Do you bite your nails? You may be
mineral deficient.
Dirt and bacteria aren't all you're getting
from chewing your nails to the nubbins. "The mineral content of hair or
nails is similar to the mineral content of bone," says Campbell. So if
you're deficient, your body craves a supply of the minerals in the nail
material. "Hence, the reward cycle begins and continues and nail biting
becomes a habit."
Along with increasing the variety of fruits
and vegetables in your diet, consider taking a good multivitamin supplement
that contains trace minerals.
Do you have a diagonal crease across
one earlobe? You could face a 33 per cent increased risk of heart attack.
In fact, if both earlobes have a crease,
the risk rises to 77 per cent. Why? Chronic circulatory problems collapse blood
vessels in fleshy areas, notably earlobes. The resulting swollen tissue causes
a crease. But according to an 11,000-person, 35-year study by the University of
Copenhagen, creased earlobes aren't the only predictor of a heart attack.
Equally strong are baldness at the crown and fatty deposits around the eyes, known
as Xanthelasmata.
Do you get a stuffy nose from red
wine? You could be deficient in molybdenum.
Do
you get a stuffy nose from red wine?
If you like a glass of wine at the end of
the day, you could also be among the eight per cent who suffer from allergy-like
symptoms such as stuffy noses, and minor skin rashes. One eighth of those cases
are caused by a deficiency in the trace element molybdenum that can cause
sensitivity to the sulfites in wine. The rest, says a 2010 Italian study, may
be related to glycoproteins, proteins that cover sugar produced by
fermentation. The answer? Ask your doctor about a regime of molybdenum and
copper, the combination of which must be carefully balanced since too much of
one can cause a drop in the other.
Do you always cross your legs and
even stand cross-legged? You may have low blood pressure.
As lady like as it is to sit with your legs
entwined, it's also an effective way to limit a fall In blood pressure. By
crisscrossing your legs, blood pools in the abdomen and reduces the amount of
blood that will, literally, end up at your feet.
In fact, crossing your legs can raise
systolic blood pressure by up to 8mmHg, according to a study submitted to the
American Heart Council.
If you do have low blood pressure, it is wise
to watch it. Either visit your pharmacist or consult your GP.
Do you have large whorls on your
fingertips? You may be at risk of high blood pressure.
According to research by the Environmental
Epidemiology Unit at Southampton General Hospital, in the UK, large whorls on
fingertips are linked to high blood pressure passed from mother to child.
Do
you have large whorls on your fingertips?
Professor David Barker, who conducted the
study, found that a woman who has high blood pressure in the latter stages of
pregnancy will have a baby in distress, and this shows in more whorls caused by
increased swelling in the fingertips. Those babies are more likely to develop
high blood pressure later in life.
Ask your doctor to monitor your blood pressure
and find out if there's a history of hypertension in your family.
Do you have dark rings and bags under
your eyes? You might be allergic to something around you.
While
dark rings under your eyes could be due to over pigmentation, they can also be
caused by an allergy
While dark rings under your eyes could be
due to over pigmentation, they can also be caused by an allergy. Allergies
produce large amounts of the antibody immunoglobulin E (IgE), which causes
inflammation and, in the case of the loose skin under your eyes, 'allergic
shiners' from the dilation of the blood vessels near the sinuses. And because
your immune system is working overtime, allergies can make them darker if
you're a poor sleeper. Rather than mask them with cosmetics, ask your GP for a
referral to a specialist.
