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...

So you want to lose weight. What is one of the hardest things about this? Being hungry of course. If you're used to eating a large volume of food your body will still crave it when you reduce the portion sizes you are eating; even though you fill up on a pint of water before each meal you will soon feel hungry again. So when you get hungry between your smaller portion meals what do you do? After exercising, drinking more water, distracting yourself (boredom or stress often provokes hunger) you should find a food you can fill up on which won't break the calorie bank. I chose carrots because they are easily available, cheap, tasty ( I like them fresh+raw from the fridge or better the allotment) and they have few calories compared to beer, cake, biscuits, bread, sweets or other things I might reach for. Carrots also have the added bonus of giving you a healthy skin tone which when surveyed makes your skin look more healthy than a tan or fake tan! You can...

So you're eating breakfast and starting the energy "boiler" on a fast burn every morning. The boiler needs regular stoking to keep burning at this pace, with stimulation from regular exercise alongside regular food and fluid intake to keep the fires burning. In the old days when men worked the land they might eat up to four times a day without getting fat because they were constantly exercising in daily life, walking to work, hefting loads and digging etc. These days we have to trick our sedentary bodies into running at a higher metabolic rate by eating smaller portions, more often, while catching exercise where we can. So have smaller meals and healthy snacks imbetween with fluids, while increaseing exercise. A days food/fluid intake might look like this: 0730 get up drink 1 pint cold water 0745 eat small bowl of low sugar muesli and drink black coffee or tea 0800 cycle to work 1100 eat a banana and drink more water 1300 eat a sandwich and drink pint o...

It seems your mum was right about one thing - breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Imagine your body metabolism is like a boiler. You light the boiler first thing in the day and it burns more energy throughout the whole 24 hours, supplying the body with what it needs. If you don't eat breakfast you don't light the boiler - your body remains in "starvation mode" and you will only start burning energy when your energy levels slump having used up all readily available glycogen stores in your muscles -these are broken down into sugar for the bloodstream to the brain and other essential organs. When your energy slumps you crave sugar fast and reach for the wrong snack at elevensies. If your body is in starvation it immediately saves all energy intake in the form of fat because it is uncertain when the next meal will come. Now you don't have to eat half a pig and ten eggs to light the boiler - just some slow release carbs in bread or cereal (get...

So are you up to the challenge? This one launched at The CVM Gathering 2011 #TG2011 today where 36 guys and counting stepped up to commit to lose weight by Christmas. This next challenge is to help us guys get the belly fat off - we want to reduce our waist at the widest point breathing out, so we are healthier, have lower risk of heart disease and cancer and can live to see our grandkids grow up. The challenge is to #BEATTHEBELLY and lose a stone in 6 months by Christmas 2011. The longer timeframe means that this is aimed to be a sustained change, not a crash diet! Regular tips on how to do this will follow in the blog - feel free to comment and give feedback on your experience and if you have any other tips to share please let all of us know -we need all the help we can get. So follow on twitter #BEATTHEBELLY or follow this blog and to accept the challenge send an email to me at info@sinclairhealth.co.uk Good luck and lets hope we are all a little more trim come Chr...