GIRL'S TIP: 5 Essentials for Women

With all the coverage of body weight, sometimes a lot of us forget about all the important nutrients we need to eat to be healthy. For women, there are five important nutrients we really shouldn't forget about. 

1. Iron needs - due to our menstrual cycle, pre-menopausal women need more iron as we lose a lot during our period. To make sure your iron needs are met, it's important that you include iron-rich foods such as lean red meat, fish, chicken, beans and iron enriched cereals in your diet. Iron-rich foods should also be eaten with vitamin C as this increases the absorption.
2. Calcium and vitamin D - both these are important for bone and teeth development. Vitamin D plays a key role in calcium metabolism and therefore needs to be consumed in adequate amounts. Get 20 minutes of sunlight on most days and consume three serves of dairy each day.
3. Eat breakfast - breakfast boosts your metabolism and helps you concentrate first thing in the morning. It helps to control body weight and studies show people who eat breakfast weight less than those who skip breakfast.
4. Enjoy your leafy green vegetables - it's important for women in child-bearing years, to consume enough folate. Inadequate folate increases the risk of developing neural tube defects in the unborn infant. Get your folate from dark green leafy vegetables, fortified cereals and asparagus.
5. Exercise daily - it doesn't have to be a hard exercise - you can still walk and get benefits. Enjoy at least 30 minutes of physical activity in most, preferably all days of the week.

GIRL'S TIP: Christmas Drinking

During the festive season there's a lot of eating and drinking. Whether it's a staff Christmas party, catching up with friends or getting together with family, wine, champagne, beer and spirits can all be enjoyed in numbers. Whilst evidence shows that a little alcohol might be good, sadly more is not better, and drinking to excess is definitely harmful to your health and can often leave you doing things you wouldn't normally do. Before you start drinking this Christmas, take a few moments to think about what you're going to be consuming.

Standard drinks

A standard serve of alcohol is equal to 10g of alcohol which in terms of drinks equals:
- 100ml of wine
- 425ml of lite beer
- 285ml of full strength beer
- 30ml of spirits
- 60ml of fortified wine

More often than not, a glass of wine contains over 100ml of wine and the schooners of beer are definitely more than a standard drink. So you just may be consuming more drinks than you realise.

Number of drinks

It's recommended that girls have no more than two standard drinks per day and for those of you that have high blood pressure, the limit is one standard drinks of alcohol per day. Also, you need to include two alcohol free days each week and no, you can't save your daily drink intake for a binge session at the Christmas party.

Bad points of binge drinking
For those of you who do binge on alcohol, here's a snapshot of what it's doing to your health:

• Cancer - alcohol doesn't reduce the risk of nay cancers, but increases the risk the more you drink. Drinking more than five standard drinks a day will increase the likelihood of any cancer. Excessive drinking can increase cancers of the throat, oesophagus and airways into the lungs.
• Liver function - excess alcohol consumption can lead to cirrhosis - death of the cells in the liver. This can lead to many complications including ascites (excess fluid retention), portal hypertension (high blood pressure in the portal vein) and oesphageal varices (enlarged veins in the throat).
• Excess weight - alcoholic drinks contain a lot of kilojoules and excess consumption can lead to weight gain. We also tend to eat a lot of snack food such as potato chips, hot chips and kebabs which also contributes to excess weight gain.

Pointers for drinking at the party
Take these tips with your Christmas festivities this year:

• Choose wisely: You don't need to go to every party that comes up. Choose only the most important parties.
• Drink for enjoyment: Drink for enjoy and not intoxication. Your body will thank you in the morning.
• Go slow: Drink at your own pace. You don't have to keep up with everyone else. Buy or get your own drinks and skip the shouts.
• Alternate: Alternate your alcoholic drinks with a non-alcoholic drink.
• Dance instead: Spend more time on the dance floor. A lot of the time you're not allowed to glasses on the dance floor so this is bound to slow down your drinking.

GIRL'S TIP:Weight for it!

