Ador was fascinated to read recently how scientists from Tufts University in Boston, USA have found that having a diet rich in fruits and vegetables – and so rich too in the mineral potassium – can slow down the rate at which our bodies lose muscle.

Losing muscle mass is a natural part of the ageing process and accounts for gradual loss of strength and increasing frailty, along with a lowering of our metabolic rate (which means that we burn fewer calories each day).

This loss of muscle may in part be due to the gradual acidosis that occurs in our bodies, with the more acid environment triggering muscle wastage. Eating alkali producing fruits and vegetables appears to help to reduce this process.

In a study of nearly 400 male and female volunteers over 65, those eating a fruit, vegetable and potassium-rich diet averaged 3.6 more pounds of lean muscle mass in their bodies over an 18-month period than those having half the potassium.

As the scientists who carried out the work explained, this almost offsets the 4.4 pounds of lean muscle typically lost in a decade in men and women over 65.

In the UK, the most recent nutritional survey of adults suggests that women are averaging 2,653mg of the 3,500mg daily target (and men 3,367mg).

Meanwhile, in America, the last US federal dietary guidelines issued stressed the importance of older adults getting at least 4,700mg of potassium daily. So given that we do not meet even our lower target of 3500mg, it seems that upping our intakes may be a good thing.

Eating at least ‘five a day’ of fruit and vegetables is a good place to start. A medium-sized baked potato has 1,134mg of potassium, a boiled parsnip has around 675mg, a banana or half a papaya has 400mg, a serving of cooked spinach 270mg and an orange and a pear both have 240mg each.

Other foods also contain potassium and can further boost intakes. A pint of milk gives you 912mg, an individual yoghurt 255mg and two thick slices of wholemeal bread provide 250mg.

So you can see that to meet even the UK target, you really do need to eat a pretty healthy diet – which has got to be a good thing!

The new F-Plan Diet can also help you look younger

Plus check out this guide to six anti-aging foods

Because it’s quite tart, you may be surprised to learn that this nutritious vegetable – unless you’re in the US, where it’s classified as a fruit – is just as good in sweet and savoury dishes. The classic rhubarb dish, which rose to fame in the UK, is the desert rhubarb crumble.

Below you’ll find a savoury and sweet recipe, plus links to lots more…

Rhubarb Sponge Pudding

This delicious desert serves four and takes around 15mins to prepare and 45mins to cook.

Heat oven to 180°C. Beat 100g soft butter and 100g caster sugar in a bowl until light and creamy. Add 2 large eggs one at a time, beating well.

Gently fold in 100g of sifted self-raising flour, until you have a slightly creamy liquid batter.

Cut 500g of ripe rhubarb stalks into 2cm lengths, throwing away the leaves. Arrange loosely in a greased 1l pie or baking dish, and scatter with 100g of extra caster sugar.

Spoon the batter mixture on top of the fruit in clumps, then smooth them out to cover the rhubarb. Bake for 45mins, or until the topping is golden and cake-like. Serve with cream.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Rhubarb Salsa

Place 1 boned leg of lamb on a bed of carrots (peeled and cut lengthways) in a roasting dish. Combine 100g of honey, 2 cloves of garlic and 1tbsp of red wine vinegar over heat. Once combined, brush over the lamb.

Roast lamb at 180ºC for 2-3hrs, brushing occasionally with any remaining glaze mixture. Once cooked, remove from the oven, place on a tray and leave for 10-15mins before carving.

In a stainless steel saucepan, combine all the salsa ingredients – 1 chopped onion, 100g of raisins, 2 chopped red chillies, 1/2tsp of ground cardamon, and 10 sticks of finely sliced rhubarb.

Cook slowly over a low to medium heat for 5mins, while stirring. Place a lid on the saucepan and cook over a low heat for 5mins more. Remove the lid and turn up the heat to boil off excess liquid. Remove from the heat and serve at room temperature.

More rhubarb recipes

Plus check out Delia Smith’s fabulous Rhubarb and Almond Crumble

Gluten-free Girl and the Chef’s rhubarb recipes

…and click here for even more rhubarb recipes…

Although the Swiss are hardly likely to be shouting about the harm one of their most successful industries can do to you, the study has been recently championed by US health writer and GP Terry Gaff. It suggests that eating chocolate can actually reduce our chances of suffering from heart problems.

The research investigated the difference in heart-related deaths between those people who ate chocolate and those who didn’t, while also studying the effects of the quantity eaten. It was found that those who consumed chocolate less than once a month suffered 27% fewer heart-related deaths than those who never touched it.

However, more interesting – and even better news for chocolate lovers everywhere – were the findings that the risk was 44% lower for weekly chocolate eaters and 66% less for those who ate chocolate two or more times a week.

Taking this research to the extreme, you could use it as an excuse to eat as much chocolate as you like. However, the fat content, even of dark chocolate, makes drawing such a conclusion rather flawed, unless you seriously want to pile on the pounds.

