The Optimise Health Blog

Just to clarify - breakfast IS the most important meal of the day if you are trying to lose weight. If you don't eat and drink first thing your body remains in starvation (hence the word break-fast as you have fasted from food overnight) and you won't be burning more energy but just conserving your reserves as your body slows down and goes into hibernation. "But I just need a black coffee in the morning and I am fine till dinner time with a few snacks" I hear you say. With this work related habit of early rising, not eating and trying to jump start the machine with a coffee kick you are only heading for a slump later that day with associated craving for sugar rich foods around elevensies. If you want to start losing weight, eat breakfast; even if it is a glass of water and a banana. See this post for more on this topic. Tomorrow indulge yourself with a full English breakfast as per the blog. Dr Ben Sinclair Twitter: @menshealthtips Sinclair Heal...

So who told us it was OK to drink diet coke till it came out of our ears? Well unsurprisingly soft drinks manufacturers were the main culprits for mainstreaming fizzy pop into our homes and lives with their agenda of increased sales and profits at the expense of our health. Their marketing created iconic links between: Coke and Football / Father Christmas, Basketball with PepsiMax and 7UP/Sprite; Lucozade with any sport; finally Dr Peppers with general craziness! Recent research in the US has linked cola, pop and other fizzy drinks containing artificial sweeteners like Aspartame to a higher risk of developing diabetes, obesity, heart disease and high blood pressure amongst other ailments. On one level you should stop the pop to reduce unnecessary calories and caffeine and save your teeth. On another you should stop drinking stuff containing sweeteners becuase of aforementioned risks. On another - WHY DO YOU NEED TO DRINK IT ANYWAY? When I work an Emergency GP night shift I w...