Girls seem to be extremely critical about their small amounts of excess weight, and if they're not complaining about their own weight, they're criticising the girl's butt in front of them. Those wobbly bits that girls tend to hate - the extra weight on her hips, her perceived "thunder" thighs and her wobbly tummy under her belly - are not as bad as she may think.

Females tend to be pear-shaped, meaning that as girls store weight on our hips, butt and thighs. Males on the other hand are more apple-shaped, storing their excess weight on their stomach. It's the excess stomach weight that is the big concern - not the weight on your hips, butt and thighs.

The weight on your stomach, also known as abdominal fat or central obesity, is considered to be high risk fat. It's the fat that surrounds all your vital organs and is closer to your heart than the weight girls tend to store on their hip, butt and thighs.

Regardless of whether you are male or female, excess weight on your stomach increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, syndrome X and some types of cancer. Therefore, it's a good idea to try and keep your waistline less than 80cm (or 94cm for men). If it means you have to store a little bit of extra weight on your butt instead of your stomach, then so be it. You'll be healthy for it.

GIRL'S TIP: Keep Abreast of Things

Throughout your life, your breasts will change in size and how they feel. This is as a result of menstrual cycles, pregnancy and weight gain or loss. You should be away of how your breasts feel - all women should. Generally changes in breasts are normal, but occasionally changes can be found which can be early signs of breast cancer.

Most changes or lumps are not caused by cancer, but as breast cancer is the most common cancer in women in Australia, it is important to know what changes in your breasts mean. Always see a doctor if you have any changes in your breasts. Early detection of breast cancer is the key to successful treatment and survival. It is important to visit your doctor to have a routine breast check, but it worthwhile to do regular checks on your breasts yourself.

Here's how to check your breasts:

• From the collarbone at the top to the bra-line at the bottom, fell each breast. Always feel from midway between your breasts to an imaginary line down from the middle of your armpit.
• When touching your breasts always use the flat part of your fingers including the sensitive finger pads, and move in small circle motions at every spot that you touch.
• You should move down and up from your armpit in vertical strips across your whole breast. Alternate the pressure between light and firm.
• Light pressure will allow you to feel just below the surface - do this motion first. At the same spot make a second circle pressing quite firmly so that you can feel any deep lumps in your breast. Press as firmly as you can without discomfort.

When feeling and looking at your breast, you need to pay attention to the following:

• A breast lump
• Skin rash or itching
• Discharge or leaking from the nipple
• Changes in skin colour
• Puckering, rough or dimpling of the skin
• Pulling in of the nipple
• Pain anywhere in the breast
• Any change from the usual look of your breasts
• Swelling or discomfort in the armpit

One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their life, but they're not the only ones affected by breast cancer. This year 95 Australian men will also be diagnosed with breast cancer. So girls (and guys), as October is Breast Cancer Month, it's the perfect time for you to go and get your breasts checked out.

So many of us know someone who has been affected in some way by breast cancer - it may a mother, a sister, a partner, a friend, a cousin, an aunty or a daughter. This October, there are ample of opportunities for you to help support and raise awareness for this killer disease. Here are just some of the ways that you can support breast cancer research:

• Dove Pink Star Walk – grab the girls and guys together to take part in this 5km walk and don’t forget to wear your pink. There are heaps of prizes for the best costumes and also goodies bag for all participants at the end.
• Pink Ribbon Day – don’t forget to grab your pink ribbon, pin or wrist band and wear them on October 22nd.
• Pink Ribbon Magazine – the Australian Women’s Weekly puts together a 100 page magazine celebrating women and is on sale from September 26th until the end of October.
• Pink Ribbon Breakfast – get the group together for an early morning get-to-together. You can hold the breakfast anytime during October.
• Porches in Pink – grab yourself some bright pink OSRAM light blobs for $2 and decorate your house or unit in pink.
• Pink Products – purchase food products with a pink ribbon on the pack and some of the money from each purchase will go to the breast cancer research. Some tasty breast cancer products include Sanitarium Light ‘n Tasty, V8 body balance juice, Mount Franklin water, Pink Wish Tim Tams.

