Starting the year off with 'resolve'

Cutting out fat...

We shouldn't try to avoid all fat, because everyone needs some fat in their diet to be healthy. But the type of fat we eat is important. Saturated fats can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease. Biscuits, cakes, pastries, meat pies, sausages, hard cheese, butter and foods containing lard, coconut or palm oil all tend to be high in saturated fats.

Hydrogenated fat, also called hydrogenated vegetable oil, is used in some biscuits, cakes, pastry, margarine and some other processed foods. Foods that contain hydrogenated vegetable oil (which is always declared in the ingredients list) may also contain trans fats.

Trans fats may be found in foods that contain hydrogenated vegetable oil. These trans fats have no known nutritional benefits. They can raise blood cholesterol levels and increase the risk of coronary heart disease. Some evidence suggests that the effects of these trans fats may be worse than saturated fats.

So, as part of a healthy diet, we should try to reduce the amount of foods we eat that contain hydrogenated or saturated fats and replace them with unsaturated fats. Unsaturated fats can help to lower cholesterol. Foods that are rich in unsaturated fats include oily fish, avocados, nuts and sunflower, rapeseed and olive oils. And it's also important for most of us to reduce the total amount of fat we eat.

It's a good idea to check the fat content on food labels because some foods are low in fat, even though they aren't marketed as low-fat products. And other foods that are labelled reduced fat' might still be quite high in fat.

Nutrition information is usually given per 100g, with a figure for total fat. Some labels also give a figure for saturates. Foods that have 20g fat or more per 100g are high in fat. And foods that have 3g fat or less per 100g are low in fat. When you are looking at saturates, 5g of saturates or more per 100g is a lot, and 1g or less is a little.

Cutting out sugar...

Cutting out all sugar is very difficult and more or less impossible to stick to. There are naturally occurring sugars in lots of foods, including fruit and veg, and you don't need to avoid these. But it's a good idea to try to cut down on foods and drinks that contain lots of added sugar, such as biscuits, sweets, jams and fizzy drinks.

Here are a few ways to cut down on sugar: l If you take sugar in hot drinks, gradually reduce the amount until you can cut it out altogether.

l Instead of always spreading jam on your toast, you could try a low-fat spread, yeast extract, sliced banana, peanut butter or low-fat cream cheese.

l Try having a currant bun instead of cakes or biscuits.

l Some foods that you might not expect to have sugar added to them can contain lots, for example breakfast cereals, cereal bars and tinned spaghetti and baked beans.

l If you look at the ingredients list on a food, the biggest ingredient comes first, so if sugar comes near the front of the list you know the food is high in sugar. Watch out for other words that are used to describe added sugar, such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, hydrolysed starch and invert sugar.

Eating more fruit and vegetables...

Having at least five portions of a variety of fruit and veg each day has lots of health benefits; for example, it reduces your chances of developing heart disease and some types of cancer.

Most people in the UK don't eat nearly enough fruit and veg. And plenty of people think they're eating enough when they're not.

Here are some tips on how to increase your fruit and veg intake: l Drink a glass of fruit juice at breakfast time.

l Add some sliced banana or raisins to your breakfast cereal.

l Keep some fruit handy for a mid-morning snack.

l Add tomato or lettuce to sandwiches.

l Eat fruit salad for dessert.

l Add vegetables to curries, casseroles and pasta sauces.

l Serve an extra vegetable or side salad with a meal.

Remember that fresh, frozen, tinned, dried and juiced fruit and veg can all count towards your daily portions, but juice can only count as one portion a day, however much you drink. This is because you don't get the same nutritional benefits from juice as you get from whole fruit and veg.

And even though potatoes are vegetables, they are classified as a starchy food, so they don't count towards our five daily portions of fruit and veg.

Eating more fish...

Both white fish (such as haddock, plaice, halibut and sole) and oily fish (such as sardines, salmon, trout, pilchards and mackerel) are valuable sources of protein, vitamins and minerals.

We should aim to eat at least two servings of fish a week, including one serving of oily fish.

Oily fish contain omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. These fatty acids can help prevent coronary heart disease.

Canned salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout and pilchards count as oily fish, as they do when fresh. This is because the canning process doesn't significantly reduce the fat content of the fish.

Canned tuna is different. Although fresh tuna is a good source of omega 3 fatty acids, when tuna is canned the levels of these fats are reduced to a much lower level. So, although canned tuna can be a healthy choice, it doesn't count as oily fish.

Cutting down on salt...

It's important to cut down on salt because salt contains sodium and having too much sodium can raise blood pressure.

Although not adding salt to food will help you cut down, about three-quarters of the salt we eat comes from processed foods, so you need to be smart when you're shopping too.

It might not sound very much, but if a food contains 0.5g sodium or more per 100g then it's high in sodium. It's better to choose foods that contain just a little sodium 0.1g or less per 100g.

Adults should try to eat no more than 2.5g sodium (6g salt) each day.

Salt is added to lots of food products that you might not expect. For example, some types of bread, breakfast cereals, biscuits (savoury and sweet), sauces, tinned vegetables and soups can all be high in salt, as well as ready-prepared meals.