Editorial

I am writing this early in January so it would be nice to wish all of the readers of Nutrition & Food Science a belated Happy New Year.

At present the shops are full of items to help people to get fitter and healthier and support their new year’s resolutions in this.

One of the items that is fairly new on the scene is “Detox” items including products and diets. This area was virtually unknown a decade ago but now is tried by many people. While they may be not required from a physiological point of view they can “kick start” many people into being motivated to continue to eat more healthily.

Also the shops abound with large items of fitness equipment, again unknown many years ago except in the gyms. Often they are bought with really good intentions and end up languishing in the garage or spare room. One of the really useful pieces of equipment is a “pedometer” which encourages people to increase their walking by counting steps or measuring distances.

Articles on slimming abound and the shops are full of books on the topic. Again this fits in with many resolutions to lose weight. Unfortunately many people try to lose weight really quickly and are upset when they do not lose weight rapidly. Also people often try to achieve a very low final weight, which they cannot maintain.

The main message is that any resolutions to improve fitness are a really good idea but should be managed over time with slow improvements in fitness with an increase in walking and a slow decrease in weight. Such small changes are likely to be maintained and thus the required improvement in fitness is likely to be achieved.

Mabel Blades