The Optimise Health Blog

But that is really unhealthy! Ok so it depends on what you include, how it is cooked and how often you eat it. If you have heart disease or high cholesterol then I don't recommend this. If you suffer from high blood pressure the salt content may well be harmful to your blood pressure and is therefore not recommended But if you are active and wanting to lose weight then I can recommend this excellent protein rich start to the day up to twice a month as part of a balanced diet and exercise regime. Don't forget, a fry up is red meat rich so to avoid bowel cancer you should only eat red meat twice a week including this fry up. High protein breakfasts keep you full for longer and the body uses energy to break it down slowly, resulting in a happy full man who doesnt need to eat much for a while! To improve the meal I would make a few recommendations to the traditional "fry up" - grill back bacon with the rind removed - avoid streaky bacon - poach the eggs ...

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...

Here in the UK its the season for soft fruit. Fresh, wild and cultivated fruit is literally dripping from hedgerows and orchards all over the country at this time of year. Today for breakfast I had swiss musesli with fresh blackberries and blueberries - yum! This mix of fast acting fruit sugars with slow release carbs from oats and nuts is the ideal start, providing one of your 5-a-day. The added fruit bulks up the meal to keep you going for a long morning while giving added vitamin C to fight off cancer and colds into the mix. The sweetness of soft fruit avoids the need to add refined sugars to cereals for taste. You may eat less muesli as volume is replaced by the fibre in the fruit so overall its a healthy addition to your dietary intake of vitamins, energy and fibre! Collecting fruit is quite a relaxing past-time which can be beneficial for stress reduction and provides an excuse for some activity outdoors on a summers evening. So go get some blackberries from the near...

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...