Visit the National Breast Cancer Foundation website at www.nbcf.org.au, for more news on all the events in your state.

GIRL'S TIP: Weights Training

Cardiovascular exercises such as running, spin classes and aerobics, work on increasing your fitness levels, but it's not going to tone your body that way that you may want. Resistance exercises using weights, therabands and your own body weight is what is needed to tone your body, keeping you looking strong and lean. So it may be time to rethink your training program and begin to incorporate some resistance exercises - here's some motivating reasons why:

• Stronger bones - resistance training of any description places stress on the bones where the msucles are attached. This results in increased bone mineral deposits, strengthening the bone and making it less likely break or fracture.
• Increase metabolism and burn more fat - muscle is the most metabolically active tissue in the body, meaning that the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism and the more fat you will burn. Lighting weights will help to increase your muscle mass and reduce your fat mass.
• Improve posture - spending a lot of time at our desks working means that a lot of us can end up with bad posture. Resistance training of postural muscles such as the abdominals and back will strengthen and increase their ability to support you properly for longer.

For those of you who are reluctant to lift weights because you think that you are going to bulk up like Arnie, the good news is this isn't likely to happen as females are not designed to have huge muscle mass. For women who do want to bulk up, it requires extra hard work.

GIRL'S TIP: PCOS

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is becoming increasingly common among Australian women – in fact it is the most common hormonal disorder affecting women today. The symptoms can be both embarrassing and distressing and unfortunately the diagnosis of this syndrome can be difficult.
Common symptoms of PCOS include:
< irregular or no periods

< infertility

< hirsutism - excess hair growth on the face, chest and abdomen

< alopecia – scalp hair loss

< acne

< acanthosis nigricans - dark skin pigmentation which is most commonly found on the back of the neck, under the arms and on the breasts

< obesity and/or difficulty losing weight Suffers also have an increased risk of miscarriage.

The symptoms of PCOS usually start in teenagers during puberty, but are also common in the mid 20s. However, PCOS can occur at any time.

Officially PCOS affects 4 to 7 per cent of Australian women, but the true figures could be much higher, with the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association of Australia (POSAA) suggesting that the real figure could be as high as 12 per cent of Australian women. The reason for this difference has to do with the fact there is no simply test for diagnosing PCOS.

Diagnosis of PCOS usually involves testing hormone levels (including insulin), considering a combination of the symptoms and performing an ultrasound to look for cysts and enlargement of the ovaries. Currently, women need to have two of the following three symptoms to be diagnosed with PCOS:

1. Polycystic ovaries

2. Irregular or absent periods

3. High level of male hormones in the blood or symptoms of excess male hormones such as excess hair on the face and body or acne.

Why does it happen?

Unfortunately exactly why this syndrome develops is unknown, but for the majority of women that it affects, it is caused by high levels of insulin in the bloodstream (insulin resistance). Insulin resistance occurs when a woman’s body (or male’s body) becomes insensitive to the hormone insulin, which is produced in the pancreas and helps regulate blood sugar levels. Because the insulin that is being produced does not work effectively, their body needs to produce increasing amounts to keep the blood glucose levels under control.

It is these high insulin levels in the bloodstream that can cause many of the health problems related to PCOS. High insulin levels act on the ovaries to increase production of male hormones, which disruption the normal ovulation cycle, causing many of the symptoms associated with PCOS. This link means women with PCOS are at an increased risk of developing health problems such as impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Improving insulin resistance addresses many of the problems of PCOS.

How to control it?

