Beans and hard cheese will give you a baby girl.

Beans and hard cheese will also give you gas. Item!

Cutting out salt and going on a diet of beans and hard cheese gives mothers a better chance of giving birth to a girl, research shows.

The right combination of food and the timing of sex are the key factors in determining whether it's a boy or a girl, the UK's Mail on Sunday reported.

Mothers should cut out foods containing sodium and potassium-rich food such as olives, bacon, salami, smoked salmon, potatoes, blue cheese, meats, bread and pastries.

The best foods are those rich in calcium and magnesium. Calcium-rich foods include yoghurt, hard cheese, rhubarb, spinach, tofu, almonds, oatmeal, broccoli and oranges.

Brazil and cashew nuts, whole wheat cereals, figs and beans are packed with magnesium.

The scientists, from Maastricht University in Holland, also say the chances of having a daughter are boosted if couples have regular sex but not on days immediately before or after ovulation.

The findings come after a five-year study involving 172 Western European women aged from 23 to 42 who had all previously given birth to boys but wanted girls.

When they were trying for a child again they were told to cut out salt and eat at least a pound of dairy products a day.

Almost 80 per cent of the women who stuck to the diet ended up giving birth to girls.

A spokesman for the scientists said: "The results show that both diet and timing methods increase the probability of a girl - the impact of the diet being the most pronounced.

"It shows a substantial success rate when both methods are applied correctly."