Ian Marber, co-founder of The Food Doctor, is one of the country's leading nutritionists and acknowledged expert in his field. As principal consultant at The Food Doctor Clinic, Ian gives advice on all aspects of nutrition and the effect that food choices can have on your physical health and well-being. We talked to Ian about sensible nutrition and maintaining your ideal weight...

What advice would you give to new mums who want to beat the baby bulge?

Weight loss is never easy, but with a new baby, you can find that looking after yourself is the last thing you have time to do. However, feeding yourself in a way that maximises energy and helps lose some weight has many benefits. The lynchpin of my approach to eating is to focus on keeping blood glucose levels stable, something that can be done within your normal everyday diet.

All the food that we eat is converted in the body into glucose, which is the main fuel that we run on. The body naturally keeps blood glucose levels within quite strictly defined boundaries. Low levels lead to fatigue and hunger, whilst high levels lead to the excess being laid down as fat.

Foods that are quickly broken down into glucose causes a surge in blood sugar levels which then triggers the release of insulin, which almost inevitably results in a build up of fat (unless an energetic lifestyle results in this excess being burned up very quickly)

What should you eat

Always choose low Glycaemic Index foods: GI is a measure of how quickly the body breaks down food and turns it into glucose. Foods that are broken down quickly and cause a rapid rise in blood sugar levels are high GI foods, and those that are broken down much more gradually and results in a much slower rise in blood sugar levels are known as low GI foods. When selecting the food that you eat ensure that their GI is kept to a minimum this will prevent the release of insulin and the fat storage mechanism from kicking in. So which foods should you eat and which should you avoid:

• Avoid sugar: based on what has been described above obviously anything containing sugar is going to be rapidly broken down in the body and will therefore raise blood sugar levels quickly.
• Eat complex carbohydrates choose foods as close to their natural state as possible i.e. wholegrains: brown rice, wholewheat pasta, wholemeal / granary bread. These types of foods will take longer to be broken down in the body so will help to keep blood sugar levels stable.
• Avoid simple carbohydrates: this includes any form of refined and processed foods that have had their natural fibre removed (and many of their nutrients) and therefore are much easier for the body to break down quickly. This includes white bread, white rice, white pasta as well as other foods such as mashed potatoes, and some breakfast cereals like cornflakes.