With treating PCOS, the key thing to focus on is controlling the insulin resistance. You can do this through lifestyle modification such as:

• Exercising – starting or increasing exercise can help improve insulin resistance. It is recommended to include at least 30-40 minutes of physical activity on most, preferably all days of the week. Also it’s also good to combine aerobic exercise with resistance training.
• Weight loss – a reduction of just 5-10 per cent of body weight has been shown to reduce insulin and testosterone levels, improve hirsutism and acne symptoms, improve menstrual function, restore ovulation and increase fertility.
• Diet – the best eating plan to follow incorporates foods that are low in saturated fat and high in fibre, as well as carbohydrates that have a low glycaemic index (GI). It’s also advised to spread intake evenly across the day and avoiding eating large amounts of carbohydrate foods at the one time can also help, as this will prevent large rises in blood glucose and insulin levels.
  Medication – medication is only effective if used in combination with healthy living. Metformin (used by people with Type 2 diabetes) is now being used to treat PCOS in women.

For more information visit the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome of Australia www.posaa.asn.au.

GIRL'S TIP: Speed It Up!

You want to lose some weight but you have a slow metabolism so there is no hope. The good news is this is not the case. Being overweight does not cause you to have a slow metabolism, in fact the opposite is true. In this month's Girl's Tip you'll learn all about metabolism - what it is, how it works and what factors influence it.

Most of you probably have an idea of what 'metabolism' is, but may find difficult to clearly define. Metabolism is a combination of chemical reactions that occur in the cells of the body to convert fuel in the food we eat into the energy needed to power everything we do, from moving, to thinking, to growing. Metabolism is a constant process that begins when we are conceived and ends when we die. The amount of kilojoules (kJ) your body burns at any given time is regulated by your metabolism. You can't control your metabolism, but you can make it work for you when you exercise.

There are two complementary parts of metabolism; catabolism and anabolism.

• Catabolism is the breakdown of food components (such as carbohydrates, proteins and fats_ into their simpler forms, which can then be used to create energy. This immediate for of energy can be converted into heat or burned by cells.
• Anabolism is when the energy is either stored in fat cells or used to help build and repair structures of the body

Your body's metabolic rate, or total energy expenditure, is made up of three components:

• Basal metabolic rate (BMR) - amount of kilojoules burned at rest i.e. the amount of energy needed for the body to maintain itself. This contributes 50-80% of daily energy use.
• Thermic effect of food - energy used to digest and absorb your food. This accounts for about 5-10% of your daily energy use.
• Energy used during physical activity - the amount of kilojoules used during physical movement of exercise. This contributes about 20 per cent of daily energy use in a normally active person.

Everyone's metabolism is different and the things that influence our metabolism include:

• Body size - The bigger you are, the higher your metabolic rate will be; you need more energy for everyday activities and also use more energy when you are active.
• Age - In children, extra energy is used for growth. As we age, our metabolism slows due to the loss of muscle tissue, hormonal and neurological changes.
• Gender - men have a faster metabolism than females because they tend to have more muscle and less fat, and be larger in size.
• Lean muscle mass - the more muscle you have the higher your metabolism is. Fat has a lower metabolic rate than muscle and organs. So leaner people have a higher metabolic rate than fatter people of the same weight.
• Physical activity - the activity you do and the more strenuous it is, the more energy you use.
• Environmental temperature - air temperature, clothing and shelter affect your metabolic rate. If you're cold your metabolism increases when you shiver to generate heat to warm you, When it's hot you use energy to perspire.

Fortunately we can change our metabolism, so you are suffering from a slow metabolism you can speed it up. Follows this few tips to help increase you metabolism and assist with weight loss.

• Don't skip meals - skipping meals slows down your metabolism, so by including at least three meals a day you will help to maintain and possibly increase you metabolism.
• Eat more frequently - eat smaller, and more frequent meals, but remember to keep you snacks less than 600kJ and make your meals a little bit smaller.
• Get active - the more exercise you do, the more muscle you will gain and the higher your metabolism will be.
• Include caffeine - caffeine is a metabolic stimulant, so 2-3 cups of coffee or another caffeine containing drink each day could do you more good than you may realise. Just limit the amount of sugar you have in your coffee.

GIRL'S TIP: Slow Down The Signs Of Ageing!

Forget expensive anti-ageing beauty treatments, rumour has it eating the right food can slow down the signs of ageing. So what’s in the food you eat that helps to nourish you from the inside out?

