Some health habits might seem too easy to make a difference in quality of life. But small can be big. Here are three things you can do for yourself—in not much more than 10 minutes total spread throughout each day—to improve your health and energy without an overly ambitious exercise program or yet another diet plan:

Embrace an all-in-one stretch: Karen Voight is a Los Angeles-based fitness instructor who makes high-quality, practical exercise videos. She recommends a wide-legged squat as an all-purpose stretch. If you can only do one stretch daily, this is her suggestion:

“Stand with your feet slightly turned out and little wider than your hips. Bend your knees into a deep squat, bringing the hips toward the heels. If you can’t keep your heels on the floor, then placed a rolled yoga mat [or towel] under your heels. Bring your arms inside your knees and palms together. Hold 20 to 30 seconds.”

Once you master this squat without discomfort (many kids do it naturally, especially at younger ages), you can work on breathing even while holding the squat position.

Anger more fattening than doughnuts? No, this is not a supermarket tabloid headline. A 2009 study by French researchers about British adults published in the American Journal of Epidemiology showed that the more hostile a man’s personality, the more his body mass index increased over the subsequent two decades (BMI is a ratio of height to weight).

The volunteer subjects were 35 to 55 years old when the study began. The researchers found that all men and women with higher rating of hostility on standardized questionnaires also had higher BMI measurements. That hostility/BMI relationship stayed constant for women, but appeared to produce accelerated weight gain among the males in the study.

Brush and floss your teeth: You likely have read or heard that teeth and gum problems can lead to heart disease because it increases inflammatory markers in the blood. You might know there are a growing number of studies that suggest poor oral health could be the first indicators of diabetes, stroke, unsuccessful pregnancies and even leukemia and AIDS. It’s all enough to renew a vigorous brushing and flossing routine.

Yet there’s more. After decades of medical schools and doctors ignoring oral health symptoms or at most categorizing oral health as superficial, the Association of American Medical Colleges or AAMC has established a recommedation that the nation’s medical schools include more oral health instruction in the curriculum to better equip future physicians with the clinical ability to connect teeth and gum problems with other diseases.

Equipping yourself with the best oral health routine, according to practitioners at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, means brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day (gentle scrubbing motion, inside and outside of each tooth). The most important time to brush is before you go to sleep. Rinsing between meals is valuable, and flossing once daily is optimal.

And you thought you were merely brushing your teeth twice a day.

Every spring, Dr. Elson Haas supervises a group of 25 to 100 people who participate in a 10-day fasting program. He does it himself too, a ritual he has followed since 1975.

“I was two years out of medical school with chronic allergies and way overweight,” recalled Haas by phone the other day after a day of seeing patients at his natural health clinic in Marin County, Calif. “I needed something.”

Fasting clearly worked for Haas, as he returns to it every spring (“the best time of year for detoxification, autumn is next”). He disbursed with the allergies and managed his weight despite a self-professed liking for food. Last week, Haas was drinking his version of a “master cleanser” drink while eating light (mostly fruit and veggies) as a modified fast he follows when he feels the need. His energy level is Haas’ usual guide.

Perhaps more impressive are the percentages associated with success among the spring fasting groups. Haas is into supervising thousands over 30-plus years and the vast majority benefited from the experience.

“Somewhere between 80 and 90 percent of the group members feel invigorated and report a profound experience,” said Haas. “They feel stronger, clearer, more energetic. That’s what we hear.

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Home remedies for sinus problems are a bit like comfort food. You opt for them when things are bleak or painful or both. And while you might not scare up much research to support the health value of tucking into a chicken cutlet with mashed potatoes, doctors are increasingly giving props to ways we can ease sinus pain with such practical remedies as saltwater nasal sprays and warm compresses.

Need a big name? Mayo Clinic endorsed saltwater sprays and warm compresses in its October 2008 health newsletter for women, just in time for the cold and flu season. Truth? Grandma knows more about comfort than even Mayo when sinuses are inflamed and dropping us for a loss.

But Mayo is good at explained how a cold turns into sinus pain and, even worse, chronic sinus pain: “Sinusitis often begins when a cold, which is caused by a virus, then leads to inflammation in the lining of the sinuses. Sometimes, this leads to a bacterial infection, which then creates a longer bout of sinusitis — lasting longer than 10 to 14 days.”

If a doctor has never talked to you about sinusitis, consider yourself fortunate. The rest of us know the sinus pain is like back pain—until you experience it, you just don’t know.

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The economy is no one’s favorite subject these days. But a new American Psychological Association survey shows that women might be even more inclined to avoid the subject. Eighty-four percent of the women in the survey acknowledged deep fears about the uncertain financial future, compared to 75 percent of men. The difference is statistically significant.

But, hey, not so fast. Men might be just as stressed about the economy but don’t own up to the fears.

“Women are sometimes more aware of the stress they are feeling,” said Stephanie Smith, a psychologist and public education coordinator for the American Psychological Association (APA) in a statement accompanying the survey results. “They are often more willing to talk about it and admit to the struggles they are having.”

One issue for women is that even in 2008 they tend to be the primary caregivers in families, both for kids and aging parents. Worrying about money can be compounded if there is concern about covering those responsibilities from a money point of view.

