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Sources & evidence

KernBite does not invent numbers. Every nutrition and health figure is listed here together with the body that published it. Tap a source to open it in your browser.

KernBite is no substitute for medical or dietetic advice. All values are guide values for healthy adults. In illness, pregnancy and breastfeeding, and for children, your doctor decides.

Energy requirement and basal metabolic rate

Without a measured value, KernBite computes your basal metabolic rate with Mifflin-St Jeor: 10 × weight in kg + 6.25 × height in cm − 5 × age in years, with +5 for men and −161 for women. If sex is not given, the app takes the mean of the two.

On top of your basal metabolic rate comes an activity factor: 1.2 for little movement, 1.45 moderate, 1.7 high, 1.9 for physical work. The values sit within the PAL ranges of the German Nutrition Society. The society works from resting energy expenditure, which is around 10 % above basal metabolic rate; KernBite works from basal metabolic rate and so stays on the more cautious side.

Common misconception: “My BMR is 1,850, if I eat more I have to burn it off.” Wrong. You only burn BMR lying completely still. As soon as you stand, walk, work (NEAT), 20 to 90 percent is added on top depending on your everyday life, without any sport; that is the span of the activity factors the app calculates with. So your real daily need is well above your BMR. If your target is e.g. 2,159 kcal, you are usually already in a deficit, sport speeds it up further.

The largest variable part of your daily energy turnover is not sport, but movement in everyday life: standing, walking, stairs, housework.

The basis is your basal metabolic rate (BMR). If you upload an InBody scan we use the measured value; otherwise we compute it with a formula (Mifflin-St Jeor) from age, height, weight, sex. On top comes your everyday activity (activity factor) and your sport (kcal/week ÷ 7). That gives your maintenance need. To lose weight we subtract a deficit: 1 kg body fat is about 7,000 to 7,700 kcal, we work with 7,000, the more cautious value, spread over your chosen duration. If the daily target falls below the recommended minimum intake of 1,200 kcal for women and 1,500 kcal for men, we do not quietly move the number up, we warn you clearly. You decide.

A fixed number of calories per kilogram is a simplification: over months it overestimates weight loss, because your energy turnover falls as your weight does. So the prediction in the plan is a guide value, not a guarantee.

For converting macros into calories, the values from EU labelling apply: 4 kcal per gram of protein, 4 kcal per gram of carbohydrate, 9 kcal per gram of fat, 2 kcal per gram of fibre and 7 kcal per gram of alcohol.

Protein, fat, carbohydrates, fibre

The reference value for adults is 0.8 g of protein per kg of body weight a day; EFSA gives 0.83 g.

KernBite plans with 2.0 g of protein per kg, counted at most up to the weight that corresponds to BMI 25, and capped at 200 g a day. That is the upper end of the range of 1.2 to 2.0 g per kg that the German Nutrition Society gives for more than five hours of training a week. If you train less, the society says you need no more than the reference value of 0.8 g per kg; more does not harm healthy kidneys as things currently stand, but it is not necessary either.

Your protein target works with 2.0 g per kg, at most up to the weight that corresponds to BMI 25, and is capped at 200 g a day.

Protein keeps you full and protects your muscles, above all while you lose weight. This dish covers a lot of it.

Your body cannot digest fibre, but the bacteria in your large intestine can. Doing so they make substances that feed the gut wall. Fibre keeps you full longer and helps digestion. The German Nutrition Society guideline is at least 30 g a day, which is at least 14.6 g per 1,000 kcal; on average women in Germany reach 18 g and men 19 g. Pulses, wholegrains, vegetables, berries, nuts and seeds carry a lot. Increase slowly and drink enough alongside.

The per-recipe values come from the ingredients. The daily fibre target is the German Nutrition Society guideline: at least 30 g a day, and at least 14.6 g per 1,000 kcal. The larger of the two applies, so it rises with your energy turnover. For ALA the society sets 0.5 % of energy; for EPA and DHA the app uses the EFSA figure of 250 mg.