You’ve probably heard of things called antioxidants. Well it’s these guys that can help keep you looking fantastic on the outside. Every day, your cells are constantly renewing and this continues as you age. Small changes occur every time a cell is replaced - some you can see (changes in your looks), others you can’t (changes to cells within your organs).

There is also oxidation that attacks our cells. Yes, you need oxygen to live, but too much oxygen is not a good thing. Think about how a half eaten apple browns when left on the sink. It’s the oxygen that is causing the browning. And just like the apple, this is what oxidation is doing to you! This excess oxygen is caused by free radicals, which cause damage to your cells. It’s the antioxidants that fight against the free radicals and reduce the signs of ageing.

You do have antioxidants already inside you, but by eating plenty of food containing antioxidants you can increase the number and your fighting capacity. So which nutrients are antioxidants and what foods are they found in? Take a look below.

• Vitamin E - Nuts, seeds, oils, wholegrains and some cereals
• Vitamin C - Citrus fruit, tomato, capsicum, kiwi fruit and berries.
• Vitamin A (Beta-carotene) - Carrots, green leafy vegetables, apricots, sweet potato and mangoes
• Selenium - Fish, meat, wholegrains, Brazil nuts, eggs and milk.
• Phytochemicals including flavonoids - Blueberries, tea, cranberries, dark chocolate, celery and

broccoli

Vitamin E is on of the most potent antioxidants in your body, and when vitamin E teams up with vitamin C, it’s even stronger! It has the ability to not only fight against free radicals and protect DNA damage, but can also help prevent heart disease.

Vitamin C is multi-functional – it protects vitamin E and also helps to you to absorb vitamin E. Vitamin C is also plays an important role in strengthening skin and muscle as it is involved in collagen production. Better still, it improves blood vessel dilation, promoting better circulation and reducing your risk of heart disease. For those of you that smoke, your need for vitamin C is greatly increased as your reserves of vitamin C are used up on the toxins and free radicals produced from the cigarettes.

Vitamin A is essential in maintaining a healthy immune system and is also believed to prevent night blindness and other eye problems. This vitamin is also believed to play a role in cell and bone growth and development and healthy skin and hair.

Selenium promotes the production of glutathione peroxidise, enzyme with strong antioxidant properties. The combination of the two helps to prevent heart disease and may prevent cancer cells. On the outside, it reduces the risk of general cell damage and helps to protect against UV damage.

Phytochemicals also can help protect against heart disease and skin damage.

To help you stay looking younger, eat all the colours of the rainbow – each different coloured food will provide you with a different antioxidant. Your body will thank you!

GIRL'S TIP: Skipping Meals

It seems logical – skip a meal and you will lose weight. Right? WRONG! Believe it or not, if you want to aid weight lose or maintain your current weight you need to eat. This may sound stupid but our bodies are not designed to lose weight. You can thank your ancestors for that!

Like a car, our body needs fuel to help get us through the day. Glucose (sugar) is the main fuel for our bodies and the only fuel that our brain can use. Our bodies are designed to keep our blood glucose levels within a limited range. If you skip a meal your body will go into what is called starvation mode.

During starvation mode, your body will firstly burn carbohydrate for energy, followed by protein and finally fat. As you fast, your stores of carbohydrates become depleted as they are used to supply the body with glucose. As this fasting continues, your glucose levels in the blood drop and your body looks for other fuel sources.

Instead of using the fat stores, your protein stores are next to be broken down and used for energy. However, because protein is essential for proper functioning of your body, the remaining protein is preserved and your body starts to breakdown fat for energy. Fat is broken down to form ketone bodies which is not your bodies most preferred fuel source and as a result can have negative effects such as nausea, fatigue, constipation, lowered blood pressure and a stale mouth taste.

When you swap from using carbohydrate to using protein and fat as a fuel source, your body reduces its energy output in an attempt to protect fat and muscle tissue. As you breakdown proteins, you are losing muscle which results in a weaker muscle that burns less energy. At the same time, your body’s hormone production slows down your body metabolism also in an attempt to conserve muscle tissue. These combined results in a reduced weight loss, the opposite of what you were trying to achieve in the start.

