Many methods to improve your health are pretty plain/honest/easy: to lose weight, eat less and exercise more; to boost your energy, get more sleep; to prevent (not having enough water), drink more water. Others, however, are totally very surprising. The following 07 tips really do work--but they may leave you scratching your head.
# Drink coffee to have a better nap
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSSMJrp8ouGX2xZgatMispfnPWZoGdWbGxtGaPXetbZcS/image.png)
In a Japanese study that examined how to make the most of a nap, people who took a "coffee nap"--using/eating/drinking about 200 milligrams of (drug that gives you energy) (the amount in one to two cups of coffee) and then immediately taking a 20-minute rest--felt more alert and performed better on computer tests than those who only took a nap. 
Why does this work? A 20-minute nap ends just as the (drug that gives you energy) kicks in and clears the brain of a molecule called adenosine, making the most of complete awakeness and awareness. "Adenosine is a (something produced along with something else) of wakefulness and activity," says Allen Towfigh, MD, medical director of New York (nerve-related medical care) & Sleep Medicine. "As adenosine levels increase, we become more tired out. Sleeping (briefly, during the day) clears out the adenosine and, when combined with (drug that gives you energy), an adenosine-blocker, further reduces its effects and increases the effects of the nap."

# For healthy teeth, don't brush after eating
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSdbHVoYpudBksZksFvQgjh1FuduixNn1qyaQyestVYF5/image.png)
Don't brush your teeth immediately after meals and drinks, especially if they were (acid-like/harsh). (acid-like/harsh) foods--citrus fruits, sports drinks, tomatoes, soda (both diet and regular)--can soften tooth enamel "like wet sandstone," says Howard R. Gamble, immediate past president of the College/school of General (medical care for the teeth). Brushing your teeth at this stage can speed up acid's effect on your enamel and wear away the layer underneath. Gamble suggests waiting 30 to 60 minutes before brushing.

# Skip energy drinks when you're tired
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdATYKXstGc1bLwyppteJNTz4NTtg3NSUm5xf8Bxtj2Ry/image.png)
Energy drinks contain up to five times more (drug that gives you energy) than coffee, but the boost they provide is short-lived and comes with unpleasant side effects like feelings of being worried and upset, irritability, and fast heartbeat, says Goodson. Plus, energy drinks often contain high levels of taurine, a central nervous system stimulant, and upwards of 50 grams of sugar per can (that's 13 teaspoons worth!). The sweet stuff spikes blood sugar (only for a short time), only to crash soon after, leaving you slow and foggyheaded--and reaching for another energy drink.

# Drink water when you're swollen
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVutdBi3LPZsEWJsdZVaNHX7FfTKb7G5APPxMUSUGQmSH/image.png)
When you feel swollen, drinking water sounds as if it would only make things worse, but it can often help, says James Lee, MD, gastroenterologist with St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif. If you're on a high-fiber diet, for instance, then your body needs more water to work (producing more with less waste)ly, says Dr. Lee. "Water mixes with water (able to be dissolved in something) fiber and makes it into a gel like substance. This affects the swimming strength of the gut and reduces the sign (of sickness) of swelling." Drinking more water also relieves swelling caused by (not having enough water). When you're (removed the water from), your body clings to the water your body does have, causing you to puff up.

# Ditch diet soda to lose weight
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdPUd9EKUDZrYafgp3VF9q2xQfxmV7K1GaJM5Bm7Erbwm/image.png)
You should ditch all soda, including diet. Research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showed/told about that overweight and (very overweight) adults who drank diet drinks ate more calories from food than those who drank regular soda. Also, a University of Texas study found that diet soda drinkers had a 70% greater increase in waist (outside border of something/distance around the outside of a circle) than non-drinkers over the course of about 10 years. 
# Drink a hot beverage to cool off 
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSRFNoyczFd4yKSrnUQYtEdKNaiqPns3hrCNew9oUTXLh/image.png)
Which will cool you off faster on a (hot and humid/ steam-filled/ sex-related) summer morning: iced coffee or hot? Two recent studies say the last thing just mentioned--and so do other cultures where drinking hot tea in hot weather is the normal way of things, like in India. When you sip a hot drink, your body senses the change in temperature and increases your sweat production. Then, as the sweat disappears from your skin, you cool off naturally.

# Exercise when you're tired
![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmcudfMKb3vP38iTNE65poqqpMWfi8d9YjUE5dcYLjCoqF/image.png)
After a long, exhausting workday, exercising sounds like the last thing you'd want to do, but getting your sweat on will actually energize you. Tiredness along with mood and depression improved after a single 30-minute medium energy/medium effort exercise session, according to a study published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. "Everything we do uses oxygen, so when you exercise it helps you work (producing more with less waste)ly and you don't tire as easily," says Nutting. "You also function better (related to the mind and brain)."