Three ways to get better faster

Who says there are no quick fixes when it comes to our health? In our fast-paced world, it’s good to know you can speed your way to optimal wellbeing, writes Helen Foster

Wash painkillers down with coffee. This should start to kill headache pain 17 minutes faster.

On top of that, the pain relief will last twice as long as taking the painkiller on its own, according to research carried out by Dr Frederick Freitag, director of Headache Medicine Research at Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas. “Headaches occur when blood vessels expand, and we think coffee stops pain by quickly shrinking those blood vessels,” explains Freitag.

For the best results, try the coffee-painkiller combo as soon as pain starts.

Take vitamin D before you begin a diet and reach your goal sooner

The better your vitamin D levels before you start a slimming plan, the more weight you’ll lose. US trials tested dieters’ vitamin D levels and found for every 1ng/ml more vitamin D they had in their blood the dieters lost almost a fifth of a kilo more in the three-month trial – even though everyone on the trial was cutting the same amount of kilojoules.

In his book, The Vitamin D Cure (John Wiley & Sons), Dr James E. Dowd says “adequate vitamin D and the calcium it helps absorb may decrease the production of fat”. Dowd says low calcium levels trigger the release of a hormone that causes fat cells to store more kilojoules as fat. When you add vitamin D to your diet, you absorb more calcium from food – and this reaction is decreased.

Covering a cut makes it heal 40 per cent quicker

Forget about letting wounds breathe. The best way to treat a cut is to keep it clean and covered, reveals a UK report. This stops a scab forming, which speeds up healing times. Burns should also be covered, but best results come with Manuka honey and a sterile gauze. Dr Peter Molan, Professor of Biochemistry at Waikato University, says you can speed up healing by about four days if you put Manuka honey on a burn. Molan says enzymes in the honey produce low levels of hydrogen peroxide on the skin, which stimulates new cells to grow.

For more get better faster tips pick up Good Health’s January issue.