Look younger, get healthier in just 28 days

In just 28 days, you can look younger and feel healthier. Follow one of these simple suggestions each day for 28 days, or pick and choose:

Polish your skin

Boost your circulation and liven up dull skin with a homemade body scrub: mix 2 tablespoons of almond oil with a heaped tablespoon of oatmeal. Rub the mixture into your skin working from your ankles up towards your heart, then shower. It will help remove dead cells and leave your skin looking glowing and healthy.

Dental care

As you get older, your mouth produces less saliva to wash away bacteria, leaving teeth and gums more vulnerable to disease. A staggering 95% of us have gum disease at some time, which can raise the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and lung disease. Get your teeth cleaned by the dentist every six months and floss daily.

Keep hydrated

Aim for 2-2½ litres (6-8 glasses) of non-alcoholic fluid a day. Coffee, tea and soft drinks in moderation (up to five cups of coffee or nine cups of tea) all contribute to keeping you hydrated just as well as water.
● Discover how to tackle bloating with our advice
● Our top 10 anti-ageing foods

Stretch your back

There's nothing more ageing than the crumpled look, and it's usually the result of too many hours spent standing or sitting in the same position, says physiotherapist Sarah Key. She recommends gentle stretching to decompress and open up your spine.
1 Kneel on the floor with the tops of your feet flat and sit back on your heels.
2 Separate your knees slightly and lean forward to rest your tummy snugly between your thighs, lowering your upper body towards the floor. If you can, rest your forehead on the floor.
3 To add stretch, take your arms out to the front, stretching them along the floor, and pull the base of the spine out of the pelvis.
4 Pull in your tummy muscles, rounding your lower back. Attempt to stretch your coccyx towards the floor.
5 Hold for 60 seconds, breathing softly. Gradually uncurl and get up slowly.

Work towards better sex

Strengthening your pelvic floor muscles can boost your lovemaking. Tighten the muscles around your vagina and anus as strongly as you can, lifting them upwards and inwards like an internal squeeze and lift. Hold for 10 seconds, relax for 10 seconds and repeat 10 times. Follow with 10 quick squeezes. Build up to doing both exercises six times a day.
● Take a look at our sex advice for the older woman
● Discover the health benefits of orgasms

Flex your feet

Stand upright, feet parallel and 10cm apart. Lift toes off the floor, separate them, then lower them back on to the floor, spread as wide apart as possible. Plant your toes firmly on the floor and lift the inside borders of your feet to raise the inner arches, keeping your toes straight. Hold for 15 seconds, release and repeat six times.

Good mood foods

Research shows definite links between food and mood. Chicken and turkey breast, fish and soya beans contain tryptophan, which helps raise levels of serotonin and melatonin, to aid sleep and improve mood. Add plenty of greens, shellfish, wheat bran and fortified cereals for the vitamins C and B6, folic acid and zinc needed to help make the serotonin.

Mix up a face mask

Try this DIY face mask from natural beauty expert Bharti Vyas (www.bhartivyas.com).
Mix 2 heaped tsp gram (chick pea) flour and ½tsp honey with 2tsp of water. Apply to your face and neck; leave for 15 minutes. Remove the mask with a dampened face cloth, then moisturise. As well as cleansing and exfoliating, it will have a tightening effect on the skin.

Run up and down the stairs

Build strong bones and get your heart pumping by doing this at least five times daily. Bone is a living tissue that needs exercise to become stronger. Bone density gets less from your 30s onwards.
● Don't save your work-out for the gym, try these workplace exercises
● Find out here: how strong are your bones?
● Health secrets your feet can reveal

Steer clear of smokers

We know smoking results in damaged dry, skin, but did you realise passive smoking can do the same? Research by Clinique found that even being around smokers can lead to dry, coarsened, wrinkled skin. Cigarette smoke contains a toxic mix of chemicals that can damage skin cells and affect their ability to repair and regenerate
● We reveal some celebrity tips on how to stop smoking
● Turn the clock back with exercise

Turn back the clock with anti-ageing exercise

Four or five hours of exercise a week in your 50s could restore the level of fitness you had in your 20s, a US study found. As well as protecting against disease, lifting your mood and boosting your circulation, every bout of exercise releases a burst of the anti-ageing human growth hormone.

Feed your good bacteria

Boosting your intake of prebiotics from wholegrains, onions, bananas, garlic and honey as well as in supplements can help stimulate the growth of the beneficial probiotic bacteria in your gut that may help enhance immunity.

Boost your oxygen supply

Close right nostril with right thumb; inhale deeply through left nostril. Close both nostrils using thumb and index finger: hold the air in your lungs for as long as is comfortable before breathing out. Next, close left nostril with index fi nger, keep it closed and inhale through right nostril. Keep right nostril closed; exhale through left nostril. Repeat three or four times.
● Breathe deep and relax with our guide to beating stress

Banish bingo wings

Sit on the edge of a chair or the bottom step of the stairs. Move feet out in front of you. Balance on your arms; move your bottom in front of the chair/step. Bend elbows; lower your body a few inches, without hunching shoulders, keeping elbows parallel to one another, going no lower than 90 degrees. Push back up to start position. Repeat 12-15 times.

