Just One Thing - with Michael Mosley

Michael explores the best way to help you look younger as well as live longer and healthier – revealing how strength training can benefit your waistline, preserve muscle fibres and increase healthy lifespan.Pumping up your muscles is one of the best ways to protect from the ravages of time and injury. In this episode, Michael speaks to Professor Abigail Mackey from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, to find out how resistance training can strengthen the connection between your brain and muscles, and keep them looking younger at the cellular level. And it’s not just your muscles that benefit, maintaining your muscle mass can boost your brain function, improve sleep, and significantly reduce your risk of diabetes. It may even be better at reducing belly fat than cardio! Champion weight-lifter Shirley Webb reveals how lifting weights transformed her life and mobility even though she only started pumping irons in her mid-70s. Producer: Catherine Wyler Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu Executive Producer: Zoe Heron A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4

Michael reveals the best food to boost your mood, your energy levels, reduce inflammation and improve your immune system. In this episode, Michael discovers the benefits of fermented foods and their live bacteria. He speaks to Professor Justin Sonnenburg from Stanford University who’s recent clinical trial revealed that eating fermented foods can increase your gut microbiome diversity and reduce inflammation, one of the main drivers of ageing. They discuss the role of your gut bacteria in increasing the activity of key immune cells with knock-on effects across the body, and why a healthy gut microbiome is so important for feeling good. 63 year-old Donna Schwenk from California reveals how discovering fermented foods has transformed her life and given her the energy of someone decades younger. Producer: Catherine Wyler Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu Executive Producer: Zoe Heron A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.

Want to get the mental sharpness of someone decades younger? Challenging your brain with something difficult, like learning a new language or taking up juggling, can trigger your brain to form new connections, increasing your brain’s white matter and making it more resilient against age-related decline. In this episode, Michael speaks to Dr Rachel Wu from the University of California Riverside who has discovered that learning three new skills at the same time can significantly boost the memory in older adults - so much so that they performed as well as someone 50 years younger in a series of cognitive tests. Superager Lord Richard Wilson shares his top tips for a sharper mind and the role of grit, determination, and insatiable curiosity. Producer: Catherine Wyler Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu Executive Producer: Zoe Heron A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.

How a simply dietary change can reduce wrinkles, improve skin texture and slow ageing. In this episode Michael reveals how a daily portion of colourful fruit and vegetables can help retain skin moisture and boost collagen. Carotenoids are compounds that give carrots, mangoes and tomatoes their bright red and orange colour – and they have been shown to boost your skin’s collagen and moisture, improving wrinkles, skin plumpness and texture. He speaks to dermatologist Dr Raja Sivamani from the University of California, Davis, whose research shows that eating a daily portion of mango could help reverse existing wrinkles and prevent new ones from forming. And we meet 81-year-old Annette Larkins from Florida who explains why she thinks her youthful looks are thanks to her diet consisting mainly of fruits and vegetables.Producer: Catherine Wyler Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu Executive Producer: Zoe Heron A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.

Exercise is one of the best things you can do to rejuvenate yourself at the cellular level – but what’s the best way to do it? In this episode, Michael speaks to Associate Professor Matt Robinson from Oregon State University, who has discovered that just a few minutes of high-intensity exercise can help rejuvenate you at the cellular level, by helping restore your mitochondria, your cell’s energy powerhouses. They discuss how exercise has many benefits across your body - from your muscles, to your heart, your brain and even your skin! And we meet octogenarian and healthy ageing expert Dr Norman Lazarus, who didn’t start exercising until his fifties, and now cycles 100km a week, feeling at his prime.Producer: Catherine Wyler Assistant Producer: Gulnar Mimaroglu Executive Producer: Zoe Heron A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds / BBC Radio 4.

In his new podcast series, Dr Michael Mosley reveals simple things you can do to rejuvenate yourself from the inside out.

Professor Tim Spector, a leading expert on nutrition and gut health, takes Michael Mosley through his top food and nutrition tips, sharing stories from his life and research along the way. Joined by an audience at the Hay Festival, Michael learns what happened the time Tim convinced his son to eat an ultra-processed food diet for two weeks and the surprising ways your gut influences your immune system. Tim, who is professor in epidemiology at King's College London, shares the shocking moment he realised that even as a doctor, he was on track for major health problems, and how he took control over his diet and his health - and how you can, too. Tim also reveals what cutting edge science shows about how you should be eating to benefit your health and wellbeing.

When things go wrong, you might think that focusing on the bad and writing about them would make things worse. But in some cases, the opposite seems to be true.Michael Mosley investigates a technique called “expressive writing”, a simple tip which can have surprising benefits for your health. The idea is to set aside 15 minutes to write about any worries that keep you up at night, showing many benefits - from improving lung function in people with asthma, to improving scores on exams and cognitive tests.In this episode, Michael Mosley speaks to the man who kick-started it all, Professor James Pennebaker from the University of Texas, Austin. He tells Michael about his original findings in the 1980s and the astonishing link between expressive writing, reduced doctor’s visits, your immune system and how quickly your body heals wounds…

Turmeric is a close relative of ginger – it has a similar knobbly root-like stem. The golden-hued powder of turmeric adds colour and flavour to food, but it’s also been linked to some surprising health benefits. As well as helping with wound healing and skin conditions, it’s been linked to better brain health. Michael Mosley speaks to Dr. Benny Antony from the University of Tasmania in Australia who has found that turmeric extract was as effective as ibuprofen to reduce pain levels. Meanwhile, our volunteer Yu She cooks up a storm with chicken korma and turmeric pancakes.

Nuts are a rich source of fibre and polyphenols. They are also very high in fats and calories, but studies have shown that eating these bite-sized snacks won’t add to your waistline. These nutrient powerhouses could also help slow-down the ageing process. Research has found that walnut eaters live, on average, over a year longer than those who don’t. What’s more, adding nuts to your diet can help your brain! Michael Mosley is joined by Dr Sze-Yen Tan from Deakin University in Australia who reveals how eating nuts can benefit the brain, and why eating moderate amounts of nuts won’t add to your waistline. A recent study of his found that people who ate nuts performed better in cognitive tests and had improved short-term memory. Meanwhile, our volunteer Emma swaps out her usual snack for a handful of mixed nuts!