This month more research has been published by British scientists to confirm what many of us already know: food additives do serious physical and mental harm to children.

The researchers from the University of Southampton believe that if artificial colourings was removed from children’s foods, cakes, drinks and sweets it would bring significant health benefits, cutting hyperactivity by a third, reducing antisocial behaviour and boosting IQ. According to their research the harm caused by additives to the IQ of youngsters is similar to the damaging impact of lead on developing brains and they are calling on the Food Standard’s Agency (FSA) to take measures to ban food chemicals that can cause psychological harm to normal, healthy children. The colouring additives that caused the Southampton team the most concern are tartrazine (E102); quinoline yellow (E104); sunset yellow E1110); carmoisine (E122); ponceau 4R (E124) and allura red (E129) but, in my opinion, any food that contains E numbers should be treated with suspicion.

Adding flaxseed to your daily diet could help reduce menopausal hot flushes, which are a common symptom of oestrogen deficiency at the menopause.

HRT or hormone replacement therapy is one of the most common treatments for replacing oestrogen in menopause but an increasing number of women are opting out because of side effects and a possible increased risk of heart disease and breast cancer. Researchers have already studied soya as a plant based source of oestrogen and that has been shown to help reduce menopausal symptoms. Now a recent study by the Mayo Clinic in the US suggests another phytoestrogen, flaxseed works as well. In my opinion, anything that eases menopausal symptoms naturally, particularly something as healthy as flaxseeds – which also contain omega 3 – is good news for women approaching menopause. Try drizzling flax seed oil on your salad or add a sprinkling of flaxseeds to salads and snacks. 

Dieters who eat similar amounts have the best chances of losing weight, according to research presented in Dublin at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society. Those who starve one day so they can indulge the next are on the road to diet disaster.

A study of dieters who ate an identical or similar number of calories every day were less tempted to comfort eat because their self-esteem was higher. However, those who binged one day and starved the next had lower self-esteem and were more likely to comfort eat. The study shows that if a dieter can stay consistent in their calorie intake every day their body image improves and it is more likely that they will lose weight. Previous studies have also shown that those who keep a food journal or make a note of what they’ve eaten each day lose three times as much weight as those who don’t record their food intake. Finally, exercise is also an important part of the weight loss equation. Earlier this year a study of thousands of dieters from the US showed that those who exercised regularly for 60 minutes a day were more likely to stay trim.