More than half of your energy should come from carbohydrates, according to the German Nutrition Society guideline. The app's nutrition profiles deliberately depart from that when you choose one with fewer carbohydrates.

Fill half your plate with vegetables: high volume, few calories, lots of fibre, filling without weighing you down.

Fibre feeds the bacteria in your gut and keeps blood sugar steadier. Most people eat too little of it.

More than 35 % of the energy here comes from fat. The German Nutrition Society guideline is 30 % a day, and with a lot of movement it may be more. That is fine when the rest of the day is lighter.

Balanced follows the wholesome mixed diet of the German Nutrition Society: limited amounts of fat and a high share of carbohydrates. KernBite works with 30 % protein, 40 % carbohydrates and 30 % fat. The fat share matches the society's guide value; the 40 % carbohydrates sit below the more than 50 % the society names.

With High Protein a larger part of the energy comes from protein: KernBite works with 40 % protein, 30 % carbohydrates and 30 % fat. There is no official macronutrient distribution for High Protein; the National Academy of Medicine names 10 to 35 % of energy from protein as the acceptable range, and KernBite sits above that.

Low Carb lowers the share of carbohydrates. An expert consensus puts that at 10 to 25 % of energy, so 50 to 129 g a day. KernBite works with 35 % protein, 25 % carbohydrates and 40 % fat, and so sits at the upper edge of that range.

Keto means very few carbohydrates, usually under 50 g a day, and a lot of fat instead. KernBite works with 25 % protein, 5 % carbohydrates and 70 % fat; the protein share sits above the 10 to 20 % the source names, which is KernBite's own reading.

Mediterranean means plenty of vegetables, grains, pulses, fish and olive oil; there is no official macronutrient distribution for it. The specialist literature describes around 15 % protein, 43 % carbohydrates and 37 % fat on average, while KernBite works with 20 % protein, 45 % carbohydrates and 35 % fat.

Low Fat keeps the share of fat low. The WHO recommends at most 30 % of energy from fat for adults, but at least 15 %. KernBite works with 25 % protein, 55 % carbohydrates and 20 % fat.

Paleo builds on meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts and oils and leaves out grain, dairy and sugar. There is no official macronutrient distribution for it; KernBite works with 30 % protein, 30 % carbohydrates and 40 % fat.

For High Carb and endurance there is no official percentage distribution: the sports nutrition working group of the German Nutrition Society names 6 to 12 g of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight a day. From that KernBite works out 20 % protein, 60 % carbohydrates and 20 % fat.

From October to March the sun stands too low here for the skin to make vitamin D. The body then lives on what it stored over summer. Food adds little: oily fish, egg yolk and mushrooms are the few sources. The German nutrition society names 20 micrograms a day when the skin makes none. Anyone supplementing should have the level measured first rather than dosing high on suspicion, because vitamin D accumulates in the body. In summer a few minutes of sun on face and arms are enough.

Build each meal around a protein source (quark, eggs, chicken, legumes, fish). It keeps you full longer and protects muscle.

Omega-3 fatty acids

The per-recipe values come from the ingredients. The daily fibre target is the German Nutrition Society guideline: at least 30 g a day, and at least 14.6 g per 1,000 kcal. The larger of the two applies, so it rises with your energy turnover. For ALA the society sets 0.5 % of energy; for EPA and DHA the app uses the EFSA figure of 250 mg.

This is ALA, from linseed, chia, walnut or rapeseed oil. Your body turns only a little of it into EPA and DHA.

Because the total misleads. A chia pudding carries 8.1 g of omega-3 and none of it covers your need for EPA and DHA: the body converts plant ALA at only a few percent. EPA and DHA come from fish and seafood. How much falls to which fatty acid is taken per food from the USDA database, not as a blanket figure per product group.

