One of the popular topics we hear concerning healthy eating is the ‘five a day’. People have many misconceptions on this subject, such as thinking tomato ketchup counts as one of these whereas the reality is the five a day will only come from actual fruit and vegetables. In addition to this you need to be eating from a spectrum of colours, fruit and vegetables are divided into seven colour groups. Eating from across the food spectrum will ensure that you will obtain the full range of fibre and multi-vitamins. Most important are the phyto-nutrients that they contain which help prevent cancers and keep cancer cells under control. Virtually every cancer is caused by a lack of fruit and vegetables, five a day as a minimum and preferably seven a day from across the spectrum will give your body the best fighting chance.

Learn more about achieving a healthy diet, a healthy lifestyle and good nutrition with the Gift of Health.

A few days ago we discussed carbohydrates and in particular the myth of the so called ‘carb-free diet’, (which if you recall if you have a truly carb-free diet, you would die, because carbohydrates is the fuel that your body needs to exist).

Carbohydrates spare protein so that protein can concentrate on building and repairing the body tissues instead of being used as an energy source. A good example of that is a candle, which has a wick in the middle which represents your protein and wax on the outside which is the carbohydrates. Imagine you are the candle, if you didn’t have any wax on the outside your wick would burn out really quickly and that is what happens to top athletes, if they have no fat store – no carbohydrates, so they’re running on their muscles. Therefore they have to run on the fuel that they have consumed before a race, when they finish even a short race they tend to suffer painful cramps because the body is trying to drag energy from the muscles and so that’s why carbohydrates are used. For the fat to be easily metabolised the carbohydrates must be present. If carbohydrates are not present the body is not able to handle the large amounts of required for energy and accumulates keytone bodies which make the bodies very acidic. With the Atkins diet people used to get katosis, a foul smelling mouth. Carbohydrates are also required for regulation of nerve tissue and is the only source of energy for the brain. Certain types of carbohydrates encourages the growth of healthy bacteria in the intestines to aid digestion. Lots of type of carbohydrates are packed with fibre, the two types of fibre are digestible and indigestible. Indigestible accumulates in the stomach in a ball, like cotton wool and expands with the moisture in the stomach and gives the brain the signal of being full when you’re eating. Also in this state it acts like a net, so any access cholesterol in your food often gets ‘snagged up’ in it and then passes through your digestive system keeping your body quite ‘regular’ and cleansed and keeps the friendly flora in your stomach. The digestible part of the fibre lays in the stomach and slows the digestion of glucose, the sugary element of your food, preventing it going straight into your blood, leading to a slower absorption, preventing spikes of blood/sugar levels. Why is that important, you might ask ? Because when you get a spike in your blood/sugar – a ‘sugar rush’ if you like, what happens is that your pancreas produces insulin to bring it down, bringing the level down to lower than where it was previously and all the sugary things, the glucose, will turn to body fat because the insulin will tuck it away into your body into its unlimited storage area.

So, having good digestible fibre slows that absorption down and is really important in own diet and most people have nothing like the amount of fibre they should have each day. The other important thing about the cycle of raising and lowering of blood sugar levels is that your pancreas is like a little balloon and what happens is that if it’s used all the time very soon it becomes stretched and less effective and you start to develop diabetes. Diabetes is usually caused by this and the over activity of the pancreas.

To help achieve your daily fibre requirement especially eat legumes, that is podded vegetables such as runner beans, broad beans and also try to eat vegetables with stalks like cauliflower.

To ensure that you reach the recommended intake of fibre each day as well as improved your diet, why not get into the habit of taking Herbalife’s Florafibre tablets with a large glass of water three times a day.

WHY DO YOU NEED IT ?
Fibre is well known to have a beneficial effect on intestinal and digestive health, maintaining bowel regularity and normal colonic function. Another benefit of fibre is its role to speed up the passage of food and help to eliminate toxins from the body. Studies suggest that Western diets are low in fibre, with the average adult intake typically bordering 17g per day. Governments recommend consumption as high as 30g per day to optimise your digestive system.

KEY BENEFITS

• FloraFibre as a source of dietary fibre help maintain intestinal health and a healthy digestive system

• Dietary fibre promotes bowel regularity and normal colonic function

• Dietary fibre can assist the removal of wastes from the body

If you have trouble sleeping or still feel tired in the morning because of the ‘wrong kind of sleep’, then look at your eating patterns. We usually eat a large meal in the evening containing protein; steak, chicken etc., fuel for your body to give you energy and this is the perfect thing to keep you up all night. In contrast, low fat, high carbohydrate meals and digested more easily and stimulate different chemicals in the blood; the ones that help relaxation and so help you sleep. So, high protein meals should be breakfast and lunch, to keep you alert and clear headed. Look for low-fat, high carbohydrate things for your dinner. Also caffeine is obviously a stimulant. Some people find after drinking coffee at night that they go off to sleep quite easily, but they don’t stay asleep and in a couple of hours they are hovering on the point of consciousness and therefore the body is not getting into the area of the sleep that it needs. Only when the you are into a deeper sleep does the body regenerate the skin, recharge the batteries and allow your cardiovascular system to start to repair itself. Alcohol has the same effect plus the brain realises when it is not in deep sleep, that the bladder is full and thus forces you to wake up to visit the bathroom. The other good things to have in the evening are those foods which are calcium rich; milk, yoghurts, cheese, because calcium helps you to relax as it is a muscle relaxant. Traditional bedtime drinks such as hot chocolate, Horlicks, hot milk have a scientific basis. Children being sent to bed with a glass of hot milk and a biscuit is in fact very wise. Between them they have calcium and carbohydrates and that all encourages a more relaxed and deeper sleep.

So, in summary, lighter dinner focused on salads and vegetables, perhaps lentil soup, followed by a fruit dessert are all good things to eat in the evening. If you know caffeine affects up, stop drinking it in the evening. Keep alcohol intake limited because it’s a dialectic. You are less likely to be woken up though drinking too much water than alcohol or coffee, especially alcohol. They send very strong signals to the brain that you need to go to the toilet.

As part of your pre-bedtime routine, why not try Niteworks® from Herbalife which contains L-Arginine helping to promote good blood circulation as part of a healthy diet.

KEY BENEFITS
• Contains L-Arginine which works together with the body to increase nitric oxide production, to help support normal blood circulation
• Niteworks® is high in vitamin C and E which are beneficial antioxidants known to help protect the cells against free radicals.
• Niteworks® powder is a key product in the Herbalife Healthy Heart Programme

HOW CAN IT HELP YOU?
Research suggests that the naturally occurring gas, nitric oxide, promotes healthy blood circulation, when combined with a balanced and varied diet and exercise.
USAGE
Mix two scoops (9 g) of Niteworks® powder with 250ml of water or juice. Drink at night before bedtime. Niteworks® is night-time nutrition particularly designed for anyone but especially for those above the age of 30.

Try it today : Herbalife Niteworks®