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by: Stephan
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Word Count: 576
Date: Fri, 12 Jun 2009 Time: 12:35 PM
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A renewed interest in health products such as health foods is making the headlines of every major paper. We want to be healthy and we want to stay healthy throughout the turmoils that we face in our daily lives. Eating well is tantamount to being well, so which trends are cropping up this year? For further information, visit your local health store for leaflets and factsheets.

- Big brother is watching
Thanks to the advent of printed calories on food packets, it has never been simpler to keep track of the dietary requirements that our bodies need. In the USA however, this has been taken to a new levels of culinary insanity. Certain states have made it a law for fast-food outlets and restaurants to post the calorie rating on each and every meal item. This will certainly make a few dieters nervous. To be fair, they only wish to inform the public at large to what they are exactly spooning into their mouths. New fast-food ventures have been banned in certain states and specific non-diet products are being imposed with taxes. That will certainly keep waistlines down.

- Dieting on a budget
For some, the recession is the best diet they could ever be on (for some perhaps even their first). Thank to an increase in global spending and a decrease in global savings, our pockets (and pantries) have never been so dry before. This is the best time to be on diet then. The recession has literally forced us to cut out luxury items as healthy foods have become increasingly easier to afford. When you next make a shopping list, examine what is considered necessary and what is considered luxury. Dividing this into a clear list will come as a shock to you, as many of your much loved foods will turn out to be luxury items only! Vegetables and fruits have not been hit as hard as other items, so stock up and let the sweet nectar of health infuse you. This brings health food items to the top of my list.

- The business of the sweetener
Aspartame can kill you. This is the hard truth. Studies have shown that an excess of this incredibly popular sweetener can increase your chance of contracting certain types of dangerous cancers. No thanks, not for me I say. The ever-resourceful FDA has now approved a new addition to the sweetener canon though, named Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, or Stevia for short. Stevia is a part of 240 species of plant which can combine to form a substance that has the long-lasting taste of sugar, with none of the drawbacks that come with Aspartame. In actual fact, Stevia can be up to 300 times sweeter than sugar, plus it has been shown to combat obesity and high blood pressure. Miracles can happen!

- Pick and choose the food you want
Gattica predicted it and now the future truly has come into play with bio-engineered foods. Many stores now allow you to select the ingredients you wish to have in your food. A quick search on the internet reveals that there are many sites that let users add items to their food such as breakfast cereals, chocolates, cakes, sausage ingredients and much more! Why settle for standard ingredients when you can be directly in charge of the health products that make their way into your shopping cart.

Martina Lambert is a buyer for a prominent health store that operates in Ireland and the UK. She sources health food products from around the globe.