I WISH someone would start telling us the truth. It’s bad enough hearing the million and one theories the so-called experts are coming up with for the cold weather continuing into spring.

I’ve heard explanations ranging from the shifting of the jet stream to the melting of the polar ice cap, and the Asian tsunami. I’m expecting any day to hear that Simon Cowell had a hand in it.

One day we read that we’ll soon be living among olive groves, the next that we’re entering a mini-ice age and need to learn how to hunt for seals. I don’t know what to believe.

Every week I conscientiously sort our rubbish into different bins, spending hours washing out bottles, flattening cereal boxes and squashing milk cartons, believing that it will all be turned into shiny new products. Now I read that I’m wasting my time and a lot of our waste doesn’t get recycled, but is shipped to China, ending up in landfill. What is going on?

Reading a report that most of us don’t get enough exercise, I took my bike for an MOT and began cycling. I was about to start running too, but then I read that too much exercise can damage your heart. “Couch potatoes rejoice: too much exercise may be bad for you,” said the newspaper headline, so I unclipped my pedomoeter, flopped on the sofa and enjoyed a high-cholesterol steak and maple syrup burger with cream cheese. Like I said, it’s hard to know what to do.

Red wine can be good for you, research has proved. Great, I thought, as my brother gave me a crate of it for my birthday. But the same study also found that it has no benefits if you’re a healthy, middle aged woman.

Supping tea is healthier than drinking water, says one school of thought, recommending that we all drink at least three cups a day. But recent reports suggest it can cause brittle bones and may lead to your teeth falling out.

We are told that it is better to take holidays in the UK, then reminded a day or so later that with prices so high in Britain it’s far more sensible to go abroad.

I appreciate that we need as much information as possible to help us make informed decisions, but with so many contradictions how can we possibly decide on, or believe, anything at all.

From now on I’m going to avoid reports, surveys and ‘experts’ findings and go with my instincts. If I’m not alive and kicking by the end of the year I’ll only have myself to blame.