Another negative with skipping meals is that this action normally results in binge eating at a later date which leads to a rapid increase in your blood glucose levels and an increase in your blood triglycerides (transport vehicle for fat) which results in an increase in fat storage.
Rules for driving a metabolism to help aid weight loss:

• Never skip a meal: Try to eat at least 3 meals a day. If you prefer to graze, eat smaller meals or snacks every 2-3 hours. This will help keep your body fuel constant and prevent your from binging.
• Get active: The move active you are the more energy you burn. Simple!
• Weight train: The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism. Muscle has a higher metabolic rate than fat tissue, so tone up those muscles by doing resistance exercises.

GIRL'S TIP: NuvaRing

Step aside the pill! The new contraceptive ring is about to take centre stage. NuvaRing, a flexible contraceptive ring was introduced into Australia in March this year and it’s easy to use. Each month, all you have to do is insert a new NuvaRing into your vagina where, like the pill, it releases a low dose of the two hormones oestrogen and progestogen, which are then absorbed into the bloodstream. Positioning of the ring doesn’t have to be exact and manufacturers claim the hormonal ups and downs seen with the pill are reduced. It requires a one a month action, which ends the daily concerns of forgetting to take the pill. NuvaRing costs about $25 a month and is available on prescription only.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, which is almost always caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Want the good news? Australia has developed a new vaccine that can protect against HPV, the cause of up to 70% of cervical cancer. And if you are between the age of 12 and 26, this vaccine is available to you for FREE.
For school girls, the National HPV Vaccination Program started in April this year and for women under the age of 27, the free vaccine will be available form you GP or community immunisation clinic from this July. Remember the vaccine doesn’t prevent all cervical cancers, so regular Pap smears are still a must!

GIRL'S TIP: Cranky Free Month

The mood swings have set in, you have tender breasts, headaches and maybe some swollen ankles. Know these symptoms all to well? That’s right, it's PMS (premenstrual syndrome). Don’t be alarmed, you’re not the only one. Three quarters of women suffer from PMS at some stage in their life.

Your man may think that PMS is all in the mind and something that you should be able to manage each month. This definitely doesn’t help the situation as sympathy and support is needed during this time. But what might be the cause of these problems?

People with PMS have lower levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is important in determining mood. Doctors can prescribe drugs (Prozac) that maintain or increase serotonin levels and these are often effective. Chocolate increases serotonin levels, but sadly not to the same extent as Prozac. So you can't stick to a chocolate diet, however evidence shows that diet does play a role in PMS.

Simple lifestyle changes are the first thing to look at. A reduction in alcohol, caffeine and salt intake are prescribed for PMS management, along with stress avoidance and relaxation. It is also important to have foods with a low GI, as these help to maintain blood sugar levels and boost serotonin levels. So for those of you who have cravings for sugary food, it's best to avoid these foods as they have a high GI and cause rapid spikes and dips in blood sugar levels. Instead, try to include wholegrain breads and cereals, pasta, low fat dairy products, fruit and sweet potatoes in your diet.

Vitamins and minerals are also important, with vitamin B6 being involved in the body's production of serotonin. Vitamin B6 is found in fish, chicken, green beans, bananas and wheatgerm. Calcium has also been found to reduce the symptoms of PMS, and seeing vitamin D assists in the absorption of calcium, foods high in vitamin D (oily fish, beef liver, eggs and milk) are important too. If you suffer from PMS why not make sure you are including all of the essential nutrients in your diet.

GIRL'S TIP: Diet Drinks A Fizzer.

Girls tend to choose diet soft drinks over regular ones in a bid to prevent weight gain and because it’s suppose to be the healthier option. But new research shows that diet soft drink can make you fat and rot your teeth.

