holiday How to get over your holiday Back f

IT'S the most depressing day of the year. The August Bank Holiday is over, summer's ended and everyone is going back to work. But there are a few quick fixes to restore that healthy holiday glow.

Banish the bloat If you waddled off your flight feeling half a stone heavier, don't assume it's all down to water retention. "Cabin pressure does encourage bloating and water retention," says nutritionist Ian Marber, cofounder of the Food Doctor Clinic in Holland Park, "but often we feel fat after a flight because we've just eaten too much. We treat flying like a suspension of reality, so we might eat a meal at the airport but then an hour later have another dinner on the plane, which we wouldn't think of doing normally." If you do suffer from bloating after flying (commonly experienced as swollen feet and ankles), Marber recommends eating watercress as a natural diuretic, which he says is much more effective than the usually recommended asparagus. "It's a Don't overdo it: many people return from their holidays still feeling stale or stressed, or pick up a bug on the journey home. But help is available to combat post-flight colds and flagging energy levels good idea to do a post-holiday detox week as well," he adds, " cutting out processed foods, caffeine and alcohol, and eating lots of fruit and vegetables and drinking lots of water instead."

And if you really overdid it this year and you have some holiday money left over, treat yourself to the Quick-Power Detox, a twoweek programme at the Third Space health club in Soho, which includes acupuncture, deep-tissue massage, consultations with a naturopath and recommended supplements, for pounds 320.

Another effective treatment is Manual Lymphatic Drainage, a form of massage which stimulates the lymphatic system to encourage detoxification (a 90-minute treatment costs pounds 75) at Farmacia in Covent Garden, 020 7404 8808.

Fight that post-flight cold Many people swear they pick up a cold every time they fly. "Basically, an aeroplane is an incubator, with everyone breathing in everyone else's germs," says Dr Nyjon Eccles, a physician and naturopathic-practitioner based at the Chiron Clinic in Harley Street.

"On top of this, your immune system may be weakened if you have been overindulging on holiday or you are stressed about flight delays."

Dr Eccles recommends VMM by New Ways, a herbal remedy which includes hawthorn, echinacea, hyssop and ginseng (pounds 26.32 for 180 tablets; call 01480 861764 for your nearest distributor). "I take it at the first sign of a cold and it clears it every time," he says.

"Take three in the morning and three in the evening for the first week you are back."

If it's a dodgy tummy you're suffering from, take a supplement of probiotics, the "friendly" bacteria that your digestive system needs to fight bugs. Culturelle Lactobacillus GG costs pounds 21.95 for 30 capsules from the NutriCentre (0800 5872290).

Get an energy boost A gruelling journey home can wipe you out and leave you a prime candidate for the post-holiday-blues. Give yourself a boost by taking a liquid B-vitamin supplement, says Dr Eccles.

"If you have had a stressful day your body will be depleted of B- vitamins, as they're used by the nervous system to fight stress. A liquid supplement is the most effective way to replenish them," he says. Most health food stores will stock a selection.

Repair frazzled hair If sun and sea have left you with straw-like hair, try the deep-conditioning treatment that Kate Winslet swears by - Philip Kingsley's Elasticize (pounds 16.50 for six to 10 treatments by mail order from 020 7629 4004). "It's an emulsion of several oils and water which delivers moisture back into the hair cells," says trichologistto-the stars Kingsley.

Alternatively, he recommends simply washing and conditioning hair every day.

"Contrary to popular belief washing doesn't dry out hair, it actually helps it to retain moisture," he says. Try Multiplicity's Dimensions Texture Shampoo-and Conditioner (pounds 5.95 each from selected salons, call 02476 369117), favourites of Rene Zellweger and Sarah Michelle Gellar and just launched in the UK.

Save your skin The only treatment for peeling, sunburned skin is moisturise, moisturise, moisturise, says Steve Barton, dermatologist.

"Opt for a product with antioxidant ingredients to help your skin fight damaging free-radicals," he says. (Try No7 Summer Skin After Sun Recovery Mask, pounds 5.50 from Boots stores).

"Aloe vera gel is also very good - it's naturally cooling and is rich in nutrients that will help your skin heal," he adds. ( Lifestream Aloe Vera Gel is pounds 4.99 by mail order from the NutriCentre 0800 5872290).

Barton also points out that it's important to rehydrate from the inside by drinking lots of water.

"The dermis is 70 per cent water and if you keep this at optimal level it will be much better able to fight any damage caused by the sun," he says. A sure sign that you're dehydrated is when your skin gets itchy.

But don't, whatever you do, be tempted to exfoliate peeling skin - you'll exacerbate the damage, says Barton.

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