It may sound old-fashioned, but a glass of warm milk at bedtime can help you get off to sleep — and stay there. It provides not only calcium, crucial to a good night’s rest, but also calming tryptophan, an amino acid that the body uses to make serotonin, the chemical that controls your sleep cycle. If the body is tired but a racing mind is stopping you sleeping, use a fast-acting liquid herbal extract of valerian to calm yourself down. Order it from the Eclectic Institute organic range (from Revital; 0800 252875) and take as directed on the bottle. If you are waking up more tired than when your head hit the pillow, see No Energy.
GET-UP-AND-GO
Ditch that double espresso you are relying on to get going first thing in the morning and switch to a high dose of vitamin C (1g), which will give your brain the same jolt. The body cannot store vitamin C, so don’t take it in one hit, but split your dose into three or four equal measures in a day.
JET LAG
Some cabin crew use guarana, the rainforest herb, to stay alert in a new time zone. It works in the same way as coffee to keep you revved up, but a 500mg capsule provides just 15mg of caffeine, which is little compared with the 80-120mg dose you’ll get in a similar dose of coffee. However, guarana also contains other compounds that effectively slow down the assimilation of the caffeine, so a single dose will provide a more sustained energy hit that lasts up to six hours. Rio Trading (01273 570987) sells guarana in supplement, chewing-gum or buzz-bar form, or as a herbal elixir.
JUNK FOOD AND POOR DIGESTION
Eating late, eating rubbish and not eating at all will take a serious toll on both your digestion and your immune system. If you do nothing else, take a good-quality probiotic supplement to rebuild levels of the good gut bacteria that support digestion. One of the best on the market is Nutrition Now’s PB8, which provides eight different strains of friendly bacteria in the right therapeutic dosage. Drink a quarter-glass of aloe vera juice each morning to soothe the digestive tract and counter the effects of irritable bowel syndrome. Order both remedies from Victoria Health (0800 413596).
Think Goldilocks: if you know you are going to be surviving on a diet of caffeine and high-fat canapés, at least start the day with a bowl of porridge. Porridge ranks low on the glycaemic index (GI) list of foods that raise blood-sugar levels quickly, and so will give you a steady release of energy throughout the day. This means you won’t be tempted to snack on yet more junk food or suffer mood swings triggered by wild fluctuations in your blood-sugar levels.
TOXIC OVERLOAD
Everything we eat and drink must pass through the liver, which you can easily support if you take a good-quality milk-thistle supplement. This herb has been shown to help support and even regenerate liver cells, but works better when combined with another agent, phosphatidylcholine, which research suggests dramatically improves absorption of the active ingredients. Maximum Milk Thistle (from the Nutri Centre; 0800 587 2290) is one of the best combination supplements for liver support.
STRESS AND PANIC ATTACKS
The mind is willing but the body is screaming “no”, and each task seems to require even more effort than the last. You are stressed but you have to carry on, so use one of the adaptogenic herbs that work to make all your body’s systems do the very best they can. One of the most effective is Rhodiola, which improves stamina, endurance and mental performance without the risk of side effects or losing its potency over time. It can also improve mood and sleep patterns by disabling the enzyme that otherwise breaks down the brain’s own feelgood chemical, serotonin. To find local stockists, call Solgar (01442 890355). Take 50mg, twice a day. If stress triggers panicky feelings, use a supplement called Relora, made from an extract of magnolia, which has been shown in trials to reduce levels of stress hormones by more than 30%. Lifetime’s Calm & Calmer, from Victoria Health (as before), has replaced the currently banned kava kava as one of the bestselling calming supplements.
NO ENERGY
The catch-22 is that you need energy to make energy, and if the thought of sleep is more appealing than the thought of sex, you are having an energy crisis. Remedy this with a clever combination of two supplements: coenzyme Q10 (the energiser) and L-Carnitine (the capsule of youth). Take as directed on the bottle, along with your essential fatty acid supplement (see Concentration), since the body needs the latter to transport these nutrients (both widely on sale in good health stores) into the cells. You also need another nutrient that is crucial to energy production and is available in supplement form. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is present in fish and poultry, but destroyed by cooking, making supplementation a must. For a quick hit, use ENADAlert, a fast-acting supplement that is placed under the tongue. It has been shown to work in clinical trials and is available from the Nutri Centre (as before).
MOOD SWINGS AND HORMONES
If you know you are prone, keep a bottle of agnus castus in your bag. This is the best hormone-rebalancing herb for both men and women and will help keep you on an even keel. Order Vega’s Agnolyt, a liquid tincture standardised to provide the equivalent of 45mg of agnus castus per 10 drops, from the Nutri Centre (as before). Take 10 drops in the morning and 10 at night.
SKIN OUTBREAKS
The skin mirrors what is going on inside the body, so if you are stressed, not eating properly and racing from one meeting to the next, your skin is going to revolt, even if you do not normally suffer from outbreaks. Take the new hyaluronic acid (HA) supplements, which support all connective tissue, including skin, and use the combined HA & pycnogenol eye cream from Derma E (both remedies from Victoria Health, as before) to banish puffy eyes, dark circles and bags caused by too many late nights.
Pycnogenol, made from pine bark, is one of the best skin antioxidants and will protect the eye tissue from damage caused by smoke, travelling and endless partying or late-night meetings. Hyaluronic acid also works to support the immune system.
CONCENTRATION
You’re still wide awake at 2am, but how sharp is your brain? The most important nutrients for brain function, especially concentration, are the omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids, which the body cannot make but must get from a healthy diet. The only oil you need is The Essential Woman: a blend of organic flax, evening primrose and soya from the Barlean’s range. Take a tablespoon a day in cereal or fruit juice to support concentration and counter dehydration. To order in the UK, call Healthy and Essential (0870 053 6000).
