1. Dextrose
   Dextrose is a sugar. It is an alternative name for glucose. Commercially the term ‘glucose’ is often used to mean corn syrup (a mixture of glucose with other sugars) and pure glucose is called dextrose.


2. Saccharin
   Saccharin is an artificial sweetener.
   
   An artificial sweetener, is a food additive which attempts to duplicate the effect of sugar or corn syrup in taste, but often with less food energy.
   


3. Ethyl Butyrate
   Ethyl Butyrate is a flavoring.


4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)
   Commonly known as Ajinomoto, MSG has no taste in itself but, when added to savory food, brings out the flavor of the food.


5. Sodium Nitrite
   Sodium Nitrite is a preservative. Preservative additives are used to prevent food spoilage and to extend the shelf life of convenience food.


6. Anti-Oxidants
   Anti-oxidants prevent fruits from turning brown and foods containing fat and oil from going rancid.
   
   British label-coding system
   
   Additives used are either listed as names or "E" followed by numbers as shown below.


7. E150 -Caramel
   Caramel is a coloring made from sugar.


8. E322 - Lecithins
   Lecithin is used commercially in substances requiring a natural emulsifier and/or lubricant, from pharmaceuticals to protective coverings. For example, lecithin is the emulsifier that keeps cocoa and cocoa butter in a candy bar from separating.


9. E471 - Fats
   Synthetic fats, produced from glycerol and natural fatty acids, mainly from plant origin, but also fats of animal origin may be used. The product generally is a mixture of different products, with a composition similar to partially digested natural fat. They act as emulsifiers and stabilizers.


10. E160a - Alpha carotene, Beta carotene and gamma carotene
    Orange or yellow plant pigments, found mainly in carrots, green leafed vegetables and tomatoes, which the human body converts into 'Vitamin A' in the liver. Fades on exposure to light.
    
    Used in butter and soft margarines, coffee sponge cakes, milk products and soft drinks.


11. E160b - Yellow to peach vegetable dye
    A yellow, peach or red vegetable dye obtained from the seed coat of the fruit of the Annatto tree, Bixa orellana. May be either oil-soluble or water soluble and is stable in processing, baking and brine.
    
    Used in cheese (Cheshire, Double Gloucester and Red Leicester), coleslaw, crisps, custard, fish fingers, flavored instant mashed potato, fruit and cream fillings and toppings, frying oil, ice cream and lollies, icings, liqueurs, low calorie spreads, margarine, meat balls, salad cream and mayonnaise, smoked fish, soft drinks, sponge cakes and puddings, steak and kidney pie pastry and yogurt.


12. E175 - Gold
    Most people are unaware that gold is used a food additive. As a food additive it is used solely for external decoration where it can be found on chocolate confectionery, in the covering of dragées and the decoration of sugar-coated flour confectionery.
    
    Chemically, gold is very inactive and therefore virtually harmless, however as there is no dietary requirement it is probably best avoided.

1. Flavouring agents
   
   
   • Salt is the oldest and is still the most common flavouring additive.
   
   
   • Spices and herbs are used in small amounts for flavouring foods.
   
   
   • Sweeteners such as sugar are added to many kinds of food to provide a sweet taste to the foods.
   
   
   • Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) commonly known as Ajinomoto is an additive that increases the flavour of most savoury food. It is used extensively in oriental and asian cooking and in convenience foods.


2. Colouring Agents
   
   Colouring additives are used widely in processed foods. They make the food look more attractive to the buyer. Some colouring agents are obtained from natural sources.
   
   Turmeric, a yellow dye, comes from a plant of the ginger family.
   
   Cochineal, a red dye, is obtained from a South American insect.
   
   Others such as those used in artificially flavoured drinks are synthetic agents.


3. Emulsifiers and Stabilisers
   
   An emulsifier helps in the formation of a stable mixture known as emulsion.
   
   Emulsifiers and stabilizers are widely used in the production of ice-cream, margarine and chocolate to give a smooth, creamy product.


4. Preservative additives
   
   Preservative additives are used to prevent food spoilage and to extend the shelf life of convenience food.
   
