There' s plenty you can do to help control Raynaud' s. Start by keeping your extremities warm, avoiding fatty and fried foods, caffeine and cigarettes, and reducing your stress levels. Gingko biloba can be very effective in counteracting Raynaud' s. Recent research at the University of Dundee showed that people with Raynaud' s taking ginkgo had half as many attacks during which their extremities went white. Ginkgo is usually taken in capsule form and you should look for a brand with a flavonoid concentration of 24 per cent: two to three doses of 120mg a day. Often it takes a month or two before you begin to see results. Note that ginkgo is a blood-thinning agent so you must use caution if you' re taking other blood thinners such as coumadin, heparin or even aspirin. Side-effects of headaches, nausea or nosebleeds have been reported, but only rarely and at high doses.

Vitamin E (start with 100mg/200iu daily and build to 400mg/600iu daily) also improves circulation, and taking 100mg of a B complex daily, plus an extra 100mg of niacin (B3), can boost circulation too; be aware that niacin often triggers harmless blushing, which lasts about half an hour. Try this for a month. Also useful are 100 to 200mg of Coenzyme-Q10 a day, as this improves tissue oxygenation.

Moderate exercise is key for promoting circulation. If you' re low in magnesium, however, your muscles won' t be working optimally, and that will affect your capillaries, which explains why excessive exercise can worsen Raynaud' s. So it' s a good idea to take 450mg of magnesium a day. Lastly, I' d check yourself out for allergies. One woman cured her Raynaud' s by giving up gluten grains such as wheat.