Artificially sweetened soft drinks can stimulate appetite and trigger cravings for sweet foods. Ironically, this can lead to the very weight gain that you were trying to prevent by choosing diet drinks in the first place. What's more, this weight gain is found to be more than if you had had a regular soft drink in the first place. Also, despite having no sugar, diet drinks contain phosphoric acid and/or citric acid which erode your tooth enamel and ruin your pearly whites.
Let’s compare the contents of Coke and Diet Coke:

• Coca Cola: Contains the food acid, phosphoric acid, and caffeine. Per 100ml Coca Cola provides 180kJ, 10.6g of sugar and 10mg of sodium. Remember that a can is 375ml which means for every can you consume 675kJ, 40g of sugar (8 teaspoons of sugar) and 38mg of sodium).
• Diet Coke: Contains the phosphoric acid and citric acid (food acids), artificial sweeteners (aspartame, acesulphame potassium), the preservative sodium benzoate and caffeine. For every 100ml of Diet Coke you consume 1.5kJ, no sugar and 15g of sodium. (Per can this equals 5.6kJ, no sugar and 56mg of sodium).

Instead of heading for the soft drink when you need a bit of a pick me up, the best choice is avoid these drinks altogether and either opt for water or even a coffee if you need a caffeine fix.

GIRL'S TIP: Shiny Hair & Strong Nails - As Simple As Eating!

The secret to having shiny hair and strong nails is not buying the most expensive beauty products, but nourishing your body from the inside out. A lack of certain vitamins and minerals can lead to hair damage and even hair loss. So to help you get strong and healthy hair, make sure you’re getting enough vitamin D (sunlight, oily fish such as tuna, salmon, sardines, eggs), B vitamins (wholegrain cereals, legumes, seeds and nuts) and zinc (red meat, chicken and seafood). To help you get shiny and non-greasy hair, make sure you include of riboflavin (vitamin B2) in your diet. So drink your milk and eat your yoghurt, cheese and breakfast cereals and start turning heads at your work place.
Finally, to strengthen up those nails make sure you are getting plenty of iron which is found in red meat, wholegrain breads and cereals, and legumes. Iron deficiency can cause fingernails to become brittle and spoon-shaped which is not what most females want. Overall, following a varied well-balanced diet and drinking plenty of fluids, is the best way to maintain healthy hair and nails. So make-over your body from the inside out.

GIRL'S TIP: Nourish Your Skin From The Inside Out

Tried all the latest skin care products still with no results? Well how healthy your skin, is depends on how well you eat. Skin protects our bodies from external stresses and helps us to regulate our body temperature. Our skin contains important proteins such as collagen, elastin and keratin, which can all be influenced by our nutritional intake. For smooth and healthy skin the nutrients you need to include in your diet are:

• Vitamin A: Inadequate intake of vitamin A causes dry scaly skin and poor wound healing. Found in: liver, egg yolks, yellow and orange vegetables and fruit, dark green leafy vegetables, full cream dairy products.
• B Vitamins: Deficiencies in these vitamins can cause dermatitis including cracking in the corners of the mouth. Found in: wholegrain breads and cereals, legumes, seeds, some vegetables and nuts, dairy products and yeast spreads.
• Zinc: Inadequate intake of zinc can lead to poor wound healing and dry skin. Found in: Red meats, chicken and seafood.
• Vitamin C: Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant and helps fight against free radicals. Inadequate intake can lead to bruising, bleeding gums and poor wound healing. Found in: Citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit & tangerines, tomatoes, strawberries, green vegetables & capsicum.
• Essential Fatty Acids: These include omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and inadequate consumption can lead to eczema, dermatitis and dandruff. Found in: Oily fish, vegetable oil, linseeds, sunflower seeds and walnuts.
• Water: Dehydration can lead to dry skin, especially after exposure to the sun.

To get the smooth and healthy looking skin that you desire, nourish your body with fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and some protein in the form of seafood, chicken, meat or low-fat dairy products. If you avoid foods from a certain food group, you may be placing yourself at risk of nutrient deficiencies, which in extreme causes can lead to problems with your hair. Finally, don't forget to drink plenty of water and your skin will thank-you for it.