The Summer Holiday is in full swing!

How has your summer holiday been? Been away already and now having the holiday blues? Or still waiting to escape the UK for a break? Whatever the situation, below are a few tips that may help to beat the holiday bulge and maintain a healthy balanced diet….!

Eat lots of fruit and veg: It’s recommended that we eat at least five portions of different types of fruit and veg a day as it will increase the amount of fibre in our diets and give us the vitamins and minerals we need. Why not chop a banana over your breakfast cereal, or swap your usual mid-morning snack for some dried fruit?

Cut down on saturated fat and sugar: We need fat in our diets, but it’s important to pay attention to the type of fat we’re eating: saturated and unsaturated. Too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, increasing your risk of developing heart disease. Saturated fat is found in many foods, such as cakes, biscuits, sausages, butter and hard cheese. Try to cut down, and choose foods that contain unsaturated rather than saturated fats, such as vegetable oils, oily fish and avocados.

 Most people in the UK eat too much sugar. Sugary foods and drinks are often high in calories, and could contribute to weight gain. Cut down on sugary fizzy drinks, cakes, biscuits and pastries, which contain added sugars: this is the kind of sugar we should be cutting down on rather than sugars that are found naturally in foods such as fruit and milk.

Don’t skip breakfast: Some people skip breakfast because they think it will help them lose weight. In fact, research shows that eating breakfast can help people control their weight. A healthy breakfast is an important part of a balanced diet, and provides some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health.

Having a poor unbalanced diet may cause an environment that is more favorable for “bad” bacteria to multiply in the gut, which can cause gastrointestinal problems such as bloating, constipation and diarrhoea.