There's a lot of talk about ultra-processed foods at the moment.

There's some really compelling research being done which proves that eating foods that contain ingredients such as:

• sweeteners,
• emulsifiers and
• preservatives

can be:

• harmful to health,
• lead to weight gain
• and even affect brain function.

But most pre-prepared foods contain at least one of these ingredients!

Things that you wouldn't necessarily use if you prepare your food at home.

But who's got time to cook everything from scratch every time?

Well it does help to use little gadgets to make things a bit quicker and easier!

My favourite kitchen gadget is my Ninja chopper.

Here's 5 ways I use it to cut down on food-prep time:

• Chopping onions as a base for pasta sauce - super quick, and no tears!
• Chopping nuts to mix into cakes or chocolate - add nature's mineral-boosters to sweet treats!
• Blending garlic, ginger and spices for homemade curry paste - so much nicer than out of a jar.
• Breadcrumbing ingredients for crumble topping - another easy way to add nuts into your food.
• Chopping herbs for all kinds of 1-pot dishes - turn handfuls into spoonfuls in a couple of seconds.

Try them out and see how much time it saves you!

n.b. - You might like to know that when I've tested homemade cake versus shop-bought cake, I've found that the homemade version is MUCH gentler on the waistline than the shop-bought version, so that backs up the evidence being found by these new research studies.

If you want to learn how to test your own recipes against shop-bought foods, I teach this in The Metabolic Food Solution course, and also in my 2-Week Weight Loss Kickstarter programme.