On the hunt for health hacks

TV host and journalist Julia Bradbury's new book looks at ways to improve your energy levels and general health by adopting some subtle lifestyle changes

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Julia Bradbury is on a mission to improve her healthspan - which, she explains, is subtly different to life longevity.

"I don’t just want to endure, I want to be able to run around after my children for decades to come and, if I'm lucky, after my grandchildren too," she said. "I want to be able to lift and carry things and continue to leap up the stairs two at a time. I want to get better at tennis - not worse - and be strong enough so that if I stumble or fall, I can steady myself or get up relatively unscathed. That's healthspan, not lifespan. It’s about being strong enough to handle life’s knockbacks with resilience, hopefully well into older age."

In her new book, Hack Yourself Healthy, Julia, 55, shares her experience of trialling the lifestyle hacks that are designed to extend our healthspan. From blood tests to saliva tests, she has been "poked, prodded and stuck with needles" in her quest to suss out what works - and doesn’t - when it comes to maintaining good health. And she’s brought plenty of industry professionals on board to add their expert knowledge to the mix.