DR MICHAEL MOSLEY: My five tips for leading a happy life

When were you astatine your happiest? Was it arsenic a carefree child, a ­boisterous teenager, a happily joined mid-lifer, aliases someone, for illustration me, successful nan later stages of their life?

I tin retrieve tons of moments of aggravated happiness, from falling successful emotion to watching my kids being born, but now that I'm 66, I americium arsenic contented arsenic I person ever been. And that chimes pinch nan ­findings of a caller study called nan World Happiness Report: that your later years tin besides beryllium your happiest.

This study is an yearly study of much than 1.6million people, carried retired successful 156 countries. The citizens of Scandinavian countries specified arsenic Finland, Denmark and Norway usually apical nan charts, chiefly because of precocious income, bully wellness attraction and spot successful each other; nan UK is ­currently successful 20th position.

As portion of nan latest study nan researchers decided to look, for nan first time, astatine which property groups successful a state were nan happiest, aliases nan unhappiest.

They recovered that successful nan UK it is group who are 60-plus who are nan happiest; those aged 30 to 44 are nan slightest happy.

The study besides confirmed earlier investigation showing that happiness tends to travel a U-shaped curve, pinch rates of happiness falling arsenic you walk from being a teen to becoming middle-aged.

Typically group scope nan bottommost of nan curve successful their precocious 40s, aft which nan curve starts to emergence — until aged age, erstwhile ill-health and ­loneliness return their toll and nan happiness curve flattens out.

There are immoderate evident reasons why nan over-60s successful nan UK mightiness beryllium ­happier than nan remainder of nan ­population, including nan truth that we thin to beryllium much ­financially secure, pinch little activity and family pressures.

The study found, for example, that nan over-60s felt they had much state to make important life decisions than earlier successful life.

It besides showed that arsenic group turn older, they thin to go little self-obsessed and connect much value to remembering and celebrating nan affirmative aspects of their lives, some of which are cardinal to accrued happiness.

It seems we besides go much trusting arsenic we get older, which is bully for intelligence health. But that doesn't mean we go much gullible — nan study points retired that, though scammers ­frequently target older group because they presume that they're vulnerable, it is nan young and middle-aged who are much apt to really get scammed.

That's because, according to nan report, though older group thin to beryllium much trusting, they are besides much observant astir wherever that spot is placed. But it's not each bully news for nan over-60s. Poor wellness takes a toll connected happiness, though it's not really superior nan wellness ­problem is that matters, but really overmuch it impinges connected regular life.

A study of 383 middle-aged patients, published successful nan Journal of Happiness Studies successful 2012, recovered that patients pinch cancer, whose regular functioning was not earnestly affected by their ­condition, scored higher connected nan happiness standard than group pinch ­urinary incontinence, which tin really adhd to regular misery.

What astir money, does it bargain you ­happiness? The comedian Spike Milligan erstwhile claimed 'money can't bargain you happiness — but it does bring you a much ­pleasant shape of misery', yet successful truth there's plentifulness of grounds that nan higher your income, nan happier you are, though this is not ­necessarily nan lawsuit for everyone.

A study past twelvemonth by nan ­University of Pennsylvania concluded that nan effect of income connected happiness depends connected your affectional wellbeing. If you're a misery guts, past rising income will make you happier, until you scope an income of £80,000 a year, erstwhile it plateaus.

For nan remainder of us, however, it appears that much income intends much happiness, pinch nary evident precocious limit, though nan ­researchers hasten to adhd that 'money is conscionable 1 of nan galore determinants of happiness'. So isolated from increasing older and getting a salary rise, what other tin you do to boost your happiness?

Researchers astatine Bristol University precocious published a study, based connected questionnaires of group who'd done their 'science of happiness' course, showing that you tin study really to beryllium happy but to support your levels up you person to support moving astatine it. Here are immoderate of their happiness-boosting tips:

• Talk to strangers; contempt nan truth that astir of america (myself included) awkward distant from doing conscionable this, location is grounds that short chats, moreover conscionable pinch nan personification trading you a coffee, will boost your mood. That's because we are societal creatures and use from moreover short societal interactions.

• Spend much of your money connected others, alternatively than yourself: ­studies person shown that giving gifts activates reward centres successful our brains, providing a bigger boost than spending connected ourselves.

• Spend clip successful nature; this switches disconnected parts of nan encephalon linked to ­negative ruminations, wherever you get caught successful a loop of antagonistic thoughts.

• Be benignant to others: investigation shows that being benignant and ­compassionate improves nan well-being and happiness of some nan giver and nan receiver.

One of nan past things that astir of america would want to do is to eat mouldy nutrient (unless it's bluish cheese).

That's usually wise because nan fungi that make nutrient mouldy tin besides nutrient poisons, called mycotoxins, that tin make you very sick.

But now a squad astatine nan ­Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory successful nan US, are utilizing fungi to make nutrient — precocious they created a burger pinch Aspergillus oryzae that's been ­genetically modified truthful it looks and tastes for illustration meat.

The scientists' extremity is to ­produce healthy, animal-free products that are tasty. But are you fresh for it?

Tooth decay nexus to bowel cancer

It's progressively clear that bully dental hygiene — brushing and flossing doubly a time — protects not only your teeth, but besides your bosom and brain. That's because germs that origin bony decay tin ­trigger inflammation successful nan humor vessels.

Now investigation successful nan ­journal Nature shows that ­bacteria called Fusobacterium ­ nucleatum, a communal origin of bony decay, tin recreation from your rima to your gut and thief thrust bowel cancer. Researchers analysed ­biopsies taken from 200 patients pinch bowel crab and recovered Fusobacterium nucleatum successful half nan tumours — furthermore, patients whose tumours were infected pinch this bacterium were importantly much apt to dice from an fierce shape of nan disease.

The aforesaid researchers person antecedently shown that nan ­bacterium makes a molecule that stimulates nan maturation of crab cells. Another logic to brushwood and floss.

Why getting retired of furniture helps hit insomnia

Insomniacs thin to beryllium bombarded pinch advice, immoderate sensible, overmuch of it ridiculous. So what really works?

A caller reappraisal by nan University of Tokyo ­Hospital, which looked astatine 241 slumber studies, recovered that nan emblematic proposal from nan NHS, specified arsenic exercising more, and keeping your chamber cool, acheronian and quiet, whitethorn thief if you person nan occasional sleepless night. But it has small effect connected chronic ­insomnia.

What really useful are slumber regularisation ­therapy, stimulus power and mindfulness.

With nan first, you trim nan clip you walk successful furniture to astir six hours a nighttime for a fewer days — to thatch your encephalon to subordinate 'bed' pinch 'sleep', not pinch lying awake, worrying.

Stimulus power besides targets this: if you're awake astatine 3am, don't conscionable dishonesty there, get up and do thing boring, specified arsenic reference a dull book aliases listening to gentle music. Only erstwhile you consciousness sleepy should you spell backmost to bed.

As for mindfulness, it's a measurement of stopping yourself engaging pinch anxiety-inducing thoughts. I find nan simplest measurement to distract myself is to do slow, heavy breathing. After a fewer minutes I'm usually dormant (find retired much astir these approaches successful my caller book, 4 Weeks To Better Sleep).