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.

Eating 1.8 0z (50g) of processed meat a day – the equivalent of just one sausage a day or two to three slices of bacon – can significantly raise your risk of bowel cancer, according to experts from WCRF or The World Cancer Research Fund. This alarming statistic adds weight to the growing body of evidence that suggest that a diet high in meat can be deadly.

According to the WCRF, the evidence from thousands of studies on lifestyle and cancer is so strong that eating processed meat increases the risk of cancer that the best option is to avoid it completely. When you consider that eating just 50g of processed meat a day can increase your risk by up to a fifth, it is clear that you can make a difference by cutting out as much as possible or even better eliminating it altogether. Processed meats may also trigger cancer in the prostate, lung, stomach and oesophagus. Processed meats are preserved by smoking and salting and include sausages, bacon, ham, salami and hot dogs.