Dieting made easy

When deciding on a weight loss program, it is essential to try to restrict your intake of salt, fat and refined carbohydrate.

Some reduced carbohydrate diet pointers:
* Make reduced carb breadcrumbs for deep fried foods. While you can sometimes buy reduced carbohydrate bread crumbs, you can also make them by using low carbohydrate bread. All you have to do is toast the reduced carbohydrate bread in your oven on a sheet of cookie paper. When it is well browned, grind it in your blender. Keep in an airtight jar.

* Understand the food labels Don't trust food packaging that proclaims 'low carb' - check the real nutritional information on the back of the tin or packet. A good number of are only a little reduced and in some instances still more than a competitors normal brand. In addition, beware of 'low sugar' and 'low fat' labels - 'low sugar' does not always mean 'low carb' - usually the carbs are just the same.

Lycopene superfoods
(includes grapefruit, red bell peppers and tomato sauce)

The nutrient lypcopene is a non-synthetic compound used to color foods and one of the carotenid family. It is the reason for the deep red colour of a good number of fruits and vegetables.

Fortunately, unlike numerous nutritional compounds, this useful phytochemical not only survives being cooked, but is noticeably increased in efficacy by cooking.

. Its most valuable theraputic value is that it serves as an antioxidant and appears to be an asset in the fight to lower the probabilty of developing cancer.

It is the most efficacious carotenoid quencher of singlet oxygen, which is linked with aging of the skin. It is also thought by many researchers to curtail the progression of atherosclerosis.