Diet tips

In planning a meal plan, the important thing is to try to cut down your ingestion of fat, salt and refined carbohydrates.

Some reduced carbohydrate diet tips:
* Know what is in your food Don't believe food packaging that boasts 'low carb' - check the real nutritional information on the back of the tin or packet. A good number of are only marginally less and in some instances still more than a competitors usual brand. In addition, beware of 'low sugar' and 'low fat' labels - 'low sugar' does not always mean 'low carb' - usually the carbs are identical.

* Don't ignore the fiber Reducing the carbs in your diet usually results in reduction in fiber also. Look at reduced carb recipes that are rich in fiber to restore the balance.

Superfoods containing lycopene
(includes guava, papaya & tomato sauce)

The nutrient lypcopene is a natural coloring agent and part of the same group of phytochemicals as carotene. This chemical is responsible for the dark red color of some fruit and vegetables.

Fortunately, unlike many other nutritional compounds, lycopene is not damaged if it is cooked, instead it is in actuality improved by going through the cooking process.

. Its most important theraputic value is that it acts as an antioxidant and seems to be an asset in the battle to reduce the probabilty of cancer.

Lycopene is the most efficacious quencher of singlet oxygen, which is associated with skin aging. It's also thought to block the progression of atherosclerosis.