Omega-3 is not one substance but a family. Two groups matter day to day: ALA from plants, and EPA together with DHA from the sea. What they share is the job in the cell wall: these fatty acids have kinks in their chain, so they do not lie flat against each other and the membrane stays soft and mobile. Only then do the proteins inside it work, from receptor to pump. The difference is how far the chain is built and where it ends up: ALA is the short form, which the body mostly burns or converts; EPA and DHA are the long forms, the ones the body actually builds in and uses as messengers. Only a small part is converted, which is why we count the two separately.

Omega-6 is essential too, but you almost certainly get enough of it. It is in sunflower, corn and safflower oil and therefore in nearly every processed food. Omega-3 and omega-6 use the same enzymes in the body, so a lot of omega-6 leaves less room for omega-3. People often turn that into a ratio that is said to need pushing down. In humans that is not established: in a large observational study the ratio was not linked to heart risk, because both fatty acids were beneficial. That is why we show omega-3 and not omega-6: the one is in short supply, the other is not.

ALA stands for alpha-linolenic acid, the plant-based short form with eighteen carbons. Your body cannot make it, you have to eat it. It sits in linseed and linseed oil, in chia, walnuts, rapeseed oil and hemp seed. Most of it the body burns for energy, some goes into cell walls, above all in the skin, and keeps them soft; when ALA is missing entirely the skin turns rough and the barrier leaks. The rest is raw material: the body builds EPA and DHA from ALA, but only about five to ten per cent becomes EPA and less than one per cent DHA, and in men it works worse than in women. That carries the basics but does not replace a marine source. A tablespoon of freshly ground linseed or a tablespoon of rapeseed oil a day covers the need; whole linseed passes through undigested.

EPA and DHA are the long forms with twenty and twenty-two carbons, and they originally come from algae. Oily fish eat the algae and collect both in their fat, which is why you find them in herring, mackerel, salmon and sardine; anyone who eats no fish takes algae oil and with it the source itself. DHA is the building block: it sits in very high amounts in the brain and the retina and keeps the membrane there mobile enough for sight cells and nerve cells to switch fast. EPA is the messenger: from it the body builds the substances that bring an inflammation to an end, and it acts on blood fats and heart rhythm. Both are therefore more than fuel, and unlike ALA they are hardly burned at all. Two portions of oily sea fish a week or around 250 mg of EPA and DHA a day count as enough; in pregnancy and while breastfeeding, DHA for the child comes on top.

Salt, sugar, meat, alcohol

This means added sugar, including honey and juice. The WHO recommends below 10 % of energy, which at 2,000 kcal is about 50 g a day. Below 5 %, about 25 g, brings additional benefit; KernBite works with those 25 g.

Your body needs sodium, but far less than most people eat. The WHO advises at most 5 g of salt a day, a level teaspoon. On average we take in twice that. Most of it does not come from the salt shaker but from bread, cheese, cured meat, ready-made sauces and stock. Too much salt raises blood pressure in many people and binds water: the scales then show more than the fat you actually gained. In practice: salt at the end and taste first, work with herbs, lemon, garlic, pepper and browning, and when a dish already holds cheese, ham or soy sauce it hardly needs any salt. If you sweat a lot or train hard, you can take a little more.

This dish already carries a good part of the 5 g of salt that are enough for a day. Do not add more at the table, and keep the rest of the day light on salt.

Beef, pork and lamb are fine in moderation. The German Nutrition Society advises at most 300 g of meat and sausage a week. The WHO's cancer research agency lists processed meat as carcinogenic and red meat as probably carcinogenic.

One gram of alcohol delivers 7 calories, almost as much as fat, and none of it fills you up. On top of that alcohol is a cell poison, and the body breaks it down first. While that runs, fat loss waits. Measured, that is around 80 per cent less fat burning in the first hours and around a third less over the whole day. Add shorter deep sleep, slower recovery and more appetite, because the brake before the next helping comes off. The WHO names no amount that is free of risk. So our recommendation is plain: leave it out. There is enough for the evening that costs you nothing, from water with lemon to an alcohol-free beer.

