The Foodwatch Blog

A "natural" sweetener, Stevia was approved for use in late in 2008 in Australia and the US and the first Stevia products are now appearing on the supermarket shelves.

It's not considered "artificial" and marketing for stevia makes much of it being 100% natural - which appeals to consumers - compared to aspartame or acesulphame-K which are often regarded as "chemical" and can't escape the cancer-scare rumours that have been circulating for years.

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There are so many milks in the dairy case these days, it can be hard to work out which one suits you. And when you notice that they cost more than regular low-fat or home-brand milk, you start to think twice.

Here I review three of the more ‘unusual' added-value low-fat milks so you can see if one is worth paying the extra for your health problems.

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Found a great new water drink.  It's bottled water with a splash of lemon flavour. That's it. Nothing else - no sugar, no sweeteners, no calories, no colours, no additives. Just water with flavour. It takes a minute to adjust to the fact that it's colourless but once you do, you suddenly look at all those yellow and green bottles and realise that CLEAR is the way to go. Who says your drink has to look like a kid's colouring book? Who wants all those colours anyway?

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Me and my lemon again! The weather's got a little chilly last day or so so I've decided to sip my lemon with water as a warm drink. I was making it up with chilled water from the fridge but this got too cold for my stomach first thing in the morning.

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Going well on my new experiment. I definitely am less hungry in the morning after I have my lemon with water first thing. Doesn't seem to have any effect on my appetite during the afternoon or evening but that's exactly what I what have expected. It's a morning only thing.

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Day 3 & 4 were both the same - I felt exactly the same on both so I've combined them.  What I noticed on both these day is that the my glass of water with lemon really makes you feel hydrated first thing in the morning. Especially if you'd had a wine or two the night before and not drunk enough water before going to bed.

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Started my morning with a chilled glass of water with lemon juice as yesterday. Was a bit of an effort to get it all down again this morning but I did it. And I must say it does fill you up and stop you filling hungry.

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I've started my day with an old-fashioned diet inclusion - a glass of water with lemon. I squeezed out the juice of half an average lemon and mixed it with cold water - then down the hatch before anything else!

Lemon-and-water is advice I've seen around for years. It's often listed on diet plans supposedly as an early morning cleanser or detox. The diets tell you that the lemon can "magically melt away unwanted fat" - something we all love to hear. In all honesty, I suspect it's just a low-calorie stomach filler that stops you stuffing your face with a croissant or bacon burger.

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Bliss for the tastebuds, hell for the hips!  Recent articles in The Australian, The Washington Post and other newspapers have been touting the existence of what they call "bliss foods". So what is a "bliss food" and what's all the fuss about?

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Now that the 2009 series of The Biggest Loser has finished in Australia, here's my take on the third season:

1. It's hard - very hard - lose weight. It takes time and persistence, two things in short supply in our modern world. The contestants had nothing else to focus on except their weight - they had the time to exercise for 3 or 4 hours a day, count calories, plan their meals, think about why they turn to food for comfort.

2. The contestants didn't have to cope with the ‘real world' - they didn't have to go to work, look after a family, shop for groceries, cook for others who can eat what they like without putting on weight, deal with the stress of traffic, queues, delays, road rage, screaming kids and demanding bosses.

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