What’s your real age? You might have reached a certain number of years but your body might be aging faster. Depending on diet and lifestyle your body could be anywhere up to 10 years older than you actually are. Things like smoking, drinking, bad diet and lack of exercise will all be adding years to your body. There’s a new online vitality age check that you can do to see how old you really are. I’ll try and get the courage up to do it!!!

Your frame of mind is so important when it comes to health issues. Depression after a heart attack can have a direct impact on survival rates. People who are chronically depressed are 50% more likely to suffer a second heart attack.

People who feel guilt and shame are also compromising their immune system, and studies have also shown that it isn’t good to bottle up your emotions. Having a generally pessimistic attitude also suppresses the immune system.

We are now in that time of year when coughs and colds are flourishing. So what natural remedies are good to take?

If you take zinc tablets, it can cut down the amount of days that you are sick. 18 different studies found that a zinc supplement reduced the duration of a cold by about 24 hours. Pelargonium, which is a plant native to South Africa, has also been shown to reduce the duration of colds. A bit more tricky to get hold of, but may be available in health food stores or online suppliers. Echinacea is one of the most popular remedies, but needs to be taken as soon as the symptoms start. Finally, there’s good old vitamin C. Some reports say that it isn’t as effective as first thought, but it seems now that this may be to do with the dose. Taking a larger amount may have a better result. One study showed that by taking an 8g dose on the first day of a cold reduced the duration, whereas those given a smaller dose had less of an effect.