Caffeine has a half-life of about five hours. The espresso at four in the afternoon is still half inside you at nine in the evening, even if you no longer feel it. Too much of it costs sleep, and poor sleep makes you hungrier the next day. Up to 400 mg a day is considered safe for healthy adults, which is about four cups of coffee. In pregnancy and while breastfeeding it is 200 mg. If you sleep badly, move the last cup to the early afternoon.

Losing weight: pace and safety

⚠ You're aiming for {rate} kg/week, more than the recommended ~{max} kg/week (0.5-1 kg, ~1 % of body weight). Consider a longer timeframe.

⚠ Your daily target is {target} kcal, below the recommended minimum of {min} kcal. Risky long-term without medical/dietary guidance (muscle loss, nutrient gaps). We don't auto-adjust, you decide.

⚠ Very low intake ({target} kcal/day): below {vlcd} kcal is a "very low calorie diet", sensible only under medical supervision. We don't auto-adjust anything; consider more time or a smaller goal.

⚠ Your target weight is in the underweight range (BMI < 18.5). That's not advisable, please talk to a doctor.

Between two days your weight can jump by one or two kilos without any change in fat. Behind that sit water, salt, how full the gut is, carbohydrate stores and, in women, the cycle. A kilo of fat is around 7000 calories; it cannot move that fast. So weigh yourself at the same time, best in the morning after getting up, and look at the week average instead of the single day. The direction over four weeks is the answer, not today’s number.

Age, pregnancy, illness

Protein goal is limited to 0.8 g per kg.

Under 18 we don't calculate a calorie deficit. Goal: maintain weight.

During pregnancy and breastfeeding we don't calculate a calorie deficit. Goal: maintain weight.

In pregnancy we hide raw meat, raw fish and raw milk, because of listeria and toxoplasma, and alcohol as well. We calculate no calorie deficit in pregnancy or while breastfeeding; in pregnancy an appropriate weight gain belongs to it.

Sugar-rich recipes are hidden, low-sugar ones preferred.

Kitchen hygiene and shelf life

Well done does not hang on a single number, but on time and temperature together: 70 degrees for two minutes, 65 degrees for ten minutes and 60 degrees for 45 minutes all do the same job. Chicken therefore needs no 75 degrees, and the 73 degrees from the tables is a momentary temperature of eleven seconds.

Raw meat, poultry and fish belong on their own board, salad, fruit and bread on a second. Germs travel on the blade, the hand, the cloth and the tap. Rinsing poultry under the tap does not make it cleaner, it spreads campylobacter as splashes over sink and worktop; only heat makes it safe, 70 degrees in the middle for two minutes. Wash hands, knife and board with hot water and washing-up liquid before you carry on, and change the cloth afterwards. For raw meat a plastic board is the best choice, that can go in the dishwasher, while wood suits bread and vegetables. Glass is the worst option, because the blade slips on it and goes blunt fast.

Without a thermometer: the juices at the thickest point run clear and the middle is no longer translucent. Colour alone does not carry it, poultry can still look pink at 74 degrees and already white at 65 degrees.

The limits come from the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the German Federal Centre for Nutrition. Cooked items such as sauce, rice, meat or potatoes keep for 2 to 3 days in the fridge, raw cut produce one day. Whatever has to last longer, the app freezes and enters the thawing on the day before in the plan: blanched vegetables keep for 6 to 12 months in the freezer, lean minced meat for 1 to 3. Every container gets a date and a deadline.

