Teenage junk food diet starves kids of vital minerals

WORRYING research shows that millions of teenagers are dangerously low in vital minerals and vitamins because they eat too many pizzas, sweets and junk food and not enough fruit, vegetables and oily fish.

One sniff and your brain is fooled into losing weight

Smelling food can trick your brain into thinking you've eaten and help you to lose weight. One study found that people who inhaled a peppermint scent every two hours ate 2,700 fewer calories per week than they normally did — that's nearly a one-pound weight loss! Banana, green apple, and vanilla had similar effects in other studies. And the more often you sniff these aromas, the more weight you'll lose, says Dr Alan Hirsch, neurological director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. One tip: Put some vanilla-scented candles in your snack drawer or cupboards. And if you tend to eat when stressed, hold your left nostril closed and sniff through the right one to activate the side of your brain where emotions are processed. It could help reduce your anxiety and your appetite.

How protein makes you feel fuller and helps weight loss

Nutritionists are always raving about lean protein, and for good reason: It keeps you fuller than other nutrients and takes your body more time to digest and absorb. But what you may not realise is that when you eat it also matters. A study at Purdue University in Indiana found that eating lean protein (such as bacon, egg whites, or low-fat yoghurt) at breakfast keeps you satisfied longer than if you consume it at other times of the day. "Try to get at least one ounce (or 30 grams) of protein at breakfast," recommends Joan Salge Blake,  a clinical associate professor of nutrition at Boston University.

Fat can help quash hunger and aid weight loss

Trimming all the fat from your diet can backfire if you're trying to lose weight. Oleic acid, an unsaturated fat found in olive oil, nuts, and avocados, helps quash hunger, according to a study in the journal Cell Metabolism. During digestion, it's converted into a compound that indirectly triggers hunger-curbing signals to your brain. Just watch your portions, warns Sari Greaves, of the American Dietetic Association. Unsaturated fats should make up about 20 per cent of your total calorie intake. Sari suggests snacking on two tablespoons of natural peanut butter, an ounce of nuts, or a quarter of an avocado.

For anyone wanting to lose weight, grapefruit diets went out of style with Jane Fonda aerobic videos, but this citrus is staging a comeback. In a study at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Centre at the Scripps Clinic in San Diego, people who ate half a grapefruit with each meal lost an average of 3.6 pounds in three months. According to Dr Ken Fujioka, the study's principal researcher, these yellow-orange fruit lower your post-meal levels of insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar and fat metabolism.