8 Health Checks You Can Do at Home

Swollen ankles and knees can indicate that you are retaining fluids.  To help this, you need to drink more water, reduce salt consumption, and avoid processed foods.

There are several health checks you can do at home to look at your vision, food tolerance, digestive health, and many other aspects that can indicate that something is going on with your body.  If you do these health checks frequently, it can help you control your health and identify if it is necessary to see a specialist.  Do you want to learn how to do these?


For this test you will need a little blue food coloring, which you will apply to the tongue using a little cotton.  You are then going to observe the results with a magnifying glass by counting the number of taste buds close to the front part of the tongue.  If you count 20 or more blue points you have a good sense of taste and could be known as a “supertaster”.  According to some articles this isn’t good, since a “supertaster” is associated with a higher risk for certain types of cancer.

Some vegetables like broccoli and cabbage have bitter components that help protect against cancer, but these foods can be really unsavory for a supertaster.  Basically, the correlation between being a supertaster and having a higher risk of cancer is due to the sensitivity to vegetables, which are high in cancer-fighting antioxidants and vitamins.

Retention of liquids

Liquid Retention

To see if you are retaining liquids, press downward firmly with your thumb in three or four places on the upper and lower parts of the legs.  If the area you press stays white for a couple seconds after you remove your thumb, you are retaining fluids.  You can tell by seeing if the knees or ankles look swollen.  In this case, it is recommended to eat less salt in foods and eliminate processed foods from your diet.  It is also good to drink more water.


A lack of iron in the diet can cause anemia.  To test whether or not you suffer from anemia, extend your hand out with your palm face up and push the fingers back.  If after a few seconds the hand looks paler, especially the deep lines, you can tell this may be a problem.  It is better to consult a physician to confirm the diagnosis.  If you are suffering from anemia, eating red meat and leafy greens can help.

Food toleranceBaking Soda

Take a spoonful of baking soda, and mix it with a glass of water and drink it.  If you burp immediately after, that is a good sign.  Putting and alkaline substance into the stomach creates gas.  If you don’t burp, it can be a sign that the levels of stomach acid are low and aren’t absorbing all of the nutrients in food.


If you want to test your vision, walk 20 full steps back from a parked car.  Then look at the license plate.  Can you read the numbers with clarity?  If you notice some distortion or blurriness, it is a sign that something isn’t right.  It is best to go see a specialist.


If you want to test whether or not your cholesterol levels are high, look at the skin above and below the eyes.  Are there any yellow spots?  These are fat deposits that indicate high cholesterol.  If this occurs, it is best to see a doctor to take the necessary measures.  These little balls of fat only show up when cholesterol is very high for an extended period of time.

Digestive healthLactose Intolerant

Many times, when certain types of foods are digested, you can immediately feel full, bloated, or heavy.  If you want to know if this is due to a food intolerance do the following test:

Before eating a food that upsets your stomach, take your pulse.  Afterwards, eat a medium to large-sized portion of this food, and take your pulse.  If you notice that it has increased more than 10 beats  per minute, it is likely due to a food allergy.

Lung function

If you want to test your lung functioning and possible problems, stand about 30 centimeters away from a burning candle and exhale with the mouth open.  Do you notice a strange sound?  If this occurs it can be a warning sign of asthma, especially if you tend to cough at night.  If you don’t have these symptoms but feel that your lungs aren’t as flexible as they should be, it is possible that you aren’t in good physical shape.