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Being picky about when and what you eat and drink can help you to stay mentally agile

I was breast-fed until six months old. My best friend at school, Jane, was bottle fed. Jane was brighter than me - she was better at everything from maths and music to French and chemistry.

In spite of recent research, which suggests that breast-fed babies have a higher IQ than those who are given formula feeds, my advice is that if were you given the latter, don't panic.

The No 1 rule is to eat regularly, especially starting the day with breakfast. Although our brains account for only 2 per cent of our body weight, this organ uses up around 20 to 30 per cent of our total energy needs.

Research has shown that adults who eat breakfast have better “free-recall” abilities (tested by showing people a list of 20 words at a rate of one every two seconds with two minutes at the end to recall the words) in the day ahead than when they skip breakfast.