Why do your hands go purple when they are cold?

Have a look at my hands in this video which was made in 2007.  I was seriously zinc deficient and it sure did show. Despite being indoors with heating on, my hands have a distinctly purple look about them.  Coincidentally, the skin on the back of my hands was fragile and easily skinned and very, very slow to heal.

Now, have a look at the same hairy hand, today four years later and four years older, outside in freezing weather while the rest of me is bundled up in a fat down ski jacket.  If ever my hands should go purple it is in these conditions.  While there is still some discoloration it is nothing like before.  I have also noted far less tendency to damage the skin and it heals much faster.

I put this improvement down to getting the balance between zinc and copper about right but this has taken several years of trying and still a work in progress.  Zinc and copper are critical for the regulation of many important functions in the body, including fluid flow and collagen synthesis.  If there is a zinc deficiency, tissues will tear, rather than stretch.  This is why zinc deficiency is the cause of stretch marks, slow growth, poor healing and ulcerations.  One characteristic of zinc deficiency is the purple appearance that develops and is most apparent under the eyes and in the skin of the hands and feet.  This purple appearance will show as purple scars and purple stretch marks where there is an absolute deficiency of zinc.

People, such as athletes, who do hard physical exercise need bucket loads of zinc.  Years of "excessive-compulsive" exercise explains my zinc deficiency.  Zinc is in high demand whenever there is tissue damage, be it from injury or just hard exercise.  Zinc deficiency causes a loss of smell and taste and explains the often marked loss of appetite in patients following a severe physical injury or major surgery when zinc reserves are severely stressed.

Merely replacing zinc by way of a supplement may yield less than pleasing results.  This is because there are many other factors at play.  For example, there may be a lack of pyridoxine and/or molybdenum which will prevent the proper utilisation of zinc.  Even the tiniest amounts of lead and mercury interfere with zinc metabolism and excess copper will drive zinc out of the cells.  The best way to determine your nutrient requirements, including zinc is to get a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis completed and use it to guide your diet and supplementation.  Here is a good place to start to get an idea of the power of the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis.

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Do you have a question?  Email Gary: gary@myotec.co.nz. Include any relevant background information to your question.  Please be patient and be aware that I may not be able to answer every inquiry in detail, depending on workloads (My paying clients take precedence!). I will either reply by email or, most likely, by way of an article (Personal identifying details will be removed before publication).

Will turmeric help warm cold hands and feet?

I have for years had poor circulation in my hands and feet, and get purple fingernails and cold hands on cold days. A friend has suggested Turmeric tablets; her husband has apparently taken them with good results. Your views?

"G"

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Gary comments:
As background, "G" has a lanky frame.  He is in his 50's.  He is sedentary, lightly muscled and is not known to frequent sunseeker clubs.  He has recently suffered a bad arm fracture and has previously consulted me about knee and muscle pain.

Chronic deficiency in the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K) may be key factors in cases of joint and muscle pain, fragile bones and depressed metabolism as indicated by the poor circulation and cold limbs.  This is a growing health issue nowadays as the harm from the low-fat health messages are wreaked upon the well intentioned.  There is a good case for a course of several months of boosting these levels with some modest supplementation.

Minerals should be replenished as well.  Protein should be dribbled into the body daily by incuding a little in each meal rather than during one meal alone.  Minerals and proteins give strtength and structure to the body, including the bones.  Along with the Fat soluble vitamins they help stoke and sustain the metabolic fires.

It would help to get back to as natural a diet as possible with as much variety as one can get in home cooking - all kinds of meats, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, whole mik, cheeses and fruit.  If it is sold in plastic, if it has any kind of additive, hydrogenated fats etc, then get rid of it!  Eat what Granny used to call "food".

Exercise daily - Brisk walking and lifting modest weights above the head about 20 times from ground level will do the job.

Turmeric?

Turmeric is a favourite of ours when cooking.  Any of the the brightly coloured spices are great for you.  These have many health benefits.  Turmeric may boost metabolism and it may have anti-cancer properties.  What could be better than turmeric as a food spice, taken in conjunction with the fat soluble vitamins?  I do not think you need to take it as pills.  Cook with it.

Vitamin K

One or more generous servings per day of dark greens - brocolli, spinach, silverbeet or taro leaves.  Cook in NZ butter or cocnut oil.  The fat is essential to dissolve the fat soluble vitamin K and to transport it into the blood and to the cells.

Do you have a question?
Email Gary: gary at myotec.co.nz (Replace the "at" with @ and remove spaces). Please include any relevant background information to your question.