Do salt swaps

Cut down to help protect against high blood pressure and osteoporosis, banish that bloated feeling and lose 1kg or more within days. Excess salt prompts your body to hold on to extra fluid. Cut down and you'll lose it. Remove salt from your cooking and dinner table and try these easy swaps:

Nearly 35% of our salt intake comes from bread, cereals and other breakfast foods. Switch high-salt bread for bread with less than 0.4g salt per slice.

Swap bran flakes, fruit and fibre and cereal hoops for low-salt porridge, no-added-salt muesli or shredded wheat.

Thirteen per cent comes from ham, bacon and processed chicken dishes. Swap these for lean pork, chicken and turkey.

Four per cent comes from cheese. Swap feta, Roquefort and processed cheese for lower-salt plain cottage cheese and mild hard cheeses such as Cheshire.

● Hunt down the hidden salt in your food
● 15 easy ways to cut down on salt
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● Discover what your food cravings say about you

Give your face a workout

Try this daily exercise from therapist Bharti Vyas. Close your mouth and inflate the skin above the upper lip and on either side of the mouth, breathing through your nose. Hold for a count of 10; repeat 10 times. Keep your upper lip smooth and relaxed throughout - hold one finger above each corner of your mouth to hold the skin in place.

Book an eye test

One in 10 of us have never had an eye test, despite the fact that 85% of people complain of vision problems. Having your sight tested every two years is vital for early diagnosis of common eye conditions such as glaucoma and cataracts and can also detect underlying health problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and an increased stroke risk.
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Drink grape juice

If you're not a wine drinker but still want the heart-protecting benefits, try drinking red grape juice. The health benefits of red wine are most likely due to a substance called resveratrol, found in dark red and purple grapes. Studies suggest the juice may help reduce the risk of blood clots, lower harmful cholesterol, protect blood vessels and keep blood pressure healthy.
● Try more healthy drinks

Get an instant tummy tuck

Stand with your knees soft and buttocks squeezed. Imagine a string in the middle of your head pulling you upwards. Push your shoulder blades together and down, which makes your waist look thinner, pull in your tummy muscles all the way and then release them by half. Hold this for as long as you can and repeat frequently throughout the day.

Improve your balance

‘Good balance is vital for active, confident living but we don't appreciate how important it is until we start to lose it,' says physiotherapist Sammy Margo. To test your balance, stand on one leg, pull in your tummy muscles and wave your arms in the air. See how long you can last - two minutes is very good, one minute good and 30 seconds is OK. Start working on it now!

Get a little sun

We get 90% of our vitamin D from sunshine: boosting levels could protect against disease and even slow the ageing process. A study of 2,000 British and American pairs of twins found those with the most vitamin D were biologically five years younger than those with the lowest. Spend 15 minutes a day outside without sunscreen - but never get burnt.

Cook a curry

Eating it once or twice a week - no more, as it could be high in saturated fat - could help prevent dementia, according to US researchers. They say the key ingredient is curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, widely used in Indian medicine. Several studies have suggested turmeric helps prevent the spread of amyloid plaques, thought to contribute to the symptoms of dementia. Other herbs and spices can be powerfully protective, too. Researchers at the US Department of Agriculture found that ounce for ounce, many herbs and spices pack far more antioxidant power than traditional superfoods. A half teaspoon of cloves had more antioxidants than a serving of blueberries, for example.

Boost your flexibility

‘Work on your flexibility and you'll maintain it,' says physio Sammy Margo.

Lift your arms as high as you can, then push each arm up alternately, holding for five seconds. Repeat three times on each side.

Stand holding on to a chair with left hand. Bend right knee, grasp foot with hand, bring heel to your bottom. Hold for five seconds, repeat three times on each leg.

Ditch the crash diet

Being too thin is what ages us most, says Dr Bahaman Guyuron, a plastic surgeon from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. His study of nearly 200 pairs of identical twins found that it's losing fat from your face that makes you look older. Women over 40 with a higher BMI looked two to four years younger than thinner women of the same age.

Massage your face

Try this simple massage to prevent double chins and disperse toxins from your face. Position your thumbs just beneath your chin and place the balls of your fingers on top. Pinch along the jawbone until you get to your earlobes, adding a little extra pressure and holding for a count of five. Aim for at least four pinches
Try some more self-massage techniques

Smile more

We all look better when we smile and US psychologist Dr James Laird has found that smiling can actually boost your mood and make you feel happier, even if you're feeling low. So give it a try today. From the moment you wake up, smile at everyone you see.
Why laughter really is good for you

Eat tomatoes for younger skin

Eating lots of tomatoes can give added protection against sunburn and may help keep wrinkles at bay, say UK researchers. Volunteers given tomato paste and olive oil and exposed to ultra-violet light for three months had 33% more protection against UV rays and more collagen than those fed just olive oil.

Count your blessings

Focussing on the good things in life and the positive aspects of getting older can boost your energy, improve your health and help you live longer, says Professor Becca Levy of Yale School of Public Health. In fact it can have the same kind of benefits as exercising, not smoking and having healthy blood pressure, cholesterol and weight.