Nutrition and Supplements for Raynaud's Syndrome - By: Brain

If there's any truth to the old adage "Cold hands, warm heart," then anyone who has Raynaud's syndrome must be burning with passion. Raynaud's makes a person's hands feel so cold that they absolutely ache.

Raynaud's syndrome is named for the French physician Maurice Raynaud, who first documented the condition in the mid1860s. Since then, scientists have determined that Raynaud's occurs because of spasms in the small arteries that deliver blood to your finers.

It's normal for these blood vessels to constrict a little when you're exposed to cold or when you're under stress. But if you have Raynaud's, the vessels clamp down big-time, causing pain. Your fingers turn blue or white. In some people, it's more than fingers that are affected. Toes, cheeks, the nose, and ears may chill and change color as the blood vessels constrict in those areas.

About 5 percent of Americans have Raynaud's, and at least four out of five of those are women. Most people first notice symptoms sometime between ages 20 and 35.

If you have Raynaud's, you may also be prone to migraines. Similar to Raynaud's, migraines begin when blood vessels in your head constrict. If the vessels in your fingers tend to spasm, there's a good chance that the vessels in your head do the same.

With proper home care, however, you might be able to relieve your frigid digits and possibly help your migraines as well. Here's what the experts recommend.

Best Choices

Nutrition

Sink your teeth into sahnon. Salmon and other cold-water fish contain an abundance of omega-3 fatty acids. These "good fats" improve blood flow throughout your body by making your blood-clotting cells, called platelets, less likely to clump together. Besides salmon, enjoy mackerel, herring, and tuna-all excellent sources of omega-3's.

Supplements

Opt for omega-3 capsules. If you're not a fan of fish, you can get your omega-3's by taking fish-oil supplements. At Albany Medical College in New York, researchers saw improvement in 45 percent of a group taking fish-oil capsules.

The fish-oil capsules used in the study contained 330 milligrams of eicosapentaenoic acid (BPA) and 220 milligrams of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The study participants took 12 of these capsules a day. You can buy fish-oil capsules in health food stores and some drugstores.

Open blood vessels with niacin. Several studies have shown that taking large doses of a form of niacin called inositol nicotinate reduces spasms in the blood vessels of the fingers. This helps control the frequency and severity of Raynaud's flare-ups.

If you want to try niacin therapy, consult a nutritionist or a nutrition-minded doctor, advises Melvyn R. Werbach, M.D., assistant clinical professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine. It's best to take doses over 35 milligrams per day only under professional supervision.

Warm up to magnesium. Magnesium therapy has been used to treat some conditions that involve blood vessel constriction. One study has shown that those with Raynaud's have significantly lower magnesium levels during the winter months, suggesting that lack of magnesium could be linked to the problem.

"I think magnesium supplementation is worth a try," says Alan Gaby, M.D. He suggests taking 400 milligrams a day.

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