Appetizer Recipes from the Recipes 4U Cookbook

Some lower carb diet guidlines:

* Replace sugar with a low carb substitute such as splenda. Many recipes that use sugar can be modified to make use of a sugar replacement instead. It doesn't weigh the same so you will need to expirement with it and it may not work for every recipe, but it gives pretty good results in most cases.
* Know what is in your food Watch out for advertizing that boasts 'low carb' - check the nutritional information figures on the reverse of the can or packet. Some are only a little less and in some cases still more than a competitors normal brand. Also, beware of 'low sugar' and 'low fat' labels - 'low sugar' doesn't always mean 'low carb' - usually the carbs are exactly the same.

Weight loss hints and tips

In planning a meal plan, the most important step is to make efforts to lower your intake of fat, salt and refined carbohydrates.

Lycopene rich foods
(includes apricot, red bell peppers and sweet gourd)

Lycopene is a simple compound and member of the same family of phytochemicals as carotene. Lycopene is the reason for the vivid red hue of many fruit and vegetables.

Intrestingly, unlike most other nutrients, it does not become less effective if heated during cooking, but is really strengthened by being cooked.

. Its most important medical value is that it works as an antioxidant and appears to help to lower the chances of developing cancer.

Lycopene is the most efficacious remover of singlet oxygen, which is correlated with aging of the skin. It is also thought by nutritionalists to impede the development of atherosclerosis.