8 to 12 months

Every cut surface is a losing surface: vitamin C and folate go out through air, light and water. So cut as late as you can, not hours ahead, and rather large than small. Wash before cutting, not after, and do not leave vegetables sitting in water, or the water-soluble vitamins move into the bowl. Steaming or a short cook in a little water keeps more than long boiling, and the cooking water from vegetables belongs in the sauce. Potato water, on the other hand, you pour away, because glycoalkaloids are water-soluble and survive heat. The skin is often the most nutritious part: carrot and courgette need nothing but a brush. Potatoes only when they are fresh and undamaged, and cut green patches and eyes away generously.

Mise en place means "everything in its place" and comes from professional kitchens: before the first pot goes on the stove, everything is cut, weighed and within reach. KernBite applies this to the week rather than to a single plate. WHY. Cooking is not what costs the time, but starting is: shopping, chopping, weighing, deciding. That is the first thing to collapse on a weekday, and then the delivery app wins. We bundle that work into ONE prep day. After it, every meal is a ten to fifteen minute assembly, and the question "what do I eat today" has already been answered. HOW. We break recipes down not into dishes but into components: cooked rice, mince base, roast vegetables, chickpeas, tomato sauce. A component appears in several dishes, so you cook it once in a larger batch. Every component has a shelf life class: how many days it keeps in the fridge, whether it freezes, whether it has to be fresh. From that the planner builds the order of the week. What keeps longest goes last, what keeps two days goes first. The prep run also sorts the work by appliance: what goes in the oven runs alongside what simmers on the stove. In the plan you see, per day, what comes from the stock and what is added fresh. TIPS. • Spread hot food out flat and cool it fast; never put a warm pot straight into the fridge, it costs shelf life. • Label everything, with contents AND date. After three days nobody remembers what is in the box. • Freeze in portions, not in one block. A block will not thaw when you are in a hurry. • Cut raw vegetables, salad and fruit only the evening before. Once cut they keep a day, not five. • Keep sauce, dressing and acid separate and add them at the table, otherwise everything goes soggy. • Start with the component that takes longest, usually pulses, grains or roast vegetables. • Go easy on salt up front: you finish the seasoning at assembly, and the same component goes in different directions.

For pregnant women, small children, older people and anyone with a weakened immune system only well done applies: 70 degrees in the middle, held for two minutes.

Thaw in the fridge, not on the worktop: there the outside gets warm long before the middle is soft, and that is exactly where germs multiply. Plan a day for it, or use cold water in a closed bag. Pour the juice of thawed meat away and wash board and hands. What was raw and has thawed does not go back into the freezer; cooked it may. Cool cooked rice and pasta quickly and put them in the fridge instead of leaving them out for hours: a germ grows in them that reheating does not make harmless.

The best before date is a promise from the maker, not an expiry date. Pasta, rice, flour, tins, honey and chocolate are fine months beyond it. Check in this order: look, smell, taste. Only when one of those stands out does it go. The use by date on minced meat, poultry and fresh fish is different: that is a hard line, and after it the food does not belong on the plate even when it looks fine. Bulging tins and foaming jars go without any check.

Cold is not good for everything. Below twelve degrees tomatoes lose their aroma and turn mealy, raw potatoes turn starch into sugar and go dark and sweetish in the pan, onions and garlic go soft. With cooked potatoes it is the other way round: cover them and keep them in the fridge, where they last two to three days, and as they cool resistant starch forms, which the small intestine does not absorb. Bread goes stale faster in the fridge than at room temperature, so keep it in a bread bin, or in the freezer in larger amounts. Unripe avocados, bananas, mangoes and peaches do not ripen in the cold. Once ripe, the fridge is the right place for them, it only slows further ripening down.

Freeze flat, not in a lump: a flat pack is frozen through in an hour and thaws later in minutes. Press the air out, because air dries the surface, and that is freezer burn. Portion the way you will cook, not as a kilo block. And write the date and the content on it; in the freezer every bag looks the same. As rough numbers: lean minced meat one to three months, oily fish two, blanched vegetables six to twelve, bread three. Nothing is spoiled after that, it only loses flavour.

