Don’t think healthy always means hard work.  Here are some of the easiest tips to help you on the way to super wellbeing.

If you think healthy folk spend hours every day exercising, chopping endless vegetables and scouring the stores for exotic super foods, think again.  Once you know the secret health shortcuts out there that help boost your health, fitness and nutrient levels while saving time or effort, staying well is easy.  Here are some secrets for you to try….

1.Wash your hands
The ultimate shortcut to good health is avoiding getting sick in the first place, and hand washing is the number one way to do that.  Five times a day is the minimum washes you should aim for, and studies show this simple act cuts sickness by 50 per cent.

2.Protect eyes from sunrays
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the biggest cause of blindness.  Eating dark-green leafy vegetables or taking lutein supplements lower the risk, but as AMD is linked to UV exposure, wearing sunglasses is the best option.  If the UV index is over moderate (check local news) wear sunglasses, especially if you have light coloured eyes, which are high risk.

3.Eat a salad a day
Five portions of fruit and vegetables might be the gold standard, but when you’re on the go it’s not always so easy to achieve. Studies at Louisiana State University in the US have found consuming even just one salad a day adds two years to your life. To get a good mix of nutrients you should vary your salad ingredients daily. But regularly include, watercress, avocado, spinach and onions, which are all, packed with antioxidants.

4.Take some deep breaths
While factors like cutting salt and reducing stress can lower blood pressure, you can do both with deep breathing.  Spending just seven minutes a day breathing steadily (so each breath takes ten seconds) lowers blood pressure, according to researchers at Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago.  One reason is that it’s super calming, but some experts’ say added oxygen in the blood makes you excrete higher levels of sodium.

5. Have one to two tablespoons of linseed
Not only will this provide you with roughly 7g of the 18g of fibre you need each day, linseed has also been linked to fighting hot flushes, spotting during pre-menopause and reducing breast cancer risk.  Sprinkle it over cereals and salads.

6. Wash painkillers down with coffee
In trials at the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago, this was found to cut pain faster and for twice as long as painkillers alone. “Headaches occur when blood vessels expand, and we think this stops pain by shrinking those blood vessels,” explains Dr. Fred Freitag, who worked on the trial.

7. Use a stability ball – correctly
It’s an odd fact that the stronger your abdominal muscles are, the stronger your bones are.  However, you’ll get a better toning effect if you do your sit-ups using a stability ball, positioned under the middle of your back, rather than on the floor – your muscles work up to 38 per cent harder.  Also called Swiss Balls, they are available from most sports shops.

8. Pour water into a small, wide glass
Drinking plenty of water has been linked to a lower risk of heart attack and bladder cancer but many of us find it hard to down the recommended two litres a day.  However, according to Dr. Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (Bantam), because we think they look less full, we actually pour 76 per cent more liquid into a short, wide glass than a tall, thin one, immediately boosting intake.

9. Sniff some lavender oil. 
It’s the best shortcut to calm out there as it contains an ingredient called linalool that stimulates receptors for the calming chemical GABA in the brain, according to top aroma therapist Robert Tisserand. But lavender may also boost overall health too – five minutes of lavender inhalation lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol that’s linked to heart disease and weight gain, Japanese researchers believe.

10.Grab exercise when you can
We need 300 minutes of exercise a day to improve health, but if you don’t have time to do it all in one go, don’t worry.  Roughly 12 hours after any workout, your body will produce enzymes that clear harmful heart fats call triglycerides from the blood.  Workout once a day and you get one enzyme release, do two or three mini sessions and you’ll get multiple releases, cutting your fat levels by an additional 12 per cent, say US researchers.  If you’re at work, take opportunities for stair climbing or a brisk walk; at home, take opportunities for stair climbing or a brisk walk; at home try ten minutes of skipping.

11. Eat something healthy at 3pm
If we swapped a fatty or sugary snack when we hit that mid-afternoon slump for something healthy, less of us would die of heart attack or stroke each year, say experts from Imperial College London and University of Liverpool, UK. The ideal snack is a handful of dried fruit, which satisfies your sugar cravings, and seeds or nuts, which provide protein that balances blood sugar and energy.

12. Don’t put fruit in the fridge
The antioxidant lycopene is linked to a lower risk of lung cancer and age-related macular degeneration.  You’ll find it in red fruits such as tomatoes, watermelon and pink grapefruit, but to maximise your intake, keep these foods stored at room temperature. Enzymes that produce lycopene in fruit keep working if fruit is kept warm, increasing its levels by 20 per cent, according to US Department of Agriculture researcher Penelope Perkinson-Veazie.  Levels of beta-carotene – another potent antioxidant – also rise twofold.

13.Add oil to your vegetables
You’ll absorb up to four times more of the nutrients called carotenoids form them if you do, as these vital antioxidants need to bind to fat to be absorbed, says Dr. Steven Schwatrz from Ohio State University.  Just one teaspoon of oil will get results and you can cook with the oil and add it as part of the dressing.  All oils get the results but choose one that is best for health, such as olive, avocado, sesame, walnut or flaxseed.