A new study has found that dieting provokes cravings for ‘forbidden’ foods like chocolate.

Psychologists at Hertfordshire University found that dieting is counterproductive as it increases cravings for foods slimmers tend to avoid. So don’t diet but lose weight by eating healthily and also exercise.

Recent studies have turned peanut butter into a health food by showing that peanut products can actually lower your LDL or “bad” cholesterol as effectively as olive oil. But go for the old-fashioned or “natural” kind.

Other brands that use partially hydrogenated oils to give their butters a creamy consistency and keep the oil from separating can raise your cholesterol. Other nut butters are equally as good so try almond and cashew nut butter.

Try pink grapefruit for breakfast. It packs 25 times more beta-carotene than its paler cousin, and it’s usually sweeter.

Pair it with a cup of porridge topped with an ounce of chopped almonds or a quarter cup of dried apricots (not containing sulphur dioxide), and you’ll have a complete breakfast with about 7 grams of fibre, a third of the daily recommendation.