Nutrition values and labelling

The badges on a dish follow the thresholds of the EU Regulation on nutrition and health claims: source of fibre from 1.5 g per 100 kcal and high fibre from 3 g, source of protein from 12 % of the energy value and high protein from 20 %, source of omega-3 fatty acids from 0.3 g ALA or 40 mg EPA and DHA per 100 kcal and high omega-3 fatty acids from twice that.

Hunger in the evening need not be a real lack of energy. It is documented that short sleep increases hunger; and whoever eats little during the day has more appetite in the evening. What helps is meeting it with something that fills you instead of stoking the fire: a boiled egg has around 78 calories and 6 grams of protein, and low-fat quark, skyr, cottage cheese, edamame or a handful of nuts work the same way. Boil six eggs at the weekend and put them at the front of the fridge, then the best choice is also the easiest one. Something sweet without protein and fibre sends blood sugar up and down fast, and a few hours later you are back at the cupboard. Drink a glass of water first and wait ten minutes. And build enough protein and fibre into the day, then the attack comes less often.

The filter is a help, not a guarantee. Check ingredient lists yourself when shopping.

Always compare the per 100 gram column, not the per portion one: what counts as a portion is the maker’s choice. Under the carbohydrates sits "of which sugars", which counts natural sugar too, and in fruit or milk that is fine. "No added sugar" does not mean sugar free, and "light" only says there is less of something than in the original. The ingredient list is sorted by weight: what stands in front makes up most of it. If sugar, syrup and dextrose appear in three places, together they are a lot.

Drinking, sleep, movement

Water is not only against thirst. Your metabolism runs on water: fat is broken down in the liver, the by-products leave through the kidneys, and both need fluid. On top of that, a shortfall shifts the balance between the water outside and inside your cells. The scales then swing for reasons that have nothing to do with fat, and a measurement like InBody gets less accurate. The German Nutrition Society names about 1.5 litres a day from calorie-free drinks as a guide, more in heat, with sport or with a lot of fibre. Water and unsweetened tea are the simplest choice. And when you want to reach for a snack: have a glass of water first and wait ten minutes. Half a litre before the meal helped with losing weight in a study.

Drink a big glass of water and wait 10 minutes before reaching for a snack. Half a litre before every meal helped with losing weight in a study.

Too little sleep raises hunger and cravings. 7-8 hours often help your goal more than any diet rule.

Hunger in the evening need not be a real lack of energy. It is documented that short sleep increases hunger; and whoever eats little during the day has more appetite in the evening. What helps is meeting it with something that fills you instead of stoking the fire: a boiled egg has around 78 calories and 6 grams of protein, and low-fat quark, skyr, cottage cheese, edamame or a handful of nuts work the same way. Boil six eggs at the weekend and put them at the front of the fridge, then the best choice is also the easiest one. Something sweet without protein and fibre sends blood sugar up and down fast, and a few hours later you are back at the cupboard. Drink a glass of water first and wait ten minutes. And build enough protein and fibre into the day, then the attack comes less often.

Your body needs no cure for "detox": liver and kidneys work around the clock, and no tea and no juice speeds that up. "No carbs in the evening" is a fairy tale too: at the same amount it is not the clock time of the pasta that decides your weight, but what adds up over the day. Whoever sleeps better with pasta eats it in the evening. Lemon water does not make the body alkaline, blood pH is tightly regulated. And single foods burn no fat, pineapple and grapefruit included. What works is boring: the balance, protein, vegetables, moving, sleep.

Stairs over lift, short walks, standing while on the phone. This small movement (NEAT) adds up more than a single workout.

