AND OTHER NEWS FROM YOU’S HEALTH PAGE.
Trying to cut down on salt in your diet? You first need to know where it lurks. About three quarters of the salt in our diet comes from junk food and processed products so be a savvy shopper by always checking food labels.
Most labels specify the amount of sodium rather than salt however. You can work out how much salt a product contains by multiplying the sodium by 2,5. Food with 1,5 g salt per 100 g is considered high in salt, while 0,3 g or less per 100 g is low in salt. That means 600 mg or more of sodium per 100 g is high, and 120 mg or less per 100 g is low. Doctors recommend no more than 6 g of salt a day.
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Using your brain makes you eat more, a new Canadian study says. Students were asked to eat as much as they wanted after doing three different tasks - relaxing, studying and doing tests. Students who took part in the thinking activities ate about 800 more kilojoules than those who relaxed. Blood tests showed the students had more pronounced changes in glucose and insulin levels while doing the mental tasks than when taking it easy. The brain uses glucose as fuel and may try to maintain its glucose balance by taking in more food, researchers say.
BARLEY KEEPS FAT AT BAY
Barley is a good item to add to your shopping list. It’s high in fibre which helps the body metabolise fats, cholesterol and carbohydrates and it lowers blood cholesterol levels. Because of its antioxidant properties it also helps to protect against cancer.
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