I was recently working with a client who had been suffering from migraines for years. It can be such a debilitating condition, resulting in sufferers confined to their homes for fear of a migraine attack kicking in. Once a migraine starts there is precious little that works for most people as far as medications or other interventions to stop the migraine developing in to the searing pain and nausea that most sufferers experience.

I am always aiming to find the cause behind someone’s health issue. It’s simply not enough to mask the pain, I want to understand the triggers and help my client find a way to allow the body to heal. Migraines happen for a reason, as with any body malfunction from PMS, feeling bloated, feeling tired all the time, eczema, asthma, achy joints – these are all symptoms due to something being out of kilter in the body.

So, back to migraines. It is commonly believed that certain foods can trigger migraines. Wheat, dairy and citrus are often the culprits and elimination diets are required to establish which foods can be tolerated and which cannot. However, there are other reasons for migraines. Structural issues with the neck can be responsible as can hormonal fluctuations. What is often overlooked is the effect of the stress hormones on migraines. Exposure to Cortisol, a powerful adrenal hormone triggered when we are exposed to long-term stress can cause levels of serotonin – the ‘feel-good’ brain chemical to drop, which in turn can trigger a migraine.

Having a migraine and the anticipation of getting a migraine is stressful in itself, so it can become a self-perpetuating cycle of feeling stressed, getting a migraine, feeling more stressed etc. So, if you are struggling to establish the cause of your migraines, go and see a qualified nutritional therapist (like my good self ) who can help you with your stress levels, provide advice on ways to naturally increase your serotonin levels and help you to work out if you have any food triggers.

Getting a good nights sleep is absolutely fundamental to good health. When we are in a deep sleep our bodies switch in to restorative mode: cellular cleansing, tissue repair and cell growth are all essential functions that happen when we sleep and need to be carried out on a very regular basis in order to maintain optimum health.

Having a good nights sleep also allows us to cope better with the physical and mental demands of the following day. If you are not getting sufficient sleep, your ability to cope with the stresses and strains of daily life will rapidly diminish.

If you are finding it hard to get off to sleep or if you nod off easily but find you wake in the early hours and cannot get back to sleep there are some simple, effective things you can do to help your body get the sleep it needs:

• Most people are aware that coffee is a stimulant. If you are struggling with getting a good nights sleep cut out all coffee but also tea, green tea and chocolate as they all contain caffeine and are therefore stimulants.

• Also, watch how much alcohol you have. Yes, it might make you feel relaxed but if you have alcohol on an empty stomach it will cause a big sugar rush leading to stress hormones being released. If you have these powerful stimulants charging around your body there is absolutely no way your body will be able to switch in to sleep mode. Another problem with alcohol, it interferes with serotonin levels in the brain – serotonin being key to relaxation and a good nights sleep.

• Exercise in the morning is really beneficial. Exercise is initially stimulating, (so avoid it in the evening), revving you up to face the day but leaving you tired by the end of the day. Most people are mentally not physically exhausted by bedtime which makes them feel tired but interferes with the nervous system switching off. Exercise is also a really effective way of reducing stress hormones – as I said above, if you have adrenaline and cortisol in your system, your nervous system simply cannot switch into sleep mode, however tired you are.

• There are some key nutrients to help you sleep too. The B vitamins and magnesium are essential for calming the nervous system and allowing it to switch off. Eat plenty of whole-grains, pulses and animal protein to get enough of these nutrients and also, try having a snack high in complex carbohydrates, like a banana or oat cake with hummus, about an hour before bedtime – this will stimulate the production of that all important brain chemical, serotonin.

• A really fantastic relaxation technique is ‘Progressive Muscle Relaxation’ (google it!), it is a great thing to do when you go to bed in order to trigger your sleep mode.

More easy tips: a cup of chamomile tea before bed; sprinkling lavender oil on your pillow; a hot bath; writing down what’s on your mind, what you have to do the next day will help your brain quieten down and rather than watch the telly, go to bed with a good book – it’s much more relaxing.

For those of you who have long-term insomnia, I would strongly advise visiting a qualified nutritional therapist (such as myself ) as there are many more interventions that can be recommended which will be tailored specifically to your needs.

Throughout my years in practice I have worked with very many clients who are desperate to lose weight. For some, learning to eat well, balance their blood sugar and/or mitigate levels of stress in the body can be enough to enable the client to lose weight and keep it off.

More often however, the reasons behind persistent weight gain and failure to diet successfully is routed more firmly in psychological rather than physiological issues. Understanding why we choose to eat what we eat and when, is instrumental to having a healthy relationship with food and a healthy body to boot. As long as you are using food to make yourself feel better, to elevate your mood, to fill voids in your life or to deaden uncomfortable feelings, you will always have a weight issue!

Letting go of the diet mentality and coming to terms with the emotional issues that drive you to over eat or to eat the wrong things, will free you from the dogma of the weight-loss world and allow you to experience the joy of eating without feeling out of control of your relationship with food.

Having trained as a psychotherapist specializing in food issues, as well as a nutritional therapist allows Stephanie to address the complex emotional as well as the physical aspects associated with successful and sustained weight loss.