The Get Healthy Quick List

Need to get healthy quick but have no time for a total mind and body overhaul? These well-being fixes will work faster than you can say ‘takeaway’.

Tips for getting healthy quick aren't always as effective as they claim to be. We've tried all the fad diets and all of the food group myths that have left us feeling just a little mal-nourished, if we're honest.

Getting healthy is about your mind and your body, so it's a little more than just getting your five a day. We're talking virus-busting, nutrient-boosting, stress-blasting health tips to promote a balanced lifestyle. Consider reworking your routine with EPOC training to make sure you're really burning fat (and not just wasting your time). Struggling to find your zen? There's an app for that, and if you're dreading the onset of spring for the hayfever blues it brings with it, there's an app for that too.

Get Healthy Quick List

Consult our get healthy quick list for some instant well-being fixers.

Get Healthy Quick List

Consult our get healthy quick list for some instant well-being fixers.

The New Mega Vit Sprays

There's a new breed of potent under-the-tongue sprays that can restore flagging spirits fast. Our must-have is Temple Spa's new G-Force, with green-tea extract, grapefruit and ginko: just two sprays under the tongue and we're off. It costs £5 from Selfridges, Harrods and templespa.com. 

The Hayfever Predictor In Your Phone

As spring hits, so too does pollen, which can mean constant sneezes, sniffles and futile attempts at eye make-up. The UK pollen forecast iPhone app from Clarityn is a useful tool for hayfever sufferers as it uses your iPhone's camera to display 3D animated pollen spores in your environment wherever you are in the UK. Then, using your phone's GPS, it tells you whether the pollen count for your area is low, medium or high.

The Yoga Class In Your Lap

At myyogaonline.com, you can get quality meditation, breathing, Pilates and yoga videos from the world's best teachers, with something to suit  every time frame. Subscription costs around £6 a month and videos can be watched live or bought and downloaded for when you don't have a wireless connection. We're converts.

The Super-Charged Green Tea

Kukicha tea is to green tea what single malt is to whiskey. 'It's made from the roasted twigs and stems of the same plant that black tea and green tea are made from,' explains macrobiotic health coach Marlene Watson-Tara. 'But its mineral and antioxidant content are maintained better because Kukicha tea is roasted instead of fermented.' We love Clearspring Organic Kukicha Tea from health food stores.

The Do-It-All Supplement

Up to 50 per cent of Brits are deficient in Vitamin D. Studies have shown that it can enhance mood, prevent osteoporosis, support immunity and regulate weight. Vitamin D lasts only 60 days in the body, so if you took a holiday in August, your levels should be fine until November but may well have become deficient by early spring and you may need a supplement. Marilyn Glenville, author of The Natural Health Bible For Women (£16.99, Duncan Baird) says: 'If you do need a top-up of vitamin D, 400iu daily of vitamin D3 is the best option as it's the form that's best absorbed by the body.'

The 4-Minute Workout

Picture this: jump rope, jog, squat, kick, lunges or the plank as hard as you can for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds, repeat seven more times until you reach four minutes, and that's it, workout over.

This is the revolutionary new four-minute workout from celebrity trainer Lucy Wyndham-Read. Based on the new principle of Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) training, it's thought that exercising as hard as you can for just a short time raises your resting metabolic rate, so you burn up to 35 extra calories an hour for up to 16 hours afterwards. The LWR Fast Fat Burning Method contains five different four-minute workouts from Lucy, and costs £5.99 to download from iTunes.  


The Powder That Keeps You Full

Slim sticks contain a fine white powder than you dissolve in water, milk or coffee before breakfast and lunch. The powder, made from pure oat and palm oils, was trialled at the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health at the University of Ulster and shown to fight hunger pangs for up to eight hours and decrease the amount eaten at subsequent meals by up to 30 per cent. It costs £29.99 for 30 sachets from Lloyds Pharmacies nationwide or at slimsticks.com

The Healthy Food Calculator

The Aggregate Nutrient Density Index, or ANDI, is a new nutrient rating system popular among a growing group of 'super-eaters' known as nutritarians. Created by US doctor Joel Fuhrman, author of Eat to Live (£15.99, Little, Brown), ANDI gives foods a rating from 1 to 1,000 based on their nutrient density divided by their calorific value, so the higher the rating the higher the nutritional punch for the calories consumed. The highest scorers are superfoods kale and spring greens. For ANDI ratings of everyday foods and a personal nutrition prescription, log on to eatrightunitedkingdom.com

The Zen Bell App

According to a study in The Lancet, six calming breaths taken in 30 seconds can actually reduce your blood pressure temporarily. Download the Zen Reminder Mindfulness Bell App, 59p from iTunes and it will ring a single bell at intervals set b you, reminding you to get into the moment, breath, and be mindful, whatever's going on around you.

The Sofa For Your Feet

There's a new breed of potent under-the-tongue sprays that can restore flagging spirits fast. Our must-have is Temple Spa?s new G-Force, with green-tea extract, grapefruit and ginko: just two sprays under the tongue and we?re off. It costs £5 from Selfridges, Harrods and templespa.com.