remove most bacteria. But if your immune system is compromised, first boil your water for five minutes.Hormones and drug byproductsHow'd they get in there? Every time you pop a pill, traces of it come out in your pee. And these can find their way back

guide to help you prevent, survive and recover from your next cold.You're not  sick yet...But everyone around you isGet eight hours of sleepGrowth hormones that boost immunity are released during sleep, says personal trainer Nick Anderson (runningwithus

, particularly upper-respiratory-tract infections such as coughs and colds. Beat StressWhen you exercise, you naturally produce a certain amount of stress hormones – adrenaline and cortisol are the ones you've probably heard of. These are thought to be the cause

and ginger in a food processor until smooth, adding a tablespoon or so of cold water to help this process, if necessary. 3. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and gently fry the onion, garlic and ginger purée until soft and translucent. This should take about

for longer, and will make you less likely to gorge on mid afternoon snacks. The fruit suppresses the hunger hormone ghrelin, which is responsible for hunger pangs.9 Drinking a glass of carrot juice a day will help you lose four pounds over 12 weeks compared

see many improvements in your overall health and performance.Refined sugar is considered one of the most harmful foods in our diet. The major drawback is that it raises insulin levels, which inhibits the release of growth hormones, which, in turn

such as alcohol.The Anatomy of a HangoverThe brain's blood vessels dilate, causing a headache, while alcohol acts on the brain's pituitary gland and blocks production of the hormone that tells the kidneys to reabsorb water from fluids – this causes dehydration

to their horror that instead of dropping pounds, they've added some. Runners sometimes gain weight because they change their diets along with their mileage, or because other factors, such as hormonal fluctuations, come into play. And, occasionally, extra pounds

Picture the scene: you set off for the final leg of your first Olympic-distance race of the season, feeling good, on course for a PB, but after 5K your legs turn to jelly. You’ve taken on plenty of water on the bike and it’s not particularly hot

crawled up the garden path to our respective water bowls.And then things began to go horribly wrong. The more I trained, the more unfit I became. My response was to up the mileage, but this only dragged me into a vicious cycle of ever