   The common preservatives are salt, sugar and vinegar. Salt may be used to preserve meat, fish, eggs and vegetables. Sugar is used in making preserves such as jam and marmalade. Vinegar or acetic acid is used in pickling. The acid gives the food a sour taste.


5. Nutritive additives
   
   Not all additives in food are undesirable. Nutritive additives increase the nutritive value of the food.
   
   For example, it has become common practice to enrich margarine with vitamins A and D, white flour with calcium, iron and vitamins. Baby foods also contain nutritive additives.

• too much salt may increase the risk of high blood pressure which when untreated, can lead to heart, kidney disease and stroke. Most processed foods already have a high salt content.


• too much sugar in the diet can result in obesity and tooth decay.


• some people find that monosodium glutamate in food can cause the following painful or unpleasant sensations:
  - a burning sensation in the neck and forearms
  - headache
  - tightness in the jaw
  - tightness in the chess
  - extreme thirst

1. Eat fresh foods rather than processed fods whenever possible.


2. If you must eat processed food, make sure fresh food is included with it in your meal.


3. Never add salt to the processed foods.


4. Develop the habit of limiting the intake of salt and sugar in your food.


5. Do not use monosodium glutamate in cooking. Use a little sugar instead.


6. Do not serve soya sauce separately with a meal. Soya sauce has a high salt content.

Insomnia is a sleep disorder characterized by an inability to sleep and/or inability to remain asleep for a reasonable period. Insomniacs typically complain of being unable to close their eyes or "rest their mind" for more than a few minutes at a time.

• Serotonin
  Serotonin is a sleep-inducing hormone. Low levels of serotonin can lead to aggressivity and depression which are not conducive factors to a good sleep.
  
  Sources of serotonin are: pasta, starchy vegetables, potatoes, cereals, breads.


• Tryptophan
  Tryptophan is an essential amino acid (it cannot be synthesized by human beings and so must be included in our diets). Tryptophan is the precursor or building material of serotonin.
  
  Tryptophan, found as a component of dietary protein, is particularly plentiful in chocolate, oats, bananas, dried dates, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, red meat, eggs, fish, poultry, sesame, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, spirulina and peanuts. It is found in turkey at a level typical of poultry in general.


• 5-Hydroxytryptophan
  5-Hydroxytryptophan or 5-HTP is a naturally-occurring amino acid, a precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin and an intermediate in tryptophan metabolism. It is marketed in the United States and other countries as a dietary supplement for use as an antidepressant, appetite suppressant, and sleep aid.
  
  
• Melatonin
  Melatonin controls the body's circadian (24 hour) rhythm, which is our internal clock that tells us when to sleep and when to wake up. As we get older, we produce less melatonin, which may account in part for insomnia in older adults. Synthetic melatonin supplements sold in health food stores are used by many people to induce sleep and to promote a sound sleep.


• Caffeine
  Caffeine is a mild stimulant. It makes you more alert by fending off sleep. It's the most widely used drug in the world, and is contained in many foods and also in numerous stay awake medications like No Doz.


• Alcohol
  Many insomniacs use alcohol to combat sleep privation. This is not recommended at all because alcohol is a drug! Although alcohol may initially induce sleep, once it wears off, the sleep tends to be fragmented.


• Glucose
  Nocturnal hypoglycemia (low nighttime blood glucose level) is an important cause of insomnia. When there is a drop in the blood glucose level, it causes the release of hormones that regulate glucose levels. They are a natural signal that it is time to eat.


• Nicotine
  Nicotine stimulates your nervous system and, instead of helping you sleep, it is going to ensure that you stay awake. It has much the same effect as a cup of strong coffee.


• Spicy Foods
  Although related indirectly to insomnia, spicy foods cause heartburn which is your stomach's digestive acids coming up into your esophagus.


• Sedatives
  A sedative is a substance that depresses the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in calmness, relaxation, reduction of anxiety, sleepiness.

1. From the list above, you can see that the three major substances to avoid before bed are alcohol, caffeine and nicotine.


