Twenty years ago, people thought very little about the food they were putting into their bodies. There was a general acceptance that the food was generally good for you; you have 5 fruits and vegetables every day and have a large meal with meat and two vegetables once every day and you could see yourself as healthy. However, recently there has been a lot of work done into nutrition and what our body actually needs and this has unearthed some very interesting things about our diets and the effects that they have on our bodies. For example, there is the idea that you now have foods with a certain glycemic index. The glycemic index is a measure of how rapidly a carbohydrate breaks down and releases energy; high glycemic index foods include such things as chocolate because the energy is released very quickly through digestion.

Foods with a low glycemic index are essential when you are going to be doing an extended period of exercise as they will give you a slow and sustained burst of energy. Most fruits and vegetables, except for those that are very high in carbohydrates (such as potatoes) have a low glycemic index. Others include such products as whole grain rice, cereal, milk, yoghurt and pulses. The general rule is that, if the food is low in carbohydrates (such as dairy products) the likelihood is that they will have a low glycemic index. Therefore, start the day with cereal and milk; it will give you energy throughout the day!