The number does not come from research but from advertising: a Japanese pedometer was called "Manpo-kei" in 1965, the ten-thousand-step meter. The studies came decades later and paint a different picture. The gain is biggest at the start: going from 2000 to 4000 steps already takes a large part of it, and by around 7000 steps the lion's share is in. After that the risk keeps falling, but only slowly. Where the curve bends exactly depends on age: from 60 the point sits around 6000 to 8000 steps, for younger people around 8000 to 10,000. So if you are at 3000 today, going to 6000 wins you more than someone going from 9000 to 12,000.

A calf cramp at night usually has nothing to do with magnesium, and studies find little benefit from tablets in healthy people. More often it is overload, an unfamiliar movement, too little fluid or a large salt loss during long sweating. What helps: stretching, raising the load more slowly, and, when sweating for long, drinking with a little salt. Magnesium sits in plenty in wholegrain, nuts, pulses and green vegetables; eating that way, few people run short. Cramps that come often and without cause belong in a doctor’s hands.

Up to about an hour of exercise you need nothing but water. Beyond that the stores run down, and the body takes in 30 to 60 grams of carbohydrate per hour; more only works with a trained gut. The banana is the classic here: a medium one brings around 25 grams of carbohydrate, plus about 400 mg of potassium and water, and it is easy to digest. An orange brings about 15 grams and plenty of fluid, and the two together are a good pair. Drink to thirst rather than to plan, and in heat or on long sweaty days take salt with it, otherwise you dilute your blood. Try everything in training, never for the first time in a race.

Every sports drink holds minerals, but you are not short of all of them. A litre of sweat holds on average about one gram of sodium, some 0.2 grams of potassium, a few milligrams of calcium and only traces of magnesium and zinc. Sodium is therefore the only one that really runs short when you sweat for a long time, and it is the only one you need to replace while you are working. Potassium you get back easily after the run with a banana, potatoes or tomato paste. Magnesium you barely lose through sweat. The level in your blood still dips briefly during exercise, because it moves into the muscle cells, and that is not a deficiency. Supplements help only where there really is too little, and too much zinc interferes with the absorption of iron and copper. If you sweat a lot, salt on your food, wholegrain, pulses, nuts and dairy serve you better than effervescent tablets.

Eat more slowly and you eat less. A review of twenty-two studies finds a lower energy intake at the slower pace. Fullness takes time to arrive, and watching a screen while you eat makes you notice it even later. Put the cutlery down between bites and eat without a screen.

Losing weight always costs muscle as well. That is a bad trade: muscle burns energy even at rest and keeps you mobile day to day. Two strength sessions a week are enough to keep most of it. Together with enough protein the loss then comes mainly from fat. You need no machines: squats, press-ups, rows with a band and carrying cover most of it. Start with a few sets and build up slowly; the stimulus counts, not the exhaustion.

Kitchen knowledge

Press the garlic clove flat with the side of the knife, then the skin comes away. Sliced it stays mild, chopped it gets stronger, crushed it is strongest of all, because the more cells are damaged, the more allicin forms. Scrape ginger with the edge of a spoon or the back of the knife, the skin is thin; fibrous pieces are better grated than chopped. In chilli the heat sits mainly in the white membrane, not in the seeds; take it out when you want it milder. Capsaicin does not dissolve in water: oil or milk helps against burning fingers, and wash your hands with washing-up liquid before you touch your eye.

Allicin is the sulfur compound garlic smells and tastes of. A whole clove smells of almost nothing: allicin only forms once the cells are damaged, and then very fast, after thirty seconds it is almost fully formed. Heat switches off the enzyme behind it. So cut or crush the clove and let it sit for ten minutes before it goes into the pan: garlic treated that way shows more antioxidant activity than garlic heated straight away. As a remedy it is still of little use. Garlic supplements lower raised cholesterol and raised blood pressure only to a small extent, the evidence for that is thin, and garlic does not act on stomach cancer. In hot fat garlic turns bitter quickly: it belongs with the vegetables, not first into the pan, and needs only a short moment there, less than a minute. Burnt garlic comes through in the whole dish.

Addresses last checked: 2026-10-06