2. A little spicy foods is fine as long as it won't keep you awake at night.


3. If you get hunger pangs which keep you awake at night (like me), eat a light snack such as crackers, cereal and milk, or yogurt before going to bed.


4. Take a glass of milk laced with honey if you get trouble sleeping because milk is loaded with tryptophan.


5. Foods such as bread, bagels, and crackers that are high in complex carbohydrates have a mild sleep-enhancing effect because they increase serotonin. So always have a slice of bread or some biscuits before bedtime.


6. Avoid large meals before bedtime. Large meals take some time to digest and this digestion may keep you awake.


7. Always empty your bladder (Urinate before bedtime.) so that you do not wake up at night feeling the need to visit the bathroom in the middle of a sweet dream.


8. Regular exercise has been linked to sound sleep for many people. But avoid exercise some 3 hours before tucking in bed because this may increase your alertness level and dispel any sleep.


9. Try relaxation techniques or meditation.


10. Avoid daytime naps.


11. Sleep in the same room and bed every night, if possible.


12. Keep noisy disruptions like phones, TVs and radios out of the bedroom.


13. Set a regular time for going to bed and getting up.


14. Sleep for 8 hours.


15. Keep night lighting to a minimum, especially in the bathroom.


16. Take a hot bath before bed.


17. Avoid taking sedatives to make you fall asleep. This is bad for health because you do not get a restful sleep and you create a dependency on the sedatives.


18. Take supplements and sedatives only when advised to do so by your doctor.

A crash diet involves drastically cutting back on the amount of calories and fat that you take in on a daily basis. Similar to a starvation diet, a crash diet is often paired with other weight loss "fixes," including extreme exercise routines and the use of diuretics or diet pills.

• iron, vitamin B12, potassium and sodium deficiency


• liver and kidney failure


• heart attack


• stroke


• osteoporosis


• anorexia


• bulimia

1. Quick Fix Diet
   
   Daily intake of 4 glasses of skim milk, 4 bananas, and 1 vitamin capsule; a boiled egg may be substituted for a banana.


2. Cabbage Soup Diet
   
   This diet plan requires the dieter to make a homemade soup chock full of vegetables that’s low in calories. The dieter is supposed to eat this soup as a main staple in their diet for 7 days.


3. Special K Diet
   
   The Special K Diet is a diet plan that the dieter eats Special K cereal with low fat milk twice a day (for breakfast and lunch.)


4. 3-day Diet
   
   The three day diet plan is another crash diet that is supposed to help you reduce your weight by minimizing the amount of food you take in for three days.


5. 7-day diet
   
   The 7 Day Diet is a quite risky diet when it comes to your good health and one that we cannot recommend. Basically, the daily menus are based on one food group which leaves nutrition hanging in the wind with a 'Please Help Me Quick Nitwit' sign.


6. Grapefruit Diet
   
   The menu for the grapefruit diet is supposed to provide a jump start to weight loss. Grapefruit has been hailed as the ultimate fat burning fruit.


7. Coconut Diet
   
   The Coconut Diet claims that the addition of coconut oil to an eating regime similar will speed weight loss and even enhance thyroid function.


8. Shangri-La Diet
   
   The Shangri-La Diet was created by Seth Roberts, an associate professor of Psychology at the University of California Berkley. Roberts spent years trying to perfect the Shangri-La Diet, using himself as a guinea pig to study the diet's effects.


9. Bread and Butter Diet
   
   The basic gimmick of this diet is that you get to eat a slice of bread with butter at every meal.


10. Metabolism Diet
    
    The Metabolism Diet Plan appears to be more of a starvation plan intended to boost metabolism.
    


11. Russian Airforce Diet
    
    The Russian Air Force Diet is another fad diet that is both strict and low in calories. It was originally developed in the former Soviet Union to keep soldiers fit. The diet has many similarities to the 3-Day Diet, but the difference is that it lasts seven days and has a slightly different menu.


12. Atkins Diet
    
    The Atkins diet promises that you will lose weight and not be hungry with a low-carbohydrate diet.


