Top health secrets

12:50 19 January 2011

There are some indicators and signs health-wise that you should never ignore. We take a look at some of them to see what health secrets you could be hiding.

1. Weight watching Keep an eye on your weight, as not only can being overweight increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes, it can also be a factor in your susceptibility to cancer. Fat tissue produces more hormones, according to Dr Jodie Moffat from Cancer Research UK, which can in turn increase your risk of certain cancers.

2. Give me sunshine Take a vitamin D tablet every day for healthy skin. This particular vitamin is essential for skin to stay healthy and to stop it ageing, but in the UK we're deficient as we get most of our intake of vitamin D from sunlight.

3. Chocoholics take note Chocolate is good for us. That's right, nutritional therapist Dr Amanda Ellwood says that chocolate is good for our mental health. It contains seratonin and phenylethylamine which are both mood-lifiting agents.

4. Share the love Having a hug a day with someone is the best way to boost your feel-good hormones, which can then help to prevent depression. A daily hug is one of the most important things you can do to improve your health and wellbeing, says psychologist Graham Jones.

5. Hit the hay Women need more sleep than men, about 20 minutes more actually, because ladies generally multi-task more than men. Women use the cerebralcortex in the brain more, making it work harder so it needs more time to repair, which is where sleep comes in.