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For a physician who earned his medical degree in traditional fashion, Dr. Larry Dossey has been on the unconditional route ever since. Dossey is a pioneer in helping Americans become aware that research shows prayer can be healing. At Duke University, Dr. Harold Koenig has performed a similar role to connect a faith life with fewer health problems as people age.

Without any judgment about the right religion or even if one needs to follow organized religion (in fact, we dig what the Jewish rabbi and best-selling author Harold Kushner said, “spirituality brings us together and religion breaks us apart”), here is a review of important studies connecting spirituality and good health:

Four of every 10 Americans say they have been cured of an illness or enjoyed significantly improved conditions as a result of personal prayer or meditation.

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There are a lot of reasons to avoid or limit processed foods, whether you might find them packaged on grocery shelves or in the frozen convenience foods sections. One of the better arguments: You rob the body of dietary magnesium, which help prevent gallstones, relieve migraines, lower high blood pressure, reduce the risk of kidney stones and protect against bone loss in post-menopause.

A new study at the University of Kentucky Medical Center shows a diet rich in magnesium can reduce the probability of gallstones among individuals at increased risks from a family history of the conditon. This is important because the American diet in the last two to three decades has been declining. MIT scientists have reported that up to half of all American adults do not get enough magnesium on an average daily basis.

The Kentucky researchers found that not getting enough magnesium can increase your triglycerides and lower HDL or good cholesterol. It adds up to compromising health on many fronts. They studied more than 42,000 men over a decade. Other studies have confirmed the potency of dietary magnesium.

There is a simple solution: Eat more plant-based foods to up your intake of fiber.

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If you slice the United States in half horizontally, as if our country were a cantaloupe, then you can assume anyone who lives in the upper half is at higher risk for seasonal affective disorder or SAD. This “winter depression” is caused by lack of exposure to daylight and marked by feelings of low energy, anxiety and diminished joy.

While we all know that lightbox therapy and noontime walks are recommended, there are also effective strategies for your eating plan and which dietary supplements to take. One recommendation on the food side is to make sure your meals include lean proteins and even healthy fats to offset the increased SAD cravings for carbohydrates. A great dinner to eat once or twice a week would be a portion of wild salmon (you can broil it rubbed with olive oil, then sprinkled with tamari, lime juice and a couple smidges of sea salt), brown rice and some dark leafy greens. The salmon is a brain and mood booster, while brown rice is a whole grain with B6 and B12 vitamins, both key to emotional health. The leafy greens bring you folic acid for further mental balance.

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As we move, like it or not, into the cold, flu and strep throat season, there is good reason to consider getting more probiotics or “good guy” bacteria into our bodies. You can take probiotics supplements (ask an informed practitioner to make a recommedation) or look for yogurts and kefirs at the market.

What the probiotics can do is strengthen the immune system, especially the underrated but brain signal-sender digestive tract. Maybe even better, the probiotics can protect the gut’s health while taking antibiotic medications. Impressively, more doctors are recommending probiotic foods (including yeasts and sauerkraut) for just that reason. That’s a big change for even three years ago.

Offsetting the possible digestive grief of a 10-day course of antibiotics is a smart health strategy. An October poll by Harris Interactive reports that one in five U.S. adults taking antibiotics will suffer through medication-associated diarrhea than can be debilitating. Research shows taking probiotics along with your antibiotics course can reduce diarrhea and resulting dehydration symptoms by an average of 60 percent.

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More fodder for grandmas everywhere: Japanese researchers have published a new study showing that the collagen proteins found in chicken may actually lower blood pressure. What’s more, that poultry broth floating your noodles or matzo ball might well allow a patient with high blood pressure to reduce medications known as ACE inhibitors.

Chicken soup is a well-traveled remedy for the common cold that has earned some scientific stripes in recent years, documenting the healing effect. Something about the proteins to build up our immune system’s defense along with hot liquid opening up the air passages.

In truth, the new soup study focuses on chicken itself and not the broth or (though there is something to be said about the health value of the Japanese buckwheat variety). Clearly with an ulterior motive in mind—not always mutually exclusive to developing alternative remedies—scientists at Nippon Meat Packers Inc.’s Research and Development Center explored whether chicken collagen (connective tissue) can be used as the active ingredient in a blood pressure medication. Their report was published in late October in the peer-reviewed Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Scientists at Hiroshima University partnered on the study.

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A 10-minute qigong or tai chi practice sounds like an infomercial, but, surprise, even a Chinese-language text recommends that some exercises to move “qi” or energy through the body can be better than no exercises.

“If those who are busy with work and household chores have little spare time but wish to do some health exercise, they may try the following qigong practice, which takes only about 10 minutes or less.” This excerpt is from a book, “Methods of Traditional Chinese Health Care” that I found in a used bookstore in Vietnam. It was translated in 1990, updated in 1995 and is based on centuries-old healing practices.

The book explained that a 10-minute qigong practice can be “generally classified” into three forms: standing, sitting and lying. Novices pick what is most comfortable for them. The most important decision is that you follow the routine every day. You can choose morning or evening, depending on your schedule.

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