13. Scarsdale Diet
    
    The Scarsdale Diet has been around for some time. Developed by Dr. Herman Tarnower, this diet promises an unreasonable one-pound-per-day weight loss while you limit your food intake to specified amounts of fruits, vegetables and mostly lean sources of protein. It encourages the use of artificial sweeteners and herbal appetite suppressants to speed up weight loss.


14. Chicken Soup Diet
    
    Chicken Soup Diet works on a very simple idea. You have 1 breakfast each day and as much chicken soup as you want during the day.


15. Lazy Zone Diet
    
    The zone diet follows a formula. 40% of your calories should come from carbs, 30% from protein, and 30% from fats at EVERY MEAL.


16. South Beach Diet
    
    The South Beach diet is a diet plan started by Miami, Florida-area cardiologist Arthur Agatston which emphasizes the consumption of "good carbs" and "good fats". Dr. Agatston developed this diet for his cardiac patients based upon his study of scientific dieting research.


17. Chocolate Diet
    
    The chocolate diet mainly consists of liquids and people are given a powder or supplement that they usually blend with milk or water. They may also be given pills to take in capsule form.


18. Cambridge Diet
    
    The Cambridge Diet is a low-calorie weight loss plan developed in 1970 by Dr. Alan Howard at Cambridge University, England. The diet formula is intended to harness "the excellent weight loss properties of starvation", while providing enough protein to protect lean tissue, the right level of carbohydrate to promote a mild ketosis (the body's fasting mode, which burns body fat) and eliminate a sense of hunger, and the right levels of vitamins, minerals, trace elements and essential fatty acids to maintain good health. The meals are intended to combine all necessary food groups to satisfy a body’s nutritional needs, in order to allow a person to stop craving foods and overeating.


19. Blood Type Diet
    
    The blood type diet is a diet advocated by Peter D'Adamo and outlined in his book Eat Right 4 Your Type. Its basic premise is that ABO blood type is the most important factor in determining a healthy diet. The diet is widely derided by dieticians, physicians, and nutritional scientists as having no scientific basis.

• One McDonald's large fries contains 8 grams of trans fat.


• A McDonald's apple pie contains 4.5 grams of trans fat.


• Four Girl Scout shortbread cookies contain 1.5 grams of trans fat.


• A large order of KFC Popcorn Chicken contains 7 grams of trans fat.


• KFC's Chicken Pot Pie contains 14 grams of trans fat.


• A typical 3-piece KFC Extra Crispy combo meal, with a drumstick, two thighs, potato wedges, and a biscuit contains 15 grams of trans fat.


• Trans fats are found in shortenings commonly used for deep frying in restaurants.

1. Don't eat any product which has the words "partially hydrogenated" or "shortening" in the ingredients list.
   


2. If the label says zero trans fats, don't believe it. If the words "partially hydrogenated" or "shortening" are in the ingredients list, it DOES contain trans fat.
   


3. Be careful when consuming products with labels from outside the United States. Sometimes they contain partially hydrogenated oil but it's not on the label.
   


4. In restaurants, bakeries, and other eateries, ask whether they use partially hydrogenated oil for frying or baking or in salad dressings. If they say they use vegetable oil, ask whether it is partially hydrogenated. Don't be shy about asking. Assume that all unlabeled baked and fried goods contain partially hydrogenated oil, unless you know otherwise.

• Exercise-induced asthma. On the other hand, another source counters, "…we still don't know whether salt contributes to asthma. If there is a link then it's very weak…".
• Heartburn.
• Osteoporosis: One report shows that a high salt diet does reduce bone density in girls. Yet "While high salt intakes have been associated with detrimental effects on bone health, there are insufficient data to draw firm conclusions."
  