Here at Ador, we believe in the old adage ‘everything in moderation’. And our 35g bars help you to have a little bit of what you fancy, without being tempted to overdo a good thing. They also contain a natural ingredient that keeps you fuller for longer, so they’re the ideal snack to have between meals – while also making them a pleasure you don’t have to feel guilty about.

Click here for our full article on research into the benefits of chocolate.

Click here for more on chocolate and health.

But don’t just sit back and give in to the bugs. By eating the right things you can actually fight back and boost your immunity – and I don’t mean vitamin pills. Sure, they have their place, but sort out your diet and you’ll stand a far better chance of stopping bacteria and viruses from taking hold and ruining your spring.

Seasonal vegetables are a good start, with bright orange and dark green varieties top of your list, as they convert into vitamin A. So go for carrots, spinach, cabbage and pumpkins, supported by protein-rich foods like meat, eggs, fish, pulse vegetables and nuts.

What’s more, ignore your friends’ protests and pile on the garlic – the most raw the better. It has legendary infection-fighting properties, with the added advantage of helping you get a seat on the tube in the rush hour, or whatever your preferred mode of public transport may be.

Finally, another favourite that boosts your resistance to infections is shiitake mushrooms, thanks to the presence of the supernutrient lentinan.

Balancing your diet well during winter and early spring can lay the groundwork for a healthier year.

Click here for more ways to eat to beat the bugs.

… and if you do pick up a bug, click here for your guide to which supplements and herbal remedies can speed up your recovery.

Meanwhile, click here to find out why broccoli is a great immunity booster and can help you live longer.

Plus click here for more immunity boosting food news.

We can’t find any consistent and convincing evidence to support this view. While it is possible that we may opt for certain foods as a form of self-medication – coffee to pick us up, fast-release carbohydrates to help us relax, for example – the fact is that magnesium is present in other foods like nuts, fish and meat as well. If this is purely a physiologically driven craving, why wouldn’t our bodies crave these foods as well in order to make good any magnesium short-falls?

Chocolate cravings are a complex phenomena. Most of us crave or want it because we love the taste and texture, and enjoy the little buzz we get from eating it. Sadly, lots of people then feel guilty immediately they have swallowed the last mouthful.

This is what makes Ador chocolate so unique. First, it comes in 35g bars, so you can polish off the whole bar and only have added 179 calories to your day’s total. Second, it contains pine nut extract, which will help you to feel full so that one bar is enough until you next main meal.

If you feel your diet may be lacking in magnesium, we suggest having a chat with your GP or taking a multivitamin and mineral supplement that contains 100% of the RDA of all the nutrients it contains. Going out on a limb and taking magnesium on its own is unlikely to stop you wanting chocolate, and taking too much of one mineral can unbalance others. This is something you don’t get with a safe, well-balanced multivitamin like a Centrum, Multibionta, Seven Seas or Boots version.

Click here to find out more on the effects of magnesium overdosing

Of course, magnesium has some great health benefits too. So check out these great blogs on why chocolate and magnesium are good for you http://tinyurl.com/yeeynan
http://tinyurl.com/ycpbqjo

Bear this in mind and you are well on your way to cracking the seemingly impossible task of sticking to your diet and just as importantly, keeping your weight off, once you have been through the hard slog of losing it.

How does this work? Well, think about two different breakfasts. The first is a bowl of sugary breakfast cereal or a muffin from a coffee shop. How long do these keep you feeling full for and when do you feel peckish again?

Everyone we have asked says that these foods will keep them going for about an hour or so, but that they are soon fixated on the biscuit tin, craving another sugar-hit.

Have a bowl of porridge or a couple of boiled eggs on the other hand, and you will easily make it through until mid-morning without even thinking about a nibble.

This is simply because eggs and porridge are filling (eggs, because of their protein content; oats, because of their slowly digested carbohydrate).

Sugary cereals and muffins, on the other hand, are full of quickly digested energy that rapidly raises blood sugar levels, but soon leaves you craving more.

The same goes with a lot of snacks. Nibble biscuits, cakes and sweets, and you’ll be back on that sugar roller-coaster before you can say ‘Hob Nob’!

Opt for a slowly digested snack, like an oatcake or a piece of rye bread, and you will feel fine until your next meal. The only problem is, who carries an oatcake or piece of rye bread around in their pocket or bag… and who really fancies eating them anyway?

This is where Ador snacks come into their own. To begin with, the oat bars (raspberry, mocca or prune and ginger) are completely portable. Next, they taste fantastic. And here’s the clever bit: they contain Fabuless, an natural oat and palm extract that helps to keep you feeling full.

This puts you in the driving seat when it comes to naturally controlling your appetite, and also means you won’t be starving, and overeat when you start your next meal.

Could Ador be what weight watchers everywhere have been waiting for?

Click here for 10 more tips to help you stick to your diet