Skip salt, eat beets, floss your teeth, use flax egg plus 7 more health tips to help you have a great week

Hello, Yahoo Life readers! My name is Kaitlin Reilly and I am here to share this week’s best health and wellness tips. If the frigid winter weather makes you want to cozy up with a warm beverage, you should check out Yahoo Life’s guide to the healthiest teas. While it’s hard to go wrong with tea, which is packed with polyphenols that can act as antioxidants, different types come with specific benefits. Black tea, for example, is linked to lower cholesterol, while both ginger tea and peppermint tea can help soothe your stomach and even combat bloating. Plus, research into green tea shows that it may lower your risk of several cancers. Tea not your thing? There are plenty of other cozy beverages to try. My go-to is a mug of hot chocolate: The flavonols in the cocoa have been shown to improve mood, blood pressure and even skin aging.

Want to see just how cold the temperatures outside will be? Check your local weather. Seeking advice from the stars? Read your horoscope. Then dive into the wellness tips below.

🧂 Skip salt

The World Health Organization sounded the alarm this week about the health implications of too much salt, stating in a report that annually 1.9 million deaths are attributable to high sodium intake. The solution the WHO recommends? Turning to lower-sodium salt substitutes, like products that switch out some sodium chloride for potassium chloride. For a flavor boost, consider seasoning your meals in other ways, such as with a squeeze of lemon, a dash of garlic powder or a pinch of cayenne pepper or paprika.

💟 Eat beets

Their purple-pink tone isn’t the only reason why you should eat beets, as Martha Stewart writer Kirsten Nunez reported. Beets are one of the most antioxidant-rich foods available, meaning they help fight free radicals that could damage our healthy cells and lead to chronic disease. And thanks to their high fiber content (about 2.8 grams per three-quarters of a cup), they also help with digestion. While you can roast beets in the oven (goat cheese and beet salad, anyone?), one simple way to incorporate more of them into your diet is to blend them into hummus, which can add a pretty pop of color to any snack table. Or, try them pickled: You’ll get the probiotic benefits of vinegar too.

🦷 Floss your teeth

You’re likely brushing your teeth, but are you flossing regularly? The latest data from the American Heart Association says you absolutely should. Regular flossing was linked to a significantly lower risk of certain types of heart disease, specifically forms of stroke and atrial fibrillation (A-fib), which is an irregular heartbeat that can lead to blood clots and heart failure. (Want to avoid plastic floss? Go for reusable silicone floss or floss made of bamboo instead.) Staying on top of your dental health in general is crucial, Dr. Luigi Ferrucci, the scientific director of the National Institute on Aging, told Women’s Health, noting that poor oral health is “one of the most important sources of inflammation,” which has a “really strong negative effect on different organs’ health.” In addition to staying on top of your brushing and flossing routine, get a cleaning every six months if you can, and make an appointment if you’re experiencing any tooth pain or other dental concerns.

🥚 Use flax egg

Egg prices are soaring right now, and they’re expected to remain sky-high. If you’re a baker who regularly uses eggs in your recipes, you may want to turn to an alternative. Consider making a “flax egg,” which involves mixing 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water and letting it sit for a few minutes until it forms a gel-like consistency. In general, adding more flaxseed to your diet is beneficial: These tiny seeds are packed with omega-3s and gut-healthy fiber, which are two things Americans need more of in their diets.

🫁 Try the 4-7-8 breathing trick

If news coverage of the tragic D.C. plane accident is leaving you feeling unsettled, especially if you have to fly in the next few weeks, consider this breathing tip that Prerna Menon, a New York City therapist, told Insider helps her patients manage anxiety. It’s called the 4-7-8 breathing pattern: Simply inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds and exhale for eight. This type of breathing helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps calm your body after periods of stress or danger, and can be done anywhere, at any time.

