Salt is found in a lot of foods and something that a lot of us add to our cooking, so is it really that bad for you? Salt can be both a serious cause for health concerns and a major hindrance in weight loss if used in high quantities.

1/ Health Problems – the major health issue salt causes is high blood pressure. So if you’re blood pressure is at all high, seriously cutting down on salt will undoubtedly help you to lower it.

2/ Weight Loss Problems – Salt causes you to retain water. It doesn’t stop you burning fat or make you retain fat, but the fact that your body will retain more excess water will lead to the scales not showing the results you may deserve. So keeping the salt to a minimum will help you see the weight come off quicker on the scales and stay more motivated.

Of course if you have really high blood pressure or need to lose a lot of weight quickly then cutting out salt altogether would be the best choice. But for most of us cutting down and being more aware of how much salt we are eating should suffice. Here are a few key steps you should take;

1/ Oriental sauces such as soy sauce, fish sauce and tamarind paste are seriously salty and should be used sparingly. And you certainly shouldn’t add any extra salt to the dish.

2/ Processed foods such as ready meals, takeaways, crisps, white bread, salted nuts to name a few contain a lot of salt without you even realising it. Keep these… Read more->

Everyone wants to know how to exercise most efficiently as burn the maximum amount of fat and calories in the minimum amount of time. Here are 2 major, key strategies that you should use in whatever type of exercise you are doing in order to burn the most calories you can.

As a guide the average person who is averagely fit would burn 80-100 calories per 10 minutes of exercise. So that’s 500-600 calories an hour. But this could be drastically less if you are doing the wrong things, and drastically more (over 1000 per hour is not out of the question) if you are doing the right things. Here are the 2 key strategies;

1/ Keep your heart rate as high as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to buy a heart rate monitor. It some cases it helps people to keep working hard and keep their heart rate up but it’s by no means a necessity. Just work as hard as you can and push yourself constantly and your heart rate will take care of itself.

Why do you have to work hard? Simple – the higher you heart rate, the harder your body has to work to cope and the more calories you burn as a result.

2/ Work as many muscle groups as possible in each exercise. The more muscles you work per exercise the more calories you burn. It’s simple when you actually think about it but you would be amazed how many people do ‘isolation exercises.’ This means just working 1 or few muscle groups per exercise. An example of an isolation exercise would be a bicep curl of those… Read more->

Aspartame is a sweetener used to replace sugar in low fat versions of food and drinks, such as coca cola and yogurts. It is so attractive to consumers as it can give the sweet flavour sugar does but with minimal or no calories. Great, huh! Unfortunately no, not great – never has the old saying ‘if it sounds too good to be true it usually is’ rung more true.

Aspartame accounts for over 75 percent of the adverse reactions to food additives reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Many of these reactions are very serious including seizures and death.

Other reported symptoms and problems include; headaches/migraines, dizziness, seizures, nausea, numbness, muscle spasms, weight gain, rashes, depression, fatigue, irritability, tachycardia, insomnia, vision problems, hearing loss, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, loss of taste, tinnitus, vertigo, memory loss, and joint pain. Brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic fatigue syndrome, parkinson’s disease, alzheimer’s, mental retardation, lymphoma, birth defects, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.

Doesn’t sound like much fun does it. Next time you buy something processed or something that is a ‘healthy’ or ‘low fat’ option check for aspartame first.

Today Takeaway – Of course eliminating aspartame from your diet 100% is tough because unfortunately it is in a lot of things. But don’t worry, a tiny amount now and again will not cause any of the side effects cited above. Just keep away from it AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!

Many people are unsure about fruit and the role it plays in weight loss efforts. All fruits bring a range of vitamins and health benefits but can you just eat as much as you like and still lose weight? Should some fruits be avoided altogether?

Firstly, fruit is always going to be one of the best choices of snacks. And not just in terms of health benefits, in terms of calories fruit is far lower than many more common ‘healthy’ snacks such as cereal bars. However fruit cannot be treated in the same way as vegetables. Vegetables have little or no sugar and are all very low in calories so you really can eat as many as you like. However fruits do contain quite high sugar levels (although natural sugars, not processed), so you should limit the amount you eat if you are looking to lose weight. A maximum of 3 pieces a day is what I recommend.

Also some fruits are better than others. Berries are always the best choice, being low sugar, low carb and low calories. Tropical fruits such as mango and pineapple have a higher sugar content and therefore should be eaten more sparingly. Dried fruits are basically concentrated sugar so ideally should be kept to a minimum.

But the most important tip is to always mix the fruit with another food. Because of the sugar content if you just eat a couple of pieces of fruit as a snack you blood sugar levels will be spiked and then come back down meaning you will be hungry again shortly afterwards.  Mix the fruit with some yogurt or nuts and this will leave you fuller for longer.

Today’s Takeaway – Fruit is a great, healthy snack. But it is still sugar and calories so don’t over-eat it.