Well worth a read!!!

IF you must detox – remember though, the body is designed to get rid of toxins pretty efficiently!

No foods are taboo, even fried chicken. It’s how much you eat that affects your mood.

According to the American Heart Association: ‘You can reduce cholesterol in your blood by eating healthful foods, losing weight if you need to and exercising.’ What follows is a listing of the most potent foods to add to your diet if you want to fight high cholesterol and drive your levels down using your diet as a primary tool.
Included on this list are shiitake mushrooms, walnuts, and dark green leafy vegetables. Obviously, cholesterol levels involve a lot more than what you put in your mouth; but this list is a good start on getting them down to healthy levels. — Wendy Boswell

Fat Surgery On NHS For Obese Children: “Overweight children could be offered weight loss surgery to help them slim down, it has been proposed.”

(Via Sky News.)

Dieters do calories, not exercise: “People are giving up burning calories for just consuming fewer of them, research suggests.”

(Via BBC News.)

18 minutes of exercise required to burn off one cookie: “Oh, those holiday pitfalls: a martini and a handful of Chex mix at the office party, Grandma’s fruitcake, the plate of gingerbread cookies from your neighbor.”

(Via digg / Health.)

12 ideas to keep off holiday pounds

Three French pastries … two turtle cheesecakes … and a partridge in a pear sauce.

The Twelve Days of Christmas bring holiday foods meant to be enjoyed, but no one wants a weight problem when the merriment ends.

Food psychologist Brian Wansink has spent many of his own days researching how these problems occur. His new book, ‘Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think,’ explores the unconscious cues that make us feast as we do, and how we can keep them from manipulating us.

Nearly all of his suggestions are based on published results of scientific studies he has conducted as director of Cornell University’s Food and Brand Lab.

What’s The Ideal Hangover Cure?: “Toast and honey is the ideal New Year’s Day hangover cure, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Honey, or alternatively golden syrup, provides the body with the essential sodium, potassium and fructose it needs after a night out, experts said.”

(Via Sky News.)

New Year’s weight loss hacks: “

The results from our New Year’s resolution poll are in: almost one third of you are looking to lose weight and get more fit in ‘07.

Since it’s January 2nd and we’re all sadly munching on our carrot sticks after a week of holiday gluttony, today’s a good time to run down some of the best weight loss tricks we’ve gathered here at Lifehacker. Step into my office – and bring your carrot sticks – for a few tips on how to make your New Year’s pound-shedding a bit easier.

While I’ve been up and down the scale myself, I’m no doctor, and you should consult with one before taking anyone’s health and nutrition advice. That said, here are some small changes that could make a big difference on your waistline:

Trick yourself into moving a bit more than you did before. Walk instead of drive. If you drive, park on the far side of the lot. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Go to the water cooler upstairs instead of on your floor. You a gamer? Treat yourself to some Dance Dance Revolution, or plan to get yourself a Wii and work up a sweat while you’re gaming.

Help yourself eat small portions. When you get that humungous portion at the restaurant, before you take a bite, cut it in half and put one aside to doggie bag. If you’re cooking at home, put away the leftovers before you sit down to eat to avoid picking out of the pans after you’re done. Drink lots of water to fill yourself up. Portion out things like chips and candy into small grabbable one-portion baggies as soon as you get home from the grocery store. Use smaller plates, or a kid’s plate.

Hide the temptations. You don’t have to ban cookies and sweets from your kitchen entirely, just put them out of sight, like on the top shelf of the tallest cabinet.

Keep healthy stuff readily available. Put fruit on display in the kitchen. Keep a few energy bars or low-fat crackers in your desk drawer at work to avoid visiting the vending machine.

Eat before you get so hungry you’ll make bad choices. If you forget to eat breakfast, by the time lunchtime rolls around you’re starving, light-headed, cranky, and ready to chow down on the fastest, most convenient thing – like fast food. Keep healthy munchies around so you’re never so hungry you’ll make bad choices. Along the same lines, don’t go to the grocery store hungry.

Enlist friends and family members’ help and support. Trying to lose weight is nothing to be ashamed of, and you’re more likely to make good choices if you’re with people who know you’re looking to improve your diet and exercise. Tell your family, friends and coworkers so that they don’t pressure you into getting a margarita when you order a seltzer with lime. A partner to exercise with or compare progress with helps too.

Write it down. The golden rule of lifehackers works for New Year’s resolvers, too: write down your progress. Keep a food diary. Log your progress automatically in an Excel spreadsheet. Keep yourself accountable. No time to haul around a food diary? Snap cameraphone pics of every single thing you put into your mouth in a day, and tally it all up at night.

Don’t ban your favorite foods for life. Let’s be honest: food is life. Don’t deprive yourself of your favorite chocolate-covered pretzels forever and ever. What’s a life without chocolate, anyway? Moderation is key. Give yourself a day of treats once a week, or every 5 pounds you lose. Remember, if you have to earn it, it tastes even better when you do.

Surround yourself with motivating images. Cheesy as it is, I love watching The Biggest Loser, because it’s so inspiring. A triathlete friend of mine buys a stack of fitness magazines and covers her wall with photos of hot, ripped bodies cut out of them when she’s in training. Hell, I went to go see Rocky Balboa this weekend and it had me wanting to run a few miles. Make fitness and healthy eating a way of life, and surround yourself with media that reinforces your efforts.

If you’re looking for some light – and free – diet reading, be sure to check out The Hacker’s Diet e-book. Also, our recent Ask the readers: Best weight loss secrets? post has a comments thread filled with reader tips. I’m off to refill my water bottle. How are the New Year’s weight loss resolutions going? Let us know in the comments. —’Gina’Trapani

“

(Via Lifehacker.)

Free Smoothie Recipes: ”

‘Superfoods’ Everyone Needs: ”

Study says milk in tea ruins health benefits: “The benefits of the great British cuppa have been called into question after it was claimed that adding milk neutralised the healthy properties of tea.”

(Via Telegraph Health.)

Food industry insists its health labels are clear: “The food industry has hit back at claims that its preferred method of labelling was too difficult for consumers to understand.”

(Via Telegraph Health.)

Abstain in moderation: too little of what you fancy does you harm: “No doubt those New Year resolutions – a couple of months of self-denial and regular exercise – are all for the good. But there seems little point in denying oneself the good things of life for no purpose: pleasure too has its reward.”

(Via Telegraph Health.)

David Seah : The Healing Power of Water: ”
The Healing Power of Water
Filed under Food
I turned 39 at the end of December, and with that came a whole host of aches and pains. I thought I was just imagining things because I was eyeing my impending 40s with some trepidation. But then the spasms began, starting with my left hand. My left shoulder joint starting feeling like it was seizing up, and then the right shoulder blade seemed to be grating itself into little pieces. My back was killing me, each vertebra crunching against each other like little disks of sand. These were pains I had never experienced before, and the usual three-day window it normally takes my body to bounce back from a strain had stretched well into 9 days, no improvement in sight. In fact, things seemed to be getting worse, which didn’t help my mood.

‘So this is how it begins,’ I thought gloomily. ‘Total body distintegration. Just in time for my 40s.’ I mentallly flipped through the various exotic illnesses that could be afflicting me, my imagination fuele”

(Via .)

Slim Pickings For 31 years

Whilst claiming to be ‘unconventional’ this isn’t extreme at all, makes a lot of sense and is pretty much how I go about things when I diet.

It covers some hints and tips for eating breakfast, which most people agree is the most important meal of the day, but it also covers some general advice which is pretty sound.