HEALTH Eat y healt just o week

Want more ener improved mood clearer skin? Diet Juliette Kellow reveals the chan that will bring be in seven days

Starting to eat a nutritious diet – and then sticking to it long term – is a proven way to stay healthy and lower our risk of health problems such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. But you don’t have to have a complete overhaul to see an impact.

Making just a few key changes to your eating habits can benefit both physical and mental health in as little as one week, from more sleep to fewer headaches and digestive complaints, and even an uptick in your mental wellbeing. Best of all, speedy results are a great way to stay motivated and encourage us to make the improvements permanent.

So with spring in the air, there’s no better time to make dietary changes that will future-proof your health and start giving results in just seven days.

1SKIP SALT Reducing our salt intake usually helps lower blood pressure within a few weeks, but new research suggests we could see benefits in as little as seven days. Research published in the British Medical Journal found that, in 50 to 75-year-old adults with a history of hypertension, cutting salt by one teaspoon a day reduced blood pressure by as much as taking medication.

That’s good news, as around half of all heart attacks and strokes are linked to high blood pressure, which affects 30 per cent of UK adults.

Around three-quarters of the salt in our diet comes from foods we buy such as bacon, ham, sauces, pickles, savoury snacks, bread, cheese, takeaways and pizzas – so as well as skipping salt when cooking or at the table, check food labels on packaging to help select products with lower levels of it.

2

KEEP REGULAR

Glucose – the simplest form of sugar – fuels all the cells and organs in our body, including the brain. That’s why we feel irritable, tired, dizzy and unable to concentrate when blood sugar (glucose) levels plummet due to skipping meals.

Our brain also lets us know when we need to top up blood sugar levels. Cue cravings for sugary foods like chocolate, sweets, biscuits and cakes. These rapidly increase blood sugar, providing a quick energy burst. But the effect is short lived. Levels drop just as quickly, resulting in low blood sugar and all the symptoms that come with it.

The solution is to eat regularly and focus on carb-rich foods that break down slowly, causing a steady release of sugar into the blood.

It means swapping processed, refined carbs such as white rice, bread and pasta for higher-fibre brown rice, wholemeal bread, wholewheat pasta, wholegrain cereals and oats.

Eating regularly may also help with some digestive complaints. A Swedish study found amongst 45 to 75-year-old adults, irregular breakfast habits increased the risk of bloating by 37 per cent. Plus, Iranian research found women who ate regularly had a 44 per cent lower risk of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

3FAB FIBRE FOR GOOD GUTS

Most people in the UK fail to consume enough fibre, eating just two-thirds of the recommended 30g a day. But fibre fills us up, which helps curb hunger. It also moves food through our digestive system more quickly, helping

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