Diet hints and tips

In deciding on a diet, it is essential to attempt to lower your consumption of fat, salt and refined carbohydrates.

Some low carb diet guidlines:
* Food labels can be misleading Watch out for sales blurb that boasts 'low carb' - check the nutritional information on the back of the product. Quite a few are only marginally decreased and in some instances still more than a competitors standard brand. In addition, beware of 'low sugar' and 'low fat' labels - 'low sugar' doesn't always mean 'low carb' - often the carbs are identical.

* You can create really good smoothies with reduced carbohydrate yogurt. Ok, well, it’s not technically cooking, but if you really want smoothies you can make them with low carb yogurt and fruit. Obviously, you will need to ensure you use only fruit that is low in carbohydrates and use the whole fruit as the fiber will help.

Flavonoid foods
(inlcudes citrus fruits, brussels sprouts, scarlet runner bean and cayenne)

The flavonoids found in these natural foods are thought by nutritionalists to have properties in fighting cancer.
Nutritionalists researching the medical effects of flavonoids think they also have many other benefits to our health, amongst them, antiviral and antioxidant powers.
Most also have a low calorie count, so should be a part of every weight loss program.