The Optimise Health Blog

Do you use artificial sweeteners? Did you start this because you felt they would help you maintain or lose weight? Long term evidence is pointing towards links between sweetener use and causation of obesity and Diabetes - two major man killers! Read this article from Harvard Medical School for more information and I suggest you just go for real sugar next time - just get used to using less and burn off what you use. Dr Ben Sinclair Linked In Profile Twitter: Follow @menshealthtips  About Sinclair Health Ltd

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...

You are a typical guy. You eat mainly meat and carbs and sometimes a few veg on the side. You eat cheese in a burger or sandwich and eggs in a fry up. You grab the odd piece of fruit and think you can get 5 a day from drinking a whole carton of orange juice.. So you like the idea of this BEATTHEBELLY thing and you're on a fitness drive so you start looking into diets: there is a bewildering variety of options out there from the Acai berry supplement diet with bowel cleanser (a.k.a caffeine fuelled vitamin C boost bowel explosion diet) to the Atkins "just eat meat and cheese" and get a neck like a bull diet. Diet is something we all have to intake every day of our life, so essentially we are all on a diet all the time , but sometimes we tighten up and focus on certain foods. How do you make sure you're getting a balanced diet? Lets focus on a typical Western or developed world diet. You need Protein to build muscles - from meat, fish, eggs, cheese...