your body goes through a lot of wear-and-tear during the day, so it needs the night to heal. Avoid eating and drinking anything but water (or herbal tea) 3–4 hours before bed. Your gut needs a solid nudge to switch from digestion to repair, sugar and caffeine will confuse it. Every day, even on weekends, eat your meals at the same time, get a little exercise and spend at least 1 hour outdoors.

4. Virgin cocktails and coffee

Drinking alcohol before midday is frowned upon, so we’re simply not going to recommend drinking if you want to sleep better. Due to its sedative properties, it may help you pass out but it really does disturb your sleep quality. And let's face it, no one has ever done their best work with a hangover.

14 units

max. weekly consumption recommended by NHS

And while we are on the topic of bad news, the NHS has reviewed their alcohol consumption guidelines to an upper limit of 14 units per week. That's about 1.5 bottles of wine (a large glass contains 250ml) or 7 pints of mild lager (3.6%) at 2 units a pop.

As for coffee, suffice to say that it’s best consumed in moderation and before midday because of that pesky half-life. Remember it takes approx. 6 hours to neutralise half the caffeine you consume, unless your DNA has encoded your body with the ability to metabolise it faster than most people.

5–6 hours

is the time it takes the average Joe to neutralise 50% of caffeine in one beverage

Research indicates that even moderate intake of this stimulant may also suppress neurogenesis. If you absolutely can’t do without caffeine, take one for the team and have a decaf, for the flavour without the consequences. Or a coffee substitute like chicory, because it contains inulin, a dietary fibre that is good for your gut microbiome.

5. Train your brain for bed

Sleep is not a given nowadays with all the distractions and devices. Nocturnal exposure to light, especially the blue light emitted by flatscreens and smartphones tells your brain that it's daytime – even at 11pm.

10 million

prescriptions written every year in England for sleeping pills

Make your bedroom a haven of peace. Get depleted blue spectrum light bulbs for your reading lamp so it won't trigger the daytime switch. Avoid TV viewing and electronic devices too. This will train your brain to recognise the bedroom as a place of sleep and rest.

Pretend it's the eighties and enjoy some tech-free time before bed. Pick up a book. After all you’ve been talking about reading more for ages. Give it a few days and it’ll put you right to sleep!

Listen to your genes

Our teams have spent years researching and compiling evidence in the field of lifestyle and preventive medicine. In fact, that's pretty much our mission in life: to help people take control of their health before illness is ever a problem!

If you've taken the Atlas Biomed DNA Test, here are links to just some of the lifestyle traits waiting for you in the Personal Account. And there's a link to your Health Questionnaire if you've been procrastinating, because it's important for our precision health risk calculations.