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 reduced carbohydrate diet pointers:
* Replace sugar with splenda. Many recipes that need sugar can be modified to make use of splenda instead. It is not exactly the same so you will need to do a bit of trial and error and it may not work for everything, but it gives pretty good results once you have it cracked.

* You can make delicious smoothies by using low carb yogurt. I know, you can't really describe it as cooking, but if you love smoothies you can make perfectly acceptable alternatives by using low carb yogurt and your favorite fruit. Obviously, you will need to ensure you use fruit that is low in carbohydrates and the whole fruit as the fiber will help.

Lycopene foods
(includes grapefruit, red peppers and spiny bitter gourd)

The nutrient lypcopene is a simple chemical compound and member of the same group of phytochemicals as carotene. It is the reason for the red colour of some types of food.

Usefully, unlike numerous other healthy agents, lycopene does not become less effective if subjected to heat, but is genuinely strengthened by cooking.

. Its most interesting medical value is that it acts as an antioxidant and appears to be an asset in the fight to lower the risk of developing cancer.

Lycopene is the most powerful eliminator of singlet oxygen, which is linked with aging of the skin. It is also believed to prevent the growth of diseases affecting arterial blood vessels.