WOMEN in the UK aged 51 are most likely to experience the start of the menopause, according the NHS. This is when a range of symptoms including hot flushes and night sweats, aching joints, back pains, reduced libido and weight gain start to appear.

Of course everyone is different and not all women have all the symptoms and some don’t have any at all.

There are a range of products to help with many of the symptoms but when it comes to weight gain women’s health expert Dr Marilyn Grenville says extra flab around the middle is a completely normal part of going through the menopause.

She says: “If you are going into the menopause, your body will be extremely reluctant to let go of the fat around your middle. This is because fat is a manufacturing plant for oestrogen which will help protect your bones from osteoporosis.

“It’s a very clever system, designed to protect you, but it helps explain why mere diet and exercise alone will rarely shift that stubborn fat.

“The combined effect of female hormonal changes, slower metabolism and stress with high cortisol levels create a bigger likelihood of fat around the middle.”

But while this may sound a bit depressing and as though women just have to resign themselves to a later life of flab, there are things they can do to keep themselves in good shape.

Dr Grenville, author of Fat Around the Middle, has a list of tips to help get rid of that extra fatty waist band.

• Stop Dieting. Stop dieting and don’t count calories, otherwise your body will think there’s a famine and will raise stress levels, which contribute to fat storage.

• Eat little and often. Try to keep your blood sugar levels and energy levels stable by eating regularly. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner plus a snack mid morning and one mid afternoon, with no longer than three hours between. Try not to eat carbohydrates after 6pm. This will stop those roller-coaster highs and sugar cravings. Because your blood sugar isn’t allowed to drop, your body will no longer have to ask you for a quick fix. As the blood sugar steadies, so will the mood swings.

• Don’t skip breakfast. If you miss breakfast your body immediately registers famine and hangs on tight to your ample stores of fat.

• Eliminate or reduce all added sugar and refined carbohydrates. Avoid any foods that make your blood sugar rise quickly, because - as blood sugar drops again - your body releases adrenaline and cortisol to stabilise it once more and you end up caught in a catch 22 situation. Swap to whole grain alternatives that release energy slowly.

• Add protein to each meal. Protein slows down the rate that stomach processes food and delays the passage of the carbohydrates with it. As soon as you add a protein (be it animal or vegetable) to a carbohydrate, you change it into a slower releasing carbohydrate that keep your sugar levels at bay.

• Eat essential fats. Long term dependency on low fat products might mean that you’re consuming less saturated fat, but also that you are deficient in the good fats – essential fatty acids, found in oily fish, nuts and seeds. They help to boost your metabolism so don’t forget to include them in your diet.

• Don’t eat on the run. It gives your body the message that time is scarce, you are under pressure and stressed. Furthermore, your digestive system will be less efficient. Make a point of sitting down and eating your food as calmly, as possible.

• Watch what you drink. Cut out all caffeine and sugary drinks and significantly reduce alcohol intake (cut it out completely for a month if you can).

• Exercise. Exercise or physical activity has never been more important. If you have fat around the middle of your body caused mainly by the activity of your stress hormones, exercise MUST become one of your priorities. By simply making time for exercise in your life, you can control the potentially damaging fight or flight response.

Changing the way you eat, adding supplements and an exercise regime may not seem easy at first. But be persistent because - before you know it - your clothes will start to feel loose and your shape will change.