1. I have recently been diagnosed as having raised cholesterol levels. They are not high enough to require treatment and I have been given a special diet to follow but I wondered if there were any alternative treatments that I could use.

Dietary changes are important and you should continue to follow the advice you have been given. Recent research has shown that garlic has a very beneficial effect on cholesterol levels and I would recommend one or two garlic tablets with each meal. You could also try including 2 or 3 teaspoonfuls of lecithin granules in your diet. Lecithin helps to break up fat in the body and is often used as part of a low cholesterol diet.

2. I read recently that vitamin E can help keep protect the heart. Do I need to take a supplement or can I get enough from the diet?

A number of research projects have been carried recently which have shown that vitamin E can help keep the heart healthy. All the research has shown that in order to be beneficial doses of at least 100mg of vitamin E are necessary and that such levels cannot be obtained through diet alone. The main dietary sources of vitamin E include wholemeal bread, cornflakes, vegetable oil and spinach but to get enough vitamin E from these sources you would need to eat 1,89 slices of bread or 2.3 litres of olive oil. A supplement is the only way to get enough of this important vitamin. Research has also shown that natural vitamin E is much more effective than synthetic so look for products labelled as natural. They may also be described as d alpha tocopherol. Synthetic is dl alpha tocopherol.

3. My 15 year old daughter has just announced that she wants to become a vegetarian, I have bought a book of recipes, but was concerned to make sure that she gets all the nutrients that she needs.

It is quite possible to have a well balanced vegetarian diet. In fact it is generally considered to have very positive health benefits although it is important not to rely too heavily on highly processed ready meals which are often high in fat. Teenage girls do need to insure an adequate supply of iron to replace that lost at menstruation, usually this comes from meat so it is important to include plenty of fortified cereals to replace this. A supplement of vitamin B12 is also recommended as B12 is only present in foods of animal origin. As bones are still growing adequate calcium is important so skimmed milk or yogurt should be included in the diet, if your daughter does not drink milk she should perhaps take a daily calcium supplement.