Q: My hair and nails are dry and brittle and snap easily. My skin also looks dull and creased. Are there any foods I can eat to make me look healthier and younger?

A: You don’t mention your age in your letter but, whatever age you are, the condition of your hair and nails is a good indication of your health in general. So it seems to me that your diet, life style and stress levels could do with some attention.

 

First of all I want to advise you to visit your doctor to make sure you are not suffering from an underlying hormone imbalance, such as thyroid disorder or polycystic ovary syndrome, which can result in dry skin and hair. In the interim, boost your intake of fatty acids, found in oily fish, nuts, seeds and legumes, as they play an important part in keeping your hair and nails strong. Snacking on nuts and seeds will also boost levels of fatty acids, as well as zinc and protein – also important for healthy hair and skin. Keep your iron levels up by eating plenty of dark green leafy vegetables and pulses and dried fruit. And as brittle nails can be a sign of vitamin A or calcium deficiency be sure to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.

 

As far as your skin is concerned, eating the following food regularly will arm your skin cells with the necessary tools to help preserve and keep your skin looking young: 

 

• Water (Boosts moisture): Dehydrated skin looks ashen and grey and hangs off the face. Water is the best dull-skin reviver. Hydrated skin looks moist and plump, which makes existing wrinkles less obvious. To see results, you need to make sure you are drinking enough each day – around six to eight glasses – more if you work out.
• Ripe Tomato (Keeps skin elastic): This skin-sensational food packs high levels of the antioxidant vitamins A and C as well as skin cancer-fighting chemicals. Antioxidants help keep skin firm by protecting the skin’s collagen and elastic tissue from oxidants or “free radicals” (unstable oxygen molecules) that attack it. 
• Berries (Fight wrinkles): Berries are a great source of polyphenols, antioxidants that are currently being studied for their anti-aging capabilities. Recent studies revealed that blueberries are packed with three times the antioxidants compared to an orange. A hefty handful of berries have all the antioxidant vitamin C your body requires each day to reconstruct your collagen, the scaffolding that keeps skin from drooping.
• Sardines (Calm inflammation): This fatty fish is teeming with face-friendly omega-3 fatty acids, which do everything from attack arid areas to help deflate inflamed spots. Also found in mackerel, salmon etc, Omega 3 essential fatty acids battle collagen-damaging free radicals and help smooth out fine lines. I would recommend eating fish three times a week. If you can’t eat seafood, a fish-oil supplement can offer the same benefits (see Omega 3 Plus on the Resources Page). Or try adding flaxseed oil or nuts to your diet. Fatty fish and nuts also contain zinc, which helps quell acne flare-ups and increase cell growth
• Dark-green, leafy vegetables (Anti-ageing): Foods such as cabbage and kale are full of anti ageing antioxidants. Plus, they’re a great source of iron when eaten with vitamin C rich foods. (Women who don’t get enough iron are especially prone to dark circles under their eyes.) Greens also contain zinc.

Finally, I strongly advise you to take a daily multivitamin and mineral every day as an insurance policy against nutrient deficiencies which can be ageing and cause out-of-condition hair and nails. A vitamin B supplement may also be helpful.

Q: Since the menopause started every time I sneeze, cough, laugh or run I can’t stop leaking a little urine. Are there any natural ways to stop this happening?

A: About half of women experience ‘stress incontinence’ in the menopause because levels of the hormone oestrogen –which keeps the muscles at the base of the bladder tight and strong – decrease. Performing pelvic floor workouts or Kegel exercises to help strengthen your pelvic muscles can help combat the problem. To find out which muscles you need to use, stop urinating midstream by contacting your muscles; these are your pelvic floor muscles. Use these muscles to perform a Kegel; contract and hold for a count of five and then relax. Repeat 10 times at least five times a day and you should notice a big improvement. You can also practise stopping the flow of urine when you go to the toilet. There are some really good pelvic toners on the market now that help with stress incontinence and are very easy to use. There are two that I would particularly recommend, so for more information on these go to www.naturalhealthpractice.com or call 0845 8800915. 

 

Retraining your bladder may also help. Begin by allowing yourself one trip to the toilet every hour for a week and then the following week extend the time between trips by half an hour. Continue until you can hold your urine for three hours at a time. This exercise teaches your bladder to hold more urine and become less sensitive when full.

 

Don’t be tempted to drink less if you are prone to incontinence. Restricting your fluid intake won’t stop leaks. In fact it can make things worse by producing highly concentrated urine that irritates the bladder. Drink lots of water instead. You’ll know when you are hydrated if your urine appears clear to pale yellow. If it’s dark yellow you aren’t drinking enough. And finally, as your symptoms are linked to lowering levels of oestrogen be sure to eat plenty of phytoestrogens (plant oestrogens) found in soya, legumes and nuts and seeds.

Q: My daughter is about to get married and is keen to start a family. Since the age of 17, she has suffered from Polycystic Ovaries, showing symptoms such as facial hair, hair loss and a weight problem. She has also been warned that conception may be more complicated for her. She used to have infrequent periods but now has them regularly every 5 to 6 weeks. The normal help for her condition, such as the contraceptive pill or metformin, she cannot be prescribed as the first gave her occasional blackouts and the second nausea. She keeps her weight under control by sensible eating but even so is probably a little more than she should be for her height. Is there any advice you would give her to increase her chances of conceiving?

A: In each menstrual cycle, follicles (which contain eggs) grow on the ovaries. One of these follicles will reach maturity faster than the others and be released at ovulation. The remaining follicles will degenerate. In the case of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the ovaries are much larger than normal, and there are a series of undeveloped follicles that appear in clumps, like a bunch of grapes. This can cause a hormonal imbalance, leading to a series of symptoms including being overweight, having no – or very few – periods, being prone to acne and excess body hair. And with this can come problems with fertility and recurrent miscarriages.

Over the last few years, research into the nutritional approach to PCOS has revolutionised the treatment of this problem. It is known that women with PCOS are more likely to have problems balancing blood sugar and can produce high levels of insulin. The more circulating insulin, the more the ovaries produce testosterone.

 

So the aim is to balance the blood sugar by eating little and often and going for foods that do not cause the blood sugar to rise quickly. There is not enough space to go into this in detail here but the best recommendation is to either read the PCOS chapter in my Nutritional Health Handbook for Women or, as your daughter’s main focus is to get pregnant, then read my book ‘Getting Pregnant Faster’. 

 

As her blood sugar stabilises your daughter will lose weight and it has been found that as women with PCOS lose weight, hormone levels start to return to normal. One study found that 11 out of 12 women who had been overweight and not ovulating conceived naturally after reducing their weight.

 

Certain vitamins and minerals can also be useful to make the dietary recommendations more effective. For fertility it is best to add in the Fertility Plus for Women and the Fertility Plus for Men (see the Resources Page).