The vitamin and herb crisis

This time next year, if the Brussels bureaucrats and politicians have their way, the vitamins and herbal supplements I rely on for good health are going to be banned - and so will only be available on the black market. If I think I'm coming down with a cold or even something that feels more serious, I don't go to my GP these days. I go to my local health food store to stock up on echinacea, milk thistle, selenium, high-dose Vitamin C, zinc and silver colloid. But soon - and I am furious about this - many of these supplements will no longer be available.

Because Europe uses Napoleonic law, everything is forbidden until it is allowed. So hundreds of safe and beneficial vitamins, minerals and herbal remedies, which are not on the list of permitted supplements, are about to be removed from the market. This is going to hurt real people who get a lot of help from natural remedies.

The first blow, the Food Supplements Directive will become UK law by July. In theory, small manufacturers can get their product included on the list, but they have to jump through ridiculous and unrealistic hoops to do so.

The same goes for the Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products Directive, which will kick in in 2005. It means that so many of the small companies will go bust, consumer choice will be hit and hundreds of remedies that we know are good for us - but for which scientific evidence is hard to come by - will be banned.

I first became aware of the importance of nutrition after suffering from eating disorders. I became anorexic in my teens and that only stopped in my twenties when I got involved in a relationship and it was hard to starve myself in front of my boyfriend. So I became bulimic instead. I'd have a meal and couldn't bear the feeling of it inside me, so I'd throw it up.

Inevitably, I suffered various side effects including an astigmatism because the act of vomiting puts so much pressure on the eyeballs. And I'm pretty sure that my stomach's capacity to absorb was impaired by so much throwing up, which is one of the reasons I take supplements.

In the end my bulimia was so bad that I thought I was going to kill myself. It was a desperately hard time. I felt I was tearing up my insides and doing myself irreparable damage. So, I stopped, through sheer force of will. Those days are well and truly gone but the thing about anorexia and bulimia is that, like alcohol and drugs, you are always an "ex".

There is always a voice in the back of my head saying "I don't want to get fat". I deal with that by eating when I am hungry, and eating healthily. Good nutrition is vital to a balanced state of mind, but our food is so highly refined these days that it's extremely difficult to get enough nutritional value from it. I think it's only possible to achieve that with the help of supplements, which is why I - and more than 10 million Britons - take them every day.

I vary my supplement regime; I don't think it's good to have a set pattern. When I'm feeling run down and I know I need to perform in the theatre that night, the one thing I can rely on is a dose of high-strength vitamin C - about 1,000mg. But high-dose vitamins will soon become illegal.

If I'm stressed about an upcoming performance I take zinc, and a multivitamin and mineral supplement every day. But I take zinc in chelated form, which means that the minerals have already been broken down with amino acids, so it's easier for the body to absorb. Yet chelated zinc will no longer be available because it's not on the list of approved supplements.

There is strong evidence that selenium has anti-cancer properties, so I take occasional doses. But I take selenomethionine, the form of selenium that is best absorbed by the body, and that won't be available either. Ironically, other forms of selenium that the body has difficulty in absorbing will be available.

I also take flaxseed and sunflower seed oil daily, because I've been vegetarian for 20 years. To take extra care of myself, I see an allergy specialist who uses kinesiology. Last time I was worried about coming down with a cold, he prescribed a cocktail of Cantomega 2000 - a general vitamin and mineral supplement - milk thistle, which inhibits liver damage, and echinacea, which boosts the immune system. I didn't miss one performance.

Generally, if I'm getting a cold I also take vitamin C, zinc, which supports a healthy immune system, and silver colloid, which helps the system release bacteria. But most dietary supplements are going to be looked at and possibly withdrawn.

I'm 45 and so haven't reached the menopause yet but when I do, the last thing I want to do is pump my body full of hormones with HRT. I want to use an alternative solution. And I want to be able to protect myself from osteoporosis, but boron, a mineral that helps the body use calcium, is not on the list of permitted supplements.

I used to take Valerian 2000 to help me wind down after a performance. It was a combination of valerian, which promotes sleep, kava kava, a relaxant, and hops. But kava kava has been banned now.

I'm a good advertisement for the positive effects of supplements. If I get a cold, I shake it off within a day, and I haven't needed to see my GP in years. I put it down to the judicious and well-researched taking of herbal supplements.

My journey to find an alternative way to maintain good health started when I watched my mother die. She was dependent on a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs for various different conditions, and I'm sure the combination of medication that she took had something to do with her decline.

She had a stroke when she was 35, while giving birth to my younger brother. The baby did not survive the emergency, and my mother needed rehabilitation to learn to walk and talk again. Then in her forties, she fell, and broke a vertebra in her back.

She went on to develop a chronic pain condition and by the time she died, at 68, she was in such agony she took painkillers constantly, which destroyed her gut.

As I watched her go through that, I started researching alternative health and realised that it's not only possible, but desirable, to prevent illhealth, rather than just cure it.

If these EU directives are not challenged and stopped, hundreds of vitamins and minerals will be eliminated from the market. These directives are not about safety; they are about big business. I'm afraid at the back of it all is the shadow of the pharmaceutical companies who are threatened by people's dependence on alternative supplements.

The Government thinks this issue is unimportant, but good health is the fundamental linchpin of everything. That is why I have decided to join the Save Our Supplements Campaign, organised by Consumers for Health Choice. If Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary, won't fight on our behalf then we will have to take the Government to the Court of Human Rights. For me, this is about freedom of choice being taken away, and for that I am prepared to fight.

For more information on the Consumers for Health Choice campaign log on to www.healthchoice.org.uk or call 020 7222 4182.