My top five tips to Stay Young

1. The best exercise to rejuvenate your entire body

We all know that exercise is good for us but one of the best ways to get the biggest impact in the least time is with short intense bursts. Dr Matthew Robinson at Oregon State University has shown that following a high-intensity interval training, or HIIT, programme can encourage cells across your body to make your mitochondria more efficient. Mitochondra are your cells’ “powerhouses” – you can think of these as tiny batteries that live inside our cells and provide them with energy.

Pushing yourself hard triggers your body to remove damaged mitochondria and replace them with better functioning ones – think of this as being a bit like replacing that worn-out battery in your smartphone. Exercise not only builds muscle, it boosts your memory, improves your immune system and increases the collagen in your skin – to keep you feeling and looking younger.

Dr Robinson says if you are already a regular exerciser then you should try adding in some more intense workouts. If you are not already doing regular exercise then the best thing is to start slowly. Begin by finding a way to get your heart rate up within your everyday routine, by taking the stairs at a faster pace or speeding up the pace at which you walk. Find out about the benefits of exercise and HIIT in Michael's Stay Young series

2. A dietary change to reduce wrinkles, boost collagen and improve skin texture

There’s a surprisingly simple (and delicious) way to help keep your skin looking youthful that’s nothing to do with expensive creams, botox or fillers. Piling your plate with red, yellow and orange coloured vegetables which are rich in carotenoids, can reduce wrinkles, boost collagen and give you a more youthful glow.

Red, yellow and orange coloured vegetables which are rich in carotenoids.

Dermatologist Dr Raja Sivamani, from the University of California, Davis, has shown that tucking into carotenoid-rich fruit and vegetables can reduce wrinkles.

In a recent study, he showed that eating half a cup of mango a day reduced both the size of existing wrinkles and the number of emerging ones over the course of just a few months. Mangoes are packed full of chemical compounds called carotenoids and Dr Sivamani believes these could be responsible for their youth-promoting benefits.

Lab studies have found that carotenoids can activate cells in your skin to produce more collagen and hyaluronic acid which can improve skin plumpness and hydration. Other brightly coloured vegetables, such as peppers, pumpkins and tomatoes contain plenty of carotenoids too.

So make yourself a plate full of delicious red, orange and yellow fruit and veg and reap the benefits for your skin – and the rest of your body.

3. The best way to boost your brainpower

Like so many parts of our bodies, our brain power starts declining as we age. Fortunately, if you want to stay sharp, then there are things you can do to help maintain your brain power.

Dr Rachel Wu from University of California, Riverside told me that the best way for older people to stay sharp is to keep learning and stay curious, as a child would. In her latest study, Dr Wu showed that older adults who were asked to learn at least three new skills improved their performance in a range of cognitive tests to levels seen in people decades younger.

Practising a new skill, particularly one that is challenging, like learning a new language or learning to paint, can improve your brain health, primarily, it’s thought, by boosting connections in the brain. A study where participants were asked to learn to juggle showed that repeated practice boosted areas of “white matter” – the part of the brain which is rich in nerve fibres. Lab studies have found that when neurons fire repeatedly, neighbouring cells wrap an insulating myelin sheath around them, which strengthens the connections between your brain cells, and seems to be important for healthy brain ageing.

So why not pick up a new skill, like painting, juggling, or a new language? And don’t be put off if you don’t excel – it’s the challenge of learning something new that’s crucial, not how good you are!

4. The best foods to boost your mood, your energy levels and reduce inflammation

As a lover of fermented foods I was delighted to come across recent research into the benefits of fermented foods on our immune system. When you eat foods like kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi, the microbes in these foods travel to your gut and add to the richness of your gut microbiome – the community of trillions of bacteria, yeast and viruses living there.

Strength training has a wealth of benefits.

Prof Justin Sonnenburg of Stanford University has done a study which revealed that 10 weeks of eating fermented foods can improve gut microbiome diversity (a sign of a healthy gut) and reduce markers of inflammation by activating key immune cells that keep the immune system in check. This in turn could help lower your risk of some conditions we associate with ageing and inflammation, such as joint pain and Type 2 diabetes.

Be warned – if you’re new to fermented foods, start slow with something simple like live yoghurt. And if you’re immuno-compromised or on certain types of medication, check with your doctor before adding live microbes to your diet.

5. Keep strength training to boost your brain, your body and your lifespan

Building up your muscle mass will not only make you look and feel younger, it can also add years to your life. A recent analysis found that people who did 30 to 60 minutes of resistance training a week had up to a 20 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease and cancer. Strength training has a wealth of benefits – it can boost your brain function, reduce your risk of diabetes, it can even target belly fat better than cardio, and improve your sleep.

In Stay Young, Prof Abigail Mackey at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark reveals why strength training is important for people of any age. Loading your muscles with resistance not only strengthens them but also helps reinforces the connections between nerve fibres and your muscles, which are susceptible to the ravages of time and inactivity. Maintaining your muscle mass is one of the best things you can do for healthy ageing as it’s one of the strongest predictors of longevity, even more than weight or body mass index.

I do press ups and squats every morning, but Prof Abigail Mackey told me that on top of that I need to add some light weights to my exercise regime. Doing that should not only help preserve my muscles but build up a healthy reserve of muscle fibres that’ll benefit me in the future.

So why not add some strength training to your exercise routine? If you’re new to strength training, start off with body weight exercises, then think about safely adding some resistance or weights.

If you’re looking for more simple tips and tricks that’ll help rejuvenate your body from the inside out, listen and subscribe to my BBC Radio 4 podcast, Stay Young.