When it comes to improving health and living a healthy lifestyle, there are many people in today's world who expend their energy hoping for an effortless shortcut . . . a magic potion, so to speak, or more accurately, a magic pill. For reasons of their own, they'd rather not invest the effort it takes to exercise or diet or pursue any of the other positive lifestyle changes that can prevent a lot of the most common medical conditions - and on one level I can understand why. Exercise is time consuming and sacrifice is definitely no fun!

Your liver is the largest internal organ in your body. Your body relies on your liver to perform many vital functions. Looking after your liver is vitally important if you want a long and healthy life. The food you eat each day can have a beneficial or harmful effect on your liver.

Far better that you eat your broccoli than your beans, healthier to snack on an orange than an apple (yes, despite the old adage “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”) and, even though they are cousins, garlic is far superior than onions or shallots as far as nutritional value. When compared to an apple, an orange has ten times more vitamin C and beta-carotene, a massive 40 times more folate and 4 times more thiamin.

You may find yourself at parties, lunches and dinners with friends, or perhaps just a few drinks with colleagues after a hard days work. These are the times when you will probably eat and drink a lot more than usual. Most social gatherings revolve around food and that’s okay. It’s fun to interact with friends while tasting foods you wouldn’t normally eat.

Selenium is truly a powerful antioxidant and it even helps to protect the DNA inside our cells from damage. In this way it helps to boost fertility, particularly in men. A recent study published in Australian Doctor magazine found that when men take antioxidant supplements, their female partners have an increased chance of falling pregnant.

This is because they are in the organic form of selenium, which is selenomethionine. This contains methionine which is a natural amino acid high in the mineral sulphur. Methionine is found in smelly foods such as eggs, garlic, onions and cruciferous vegetables. Methionine is needed by the liver to detoxify the body and so is selenium.

About 22 million prescriptions for statins are dispensed in Australia each year at a cost to taxpayers of $1.2 billion. But the new study cautions against them for people with no previous heart concerns.

When most people think about the sugar in their diets, they tend to think of the obvious suspects such as the table sugar used in their tea or coffee or how much may be in those delicious lollies and cakes they find themselves craving!

Many breakfast cereals, pasta sauces, brad, simmer sauces and numerous other foods contain added sugar. Soft drink consumption has rapidly increased among children and teenagers. Fruit juice, cordial, sports drinks and energy drinks all add even more sugar to the average person's diet.

Coeliac disease (also known as gluten intolerance) is an autoimmune disease whereby the consumption of gluten causes damage to the lining of the digestive tract, and inflammation and damage to other organs and tissues in the body.

Feeling tired, or even completely exhausted is a common complaint of new mums. Being pregnant and giving birth do take an enormous toll on your body and it takes quite some time to recover. Approximately five to ten percent of women develop a condition called postpartum thyroiditis.

The so called normal ranges of vitamin D from different laboratories can vary significantly and you will be surprised by the large range between lower normal and upper normal. you want to have levels of vitamin D that optimise your health. Supplements are often needed because people work indoors in artificial lighting.