The Optimise Health Blog

 Here in the UK many still practise the Christian tradition of Lent: the discipline of giving something up to consider living simply, frequently a food item and for health benefit. The idea is to mimic the 40 day fast undertaken by Jesus in the wilderness, when he was tested by the devil and tempted to prove he was ready to start his mission. In England we start by making pancakes on Shrove Tuesday - to use up the sweet stuff in the larder so we are not tempted to eat it again for the duration of lent and to fuel the fast. Today the focus may be more about the challenge of reining in appetite or curbing bad habits like smoking or eating treats to excess and less about Christs' 40 days and nights in the desert being stalked by satan. Interestingly most ancient traditions held in them the concept of feasts: I.E. celebrating a particular event or time of year with a party and food. This meant eating special luxuries or taking pleasure in rarer foods or harvest time...

Do you sleep less than 8 hours a day? Research shows that if you do you are likely to have a shorter lifespan and also more likely to be obese. When we sleep our bodies have a maintenance program that kicks in to get us ready for the day, but if we cut this short the system can go out of whack. Along with eating breakfast to kick start the machine, sleep is required to maintain it. The sleep / wake cycle releases various hormones such as cortisol to prime the body or put it into hibernation for the night. Working night shifts can interfere with this process, hence those who work permanent nights are more likely to die young and be obese. So get more sleep! An average of 8 hours a day is about right. Dr Ben Sinclair Sinclair Health Limited https://www.optimiseclinic.co.uk Twitter: @menshealthtips Linked In: http://ow.ly/5iykm

Mediterranean diet for heart health - MayoClinic.com Here is more info on a diet that might be right for you - have a read because it is so much more than just eating gallons of olive oil on your salad! Happy Sunday! Dr Ben Sinclair Sinclair Health Limited https://www.optimiseclinic.co.uk Twitter: @menshealthtips Linked In: http://ow.ly/5iykm

Is your bread making you ill? How 2011's loaves are bad for you | Mail Online Everyone tells you to give up carbs. Well we do eat alot of bread in the UK /Western diet - bread and potatoes and pasta are really our staples. Bread has changed over the years and now contains many additives which may not be so good for you. Have a read of the link article above to find out more. My advice? Don't eat too much bread or rely on it as your only source of carbs - eat potatoe, rice, pasta, coucous, oats etc so you vary your diet and in the right proportions shown in the healthy eating plate post below, matched only by the same volume of vegetables and fruit in your daily intake. White bread is especially bad and you'd be surprised how much pure refined sugar actually goes into making it- try making it or look at a recipe. Go for granary or wholemeal with seeds - it contains more fibre and is more nutritious; best of all bake your own at the weekend with a bread make...

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...