Asia's Gym

TIPS OF DAY
Eat cucumber to lose weight
The old sandwich staple of the genteel classes is full of vitamin C to boost fat oxidation. Here’s four ways to get more of it in your diet...

Breakfast
Blueberry and cucumber smoothie

Refuel by chucking a chopped cucumber, a fist of berries, a few mint leaves, ice cubes and 350g natural yoghurt into a blender for a fast post-exercise shake. The yoghurt’s calcium is a powerful fat burner.
Lunch
Feta pitta breads

Mix a sliced cucumber with 100g feta cheese, 1 tbsp natural yoghurt, 100g black olives, fresh mint and mixed seeds. Stuff it all into wholemeal pittas for a light lunch. The feta is a rich source of riboflavin which will fuel your next workout.
Dinner
Hot cucumber soup

Scrape out the seeds, slice and fry the cucumber for 2 minutes. Add chopped spring onions, 500ml chicken stock and chilli powder to raise your metabolism. Simmer and serve with yoghurt and fresh mint. Ready in 5 minutes? Souper.
Side dish
Tzatziki

Grab a grater and shred a whole cucumber. Mix with two handfuls of chopped mint and two crushed garlic cloves, and combine with sour cream. Share as a dip or on the side with poached salmon. Garlic’s whiff comes from allicin which is a proven fat-burner.

Life-extending superfoods
Stave off the reaper with these eight nutritional sources..
1. Red grapefruit

Eating one a day will lower LDL (bad) cholesterol by 20%.
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
2. Broccoli

It contains vitamin K, which regulates insulin, so you have less chance of developing diabetes or being obese.
Tufts University
3. Cranberry juice

Three glasses a day will lower your risk of heart disease by 40%.
University of Scranton, US
4. Avocados

A source of potassium, which (combined with a low sodium diet) guards against high blood pressure and stroke.
US Food and Drug Administration
5. Brown rice

It lowers your risk of diabetes, due to its vitamin B1.
Harvard School of Public Health
6. Black turtle beans

Their antioxidants fend off disease. Costa Rica’s Chorotega tribe eat them and have the most centenarians on earth.
Dan Buettner Blue Zones
7. Watercress

It increases levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants lutein and beta-carotene – 85g gives maximum benefits.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
8. Coffee

Four cups a day reduce your risk of dying of heart disease by 53%.