Q: I suffer a lot from headaches, which often feel like a tight band restricting my forehead. My doctor says they’re tension headaches and has recommended painkillers, but are there any ways to prevent them naturally?

A: Headaches are caused when blood vessels in the head constrict or dilate leading to pressure on the nerves. Adrenaline, toxins, food allergies, eye strain, hormonal changes and problems with your neck, shoulder and jaw can all contribute to this.

Tension headaches are more likely to occur when you’re stressed and chemicals such as adrenaline are released, making your blood vessels tighten and reducing blood flow to your brain. I would recommend trying yoga, meditation or breathing exercises and 300mg of magnesium citrate before you go to bed to relax the blood vessels. Alcohol, smoking and caffeine can all trigger headaches too, so cut down on these. Food intolerance may be a culprit so keep a food diary to see if there are any possible trigger foods. A number of people get headaches after eating a class of chemicals called amines, which include cheese and chocolate so try to pinpoint if these are the cause and if they are eliminate them from your diet for a while.

 

Liver function affects the quality and flow of your blood and if it’s not efficiently getting rid of toxins this can trigger headaches, so you may want to try the liver-boosting herb milk thistle. It goes without saying that a healthy diet and regular exercise will also boost circulation and help your body detox naturally. If there is a misalignment of your neck discs or jaw joint, cranial blood flow will be restricted and this can cause a headache. See a cranial osteopath to correct any misalignment. And finally, eye strain may be the trigger. If you spend long periods of time every day staring at a computer screen or find it hard to read small print it may be time to take better care of your eyes. Take regular breaks every 20 minutes when working on the computer and keep your eyes moist by blinking regularly. Visiting an optician will also be of benefit to see if reading or computer glasses are necessary.

Q: I have re-subscribed to your magazine and have just received my copy, which I have found very, very interesting as usual. When I came to your Ask Marilyn section I thought that I’d contact you to see if you could answer this question, which has been concerning me for a while.

I am 63 and have been getting many, many moles appearing on my skin, but I am most concerned about the many red spots that are also appearing all over my body. Some are not very big, just like pin head size, and others are about a quarter of an inch wide; some are flat to the skin, but most are slightly raised and hard. All of them are bright red. I have been monitoring them and they do not go away. I am most conscious about the ones on my neck and chest, although I can disguise these a little with make up. Is there anything that I can do to get rid of them? My diet is very good and I always buy organic foods where possible and only use natural soaps and body lotions that do not contain any nasties, and I drink mainly green tea. 

 

Obviously the moles are an age related problem, but what are these hard red spots and can I cure them?

 

 

A: With any moles or unusual spots appearing on the skin it is always important to have them seen by your doctor who may refer you to a dermatologist for a check up.

 

It is likely, however, that the red spots are something called cherry angiomas, which are broken blood capillaries that are visible on the skin. They are more common as we get older because the skin isn’t as strong because it has lost collagen and the capillaries can become more fragile. These cherry angiomas can bleed if injured because the blood vessels are so close to the surface.

 

Medically there is no known cause for cherry angiomas and no real research into the problem because they are usually harmless. They can be treated by using Intense Pulsed Light or lasers. 

 

Nutritionally my approach would be to work on strengthening the capillaries and improving the manufacture of collagen. There’s a class of antioxidants (called flavonoids, of which more than 4,000 have been characterized) and two of them are especially important for you. These are the bioflavonoids and the proanthocyanidins.

 

The bioflavonoids are closely associated with vitamin C and are found in citrus fruits.  They are excellent at strengthening capillaries and also help to preserve collagen, which can so easily be damaged by free radicals. Proanthocyanidins are the flavonoids which give the deep colour to many berries such as blackberries, blueberries, raspberries etc.  They are excellent ‘free radical scavengers’ so, like bioflavonoids, they help to slow down the ageing process and also help to preserve the integrity of capillaries. They also strengthen the collagen matrix and stop the destruction of collagen, which is not only important for our skin but also for our bone health and the prevention of osteoporosis. 

 

So make sure you eat a good amount of fruits, especially berries, and take a supplement of vitamin C containing bioflavonoids (500mg twice a day). You can also get the proanthocyanidins as freeze dried berries in a concentrated form (see the Resources Page). But do make sure you see your doctor to get the all clear on both the moles and the cherry angiomas.

Sweet red peppers contain a number of compounds that could help to prevent cancer, including capsiates, which have been shown to induce cancer cell deaths in lab tests. They are one of the few foods that contain lycopene, the carotenoid phytochemical that gives them their rich colour. High dietary levels of lycopene are associated with lower rates of rectal, pancreatic and ovarian cancer, and have also found to be linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease in women. In a recent case-control study in China, eating lycopene-rich foods such as sweet red peppers was found to reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer by up to 50 per cent.

They are also rich in other carotenoids, some of which, like beta-carotene, are vitamin A-precursors (i.e. which the body converts to vitamin A). Carotenoids are important for eye health, helping to prevent conditions such as cataracts. Sweet red peppers’ high levels of the carotenoid beta-cryptoxanthin may cut the risk of lung cancer. An eight-year study following over 63,000 people in Shanghai found that those eating the most foods with the highest levels of beta-cryptoxanthin had a 27% reduction in lung cancer risk. Scientists also suggest that good dietary intakes of carotenoids can help to prevent insulin resistance, which is a precursor for type 2 diabetes.

 

While all peppers are excellent sources of vitamin C, the mature sweet red goes to the top of the class for a tremendous 190mg/100g – that’s 475% of your daily RNI (Reference Nutrient Intake) or recommended daily allowance for this essential nutrient from just one raw medium-sized pepper. It also provides 1.58mg of vitamin E, which is around 40% of a man’s and 53% of a woman’s RNI.

 

These are both powerful antioxidants, which prevent cells from damage by free radicals, in turn helping to protect against heart disease, cataracts and cancers. Research suggests that good dietary intakes of vitamin C and E are linked to increase activity of an enzyme called paraoxonase, which inhibits the oxidation of LDL and HDL cholesterol, a process that can lead to atherosclerosis. Population studies also show that a high intake of antioxidant-rich foods is inversely related to cancer risk, with vitamin E reducing the risk of prostate and colon cancer, and carotenoids helping to reduce breast cancer risk.

 

For added health benefit, the sweet red pepper’s dietary fibre (2g/100g – 11% of RNI) is associated with a lesser risk of both heart disease and colon cancer, while its good quantities of folate (18mcg/100g; 9% of RNI) are important for reducing high levels of homocysteine which are linked to coronary heart disease, as well as preventing spina bifida in the developing foetus.

 

Sweet red peppers are also a great source of all the B vitamins which are needed for energy and stress. They also provide good levels of the minerals manganese, magnesium and potassium.