The nation is getting fatter, just look around you. How many overweight people are you surrounded by? Being overweight increases your risk of heart attack, cancer and diabetes. I don’t know about you, but I want to reduce my risk of getting these diseases. Losing weight will be a big step toward reducing your risk.

Beyond the cosmetic reasons to losing weight, there are numerous health reasons.

Fat cells act as an endocrine organ that cause all sorts of things to happen in your body, the fatter you are, the worse these reactions are:

Fat cells release PAI-1 that promotes angiogenesis, arthrogenesis and thrombosis (new blood vessel growth seen in cancers, thinning arteries and blood clots).

Fat cells release adiponectin that decreases gluconeogenisis (the conversion of to protein to glucose), and increases glucose uptake. Excess adiponectin production is associated with insulin resistance and obesity.

Fat cells release adipsin that increases the uptake of fatty acids, increases triglyceride synthesis and transports glucose into fat cells turning it to fat.

Fat cells release renin and angiotensin, both of which increase vascular tone and increase blood pressure.

Fat cells release inflammatory cytokines TNF alpha, IL-6 and resistin that promote inflammation.

Fat cells release molecules that control hunger such as leptin. Leptin tells your brain you are full, but too much leptin in circulation can lead to leptin resistance.

Fat cells convert testosterone to oestrogen. This is not good if you are a man, one of the side effects is you start asking your girlfriend if your butt looks big in your jeans!

In my book “The little book of nutrition tips” I outline 10 tips for weight management and discuss 10 foods that have fat burning potential. I will share some of these tips with you now…

Never go on a calorie controlled diet. This affects your metabolism and puts you into a state of starvation. When you come off the diet you will store fat and energy in case your body thinks it will starve again in the future.

Don’t be scared of eating healthy fats, they won’t make you fat. They will actually make you lose fat by improving insulin sensitivity and controlling chemicals in the brain that control appetite.

Exercise daily. Exercise burns calories, builds muscle and increases your metabolism. For every kilo of muscle you add to your body you burn an extra 100 calories at rest.

3 of my top 10 fat burning foods include…

Hot chilli peppers contain nutrients that help increase metabolism.

Tea of any colour, especially green tea has been shown to increase fat loss.

Tahini – sesame seed lignans enhance fat burning by increasing liver enzymes that breakdown fats.

To find out more about weight loss Steve Hines Little book of nutrition tips now is available at http://www.amazon.co.uk/little-book-nutrition-tips/dp/0956670113 or watch Steve talk about the book on YouTube here http://youtu.be/7z5uhvLfU_E

This would make a great Christmas present for someone you love.