• Gastric cancer (Stomach cancer) is associated with high levels of sodium, "but the evidence does not generally relate to foods typically consumed in the UK." However, in Japan, salt consumption is higher.
• Hypertension (high blood pressure): "Since 1994, the evidence of an association between dietary salt intakes and blood pressure has increased. The data have been consistent in various study populations and across the age range in adults." "The CMO [Chief Medical Officer] of England, in his Annual Report (DH, 2001), highlighted that people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease and stroke, and twice as likely to die from these diseases than those with normal levels." Professor Dr. Diederick Grobbee claims that there is no evidence of a causal link between salt intake and mortality or cardiovascular events.One study found that low urinary sodium is associated with greater risk of myocardial infarction among treated hypertensive men.
• Left ventricular hypertrophy (cardiac enlargement): "Evidence suggests that high salt intake causes left ventricular hypertrophy, a strong risk factor for cardiovascular disease, independently of blood pressure effects." "…there is accumulating evidence that high salt intake predicts left ventricular hypertrophy." Excessive salt (sodium) intake, combined with an inadequate intake of water, can cause hypernatremia. It can exacerbate renal disease.
• Edema (BE: oedema): A decrease in salt intake has been suggested to treat edema (BE: oedema) (fluid retention).
• Duodenal ulcers and gastric ulcers

• A tablespoon of table salt contains 2,325 mg of sodium - the average recommended daily intake is between 1,500 and 2,400 mg.

• American adults ingest nearly 4,000 mg of sodium daily on average, far exceeding current recommendations.

• Roughly 75 percent of the daily sodium intake of the U.S. population comes from salt in processed and restaurant foods.

• Besides making foods delicious, it's believed there are more than 14,000 uses of salt.

• Human blood contains 0.9% salt (sodium chloride) -- the same concentration as found in United States Pharmacopeia (USP) sodium chloride irrigant commonly used to cleanse wounds.

• Salt maintains the electrolyte balance inside and outside of cells. One of salt's major functions is to regulate blood volume and pressure including the flexibility of the blood vessels.

• The National Academy of Sciences recommends that Americans consume a minimum of 500 mg/day of sodium to maintain good health. The very large percentage of the population consumes 1,150- 5,750 mg/day which is termed the "hygienic safety range" of sodium intake by renowned Swedish hypertension expert Dr. Björn Folkow.

• Many canned and frozen foods contain 1,000 mg or more of sodium in an eight-ounce serving.

1. Gradually reduce the amount of salt used in food preparation.
   


2. Remove the salt-cellar from the table.
   


3. Use herbs, spices, wine and lemon or lemon juice to add flavour.
   


4. Avoid canned and processed meat, bologna, Vienna and Russian sausage, biltong, ham, bacon and corned beef.
   


5. Limit the amount of highly salted products in your diet such as commercial soup and gravy powders, stock cubes, tomato, soya and Worcestershire sauce.
   


6. Limit the intake of salty snack foods such as savory biscuits, salted nuts, potato crisps, anchovies, pickles and olives.
   


7. Go easy with ketchup, soy sauce, mustard, pickles and mayonnaise – these can all be high in salt.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart.

• High Cholesterol Level:
  High levels of cholesterol in the blood can lead to an accumulation of cholesterol on the walls of arteries, constricting them, thus reducing blood flow to the heart and increasing the risk of heart attacks. Blood cholesterol is influenced by the amount of fat, especially saturated fat in our diet.


• Overweight: Obesity can lead to high blood pressure, raised cholesterol level and diabetes which is another risk factor of CHD.


• Stress is difficult to define or measure. Although stress alone is not a direct cause of CHD, it has a culminating effect. Cultivating a more balanced lifestyle while reducing other risk factors, is the most sensible approach.


• Smoking: Smoking rates are increasing in the world. Smoking causes 25% to 30% of all deaths due to heart disease. Nicotine increases the heart rate and blood pressure levels, thereby increasing the heart’s oxygen demand. Passive smoking also has adverse effects on health.


• High Blood Pressure: It is termed as the ‘silent killer’ because in most people it has no symptoms. High blood pressure increases the work load of the heart causing the heart muscle to thicken and arteries to stretch.


• Lack of exercise: Regular exercise improves the function of your heart, lung and other muscles. It also helps to reduce and maintain an ideal body weight, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.