⏰ Try time blocking

It’s the beginning of the year, and if your resolution was to be more productive, you likely think you can crush your goals by multitasking — after all, if you’re doing more things at a time, surely you’ll get them all done more efficiently, right? Not exactly, experts told HuffPost: For most people, switching between tasks means you struggle more with decision making and focusing, which can zap your productivity. Instead, try “time blocking,” a strategy where you set aside time to achieve a specific goal. Doing so stops you from wasting mental energy toggling between tasks, which makes you more productive and therefore less stressed.

🚰 Start your day with H2O

Neurosurgeon Dr. Brian Hoeflinger recently shared his morning routine on TikTok and said that he starts the day with a “big glass of water” — and there’s good reason to try it yourself, the New York Post reports. Research from 2020 found that drinking about two glasses of water after 12 hours of dehydration helped improve mood and memory, and downing a glass early in the day can prep your body for a day of food and relieve constipation as well as potentially boosting your metabolism. Whether or not you drink water early in the AM, you should make sure you’re getting enough throughout the day: Doing so prevents kidney stones, keeps your skin hydrated and boosts your energy levels.

A way to get more out of your water in the morning is to include a squeeze of lemon, Dr. Justin Houman, a urologist and assistant professor of urology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, recently told Yahoo Life for a story about healthier morning routines. Not only will lemon water hydrate you, but the extra dose of vitamin C can help boost your immune system, helping you fight off colds and other illnesses. Just be mindful if you have acid reflux, as the lemon could exacerbate it.

🫵 Stop touching your face with this hack

Norovirus is circulating this winter, and unlike some other bugs, it’s not killed by hand sanitizer. While washing your hands thoroughly with soap and water is an effective method of ridding them of any germs you’ve picked up, that’s not the only way to avoid illness. Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, wrote in a piece for the Conversation that we should also stop touching our faces.

Why? Well, just a bit of the virus, which can survive on environmental surfaces (like doorknobs and the equipment at the gym), can make you sick and “if you get a little bit of virus on your fingertips and then touch your lips, you can get an infection,” Schaffner explained. Putting a strong-smelling lotion or perfume on your wrists or hands helps you avoid putting your hands close or on your face, according to advice from Cleveland Clinic. You’ll be more likely to notice when your hands are moving closer to your face and can stop an incidental touch in its tracks.

🙆‍♂️ Try Pilates

During Pamela Anderson’s conversation with Martha Stewart for Elle magazine, Stewart shared that she does Pilates at least three times a week in the morning. She’s not alone: Pilates was a major workout trend for 2024. The workout method, which was created by Joseph Pilates as a method of rehabilitation, focuses on recovery, flexibility and strength and can be done using a reformer (a machine with a sliding carriage, springs and straps for a resistance-based workout) or on a mat. As Stewart knows, there are plenty of benefits to getting into the practice: A regular Pilates practice improves your posture, core strength and flexibility, as well as reduces back pain and stress.

🙃 Do something weird

If you’re always forgetting to run that errand, book that flight or bring your friend her long-awaited birthday gift, you’re not alone. Want to actually remember to do that stuff? Get a little weird. One tip memory expert Todd Rogers confirmed works to Good Housekeeping is creating a strange visual cue to jog your brain like leaving a toy car atop your keys in order for you to remember to book that rental car. While you may mentally bypass a Post-it note, the odder visual will stick with you and force you to recall your task at hand.

🧦 Wear compression socks at night

If you find yourself always getting up to pee in the middle of the night, consider wearing compression socks, which research from 2022 says can help, as CNET reports. Why? Compression socks help prevent fluid buildup in the legs; this fluid is otherwise reabsorbed into the bloodstream when you lie down, and your kidneys will process it, which can increase your need to pee. It’s not the only time to wear compression socks: They’re also important to wear on a plane, as they help improve circulation and reduce swelling caused by prolonged sitting with limited movement.

More wellness tips:

• Eat macadamia nuts — they’re linked to a lower risk of heart disease.

• Swap oats for barley in your next grain bowl.

• Start a streak to stick to good habits.

• Snack on baby carrots to protect your eyes and skin.