Diet tips

At the start of a diet, people most certainly look at food store and big brand food items labelled 'low in fat'. To do this is far too often a miscalculation, in that an item could be significantly reduced in fats, but nevertheless elavated in calories and carbs.

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.

Foods rich in lycopene
(includes apricots, papaya & tomato puree)

The chemical lypcopene is a naturally occurring coloring agent and a member of the carotenid family of phytochemicals. It is accountable for the vivid red colour of many fruits and vegetables.

Unlike many other healthy agents, it is not damaged if it is cooked, rather it is actually increased in efficacy by cooking.

. Its key health contribution is that it is an antioxidant and is thought to help reduce the probabilty of cancer.

It is the most effective remover of singlet oxygen, which is connected with skin aging. It is also thought by many experts to curtail the growth of diseases affecting arterial blood vessels.