Can you undo your past health mistakes?

You cut out food groups

Damage done: Cutting out dairy products can harm your bones, while eliminating meat from your diet without introducing other iron-rich foods may trigger anaemia. Restricting calories in general can affect bones and fertility.

Bounce-back factor: Fair. Some nutritional deficiencies (such as anaemia) are transient and won't do long-term damage if you start eating more healthily now. But cutting out dairy for long periods in your teens or twenties puts you at risk of osteoporosis later in life, because this is the period of peak bone development. According to the Dairy Council, it's never too late to start putting more calcium back into your diet, but you'll generally only be stopping things getting worse if you're over 30. Eating soya regularly may give your bones the best chance, as soya isoflavones encourage new bone growth. Talk to your GP if you have a family history of osteoporosis - you may need specialist treatments.

Read more about osteoporosis: 'How strong are your bones?'