Good Food Guide

Magnesium

Helps with muscle cramps, sleep problems, relaxation, menstrual cramps, easy fatigue, and anxiety/nervousness.

It is required for the absorption of calcium and is the primary mineral required by the adrenal glands to help the body cope with stress.

Good foods include: green leafy vegetables, lettuce, beetroot, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, nuts, bananas, apricots, peaches, cereal grains, caviar, tuna and seafood

Calcium

Helps with heart palpitations, poor dental health, and nervousness and joint pain.

It is required in balance with magnesium, regulates the heartbeat and blood pressure. Your current diastolic bp is borderline hypertensive – bp can interfere with sleep. Calcium plays a part in nerve transmission – mood, sleep and relaxation

Good foods include: plain yoghurt, eggs, green leafy vegetables, beetroot, pumpkin, watercress, kidney beans, prunes, apples, peaches, buckwheat, barley, sunflower seeds, nuts, turkey, tuna shellfish, sardines and whitebait

Chromium

Helps with weight management, frequent urination, urinary infections, excessive thirst, mood fluctuations and irritability without food.

It is primarily required for blood sugar management, as it potentiates the production and release of insulin. Can cause waking in the middle of the night or interrupted sleep.

Good food sources include: fish, chicken, beef, wholegrains and fruit

Essential Fatty Acids

Help with good skin health, prevents stretch marks, prevents chicken-flesh, improves nail and hair condition, prevents PMT and helps with good weight management.

It is responsible for nerve transmission from one nerve cell to another to regulate sleep patterns, and ensure balanced neurotransmitters during sleeping and waking.

Good food sources include: oily fish, seafood, almonds, pine nuts, sesame, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and their oil, avocados, linseed and hemp seeds and their oils.

Vitamin C

Helps prevent colds and infections, improves skin elasticity, prevents easy bruising, affects sleep pattern, and prevents arterial and venous problems. Low levels of vitamin C are also implicated in pre-eclampsia, so it is important to supplement this from early pregnancy onwards.

This cannot be stored by the body is it is important to consume on a daily basis. It is required for good sleep and good heart health

Good food sources include: berries, cherries, citrus fruit, apples, kiwi, peaches, mangoes, papayas, pineapple, figs, potatoes, green peppers, broccoli, beetroot, sprouted vegetables and alfalfa

Vitamin B Complex

Involved in memory, energy, digestion, tension, anxiety, teeth grinding and skin complaints.

They are involved in all aspects of energy production, as well as digestion and absorption. Necessary for mood and self-perception, motivation and relaxation.

B3 = blood sugar management
B5 = Adrenal gland support
B6 = mood enhancement, good sleep and prevents PMS

Good food sources include: wholegrains, pulses, tofu, nuts, sunflower seeds, beef, fish, chicken, eggs, avocados, apricots, asparagus, potatoes, mushrooms, pak choi and broccoli.

If you live in the Hampshire area you may wish to visit this excellent site run by Lisa Steele at The Naturopathic Centre in Hursley, near Winchester. www.naturopathiccentre.co.uk

If you are concerned about your personal nutritonal requirements and live in Brighton you wish to have a nutritional assessment with http://www.smartnutrition.co.uk