A balanced diet doesn’t have to be sugar free, but it’s easy to pile in unwanted calories if you add it to foods and drinks. Like fat, sugar also makes food very tasty – put them together – think cakes, chocolate, biscuits, puddings, rich ice cream – and it’s a lethal combination!  Eating sugar frequently is also bad news for your teeth and gums.  By all means enjoy the occasional sweet food but day to day follow these tips to keep your sugar intake within healthy limits:

While we all need a little salt in our diet, you will no doubt be aware that most of us get too much, which can be bad for the heart, especially if you have high blood pressure. Around three quarters of the salt in our diet comes from processed foods. So if you would like to eat less and meet the recommended limit of 6g per day:

Enjoying a drink can be sociable and relaxing and may even benefit our health. Drinking too much however, is not good for our health, or waistlines. Good intentions tend to fly out the window after a few drinks and too much booze could make us more apple-shaped (or develop a beer belly). So bear in mind the current ‘sensible’ daily limits of up to two to three units for women (14 units per week) and three to four units for men (21 units per week).  These limits have been set to help look after our health. While watching your weight you may want to take even more care about how much you drink.