In eight years the National Poisons Unit received just 42 reports of adverse reactions to dietary supplements, compared to an annual toll of 10,000 hospital admissions from reactions to prescribed drugs. Many of the supplement cases involved children accidentally swallowing iron tablets prescribed by doctors for pregnant mothers.It may be wise to err on the side of caution, but ever since research uncovered the ability of folic acid to prevent spina bifida in developing babies, the government has thrown it to the wind. Every woman embarking on a pregnancy is now advised to take a daily supplement of 400mcg of folic acid. One, for instance, found that people with low intakes of beta-carotene, an antioxidant which is converted into vitamin A in the body, had a 30-220 per cent higher risk of developing lung cancer than those with a higher intake. You can put some cash back into it to keep things from getting worse, but it's not going to thrive on its own again until you inject a bit of capital."Recent studies seem to support her views.

01494 890555Workshop: Womens shirts in every size, shape and colour.Tel. 0171 738 2525Muji: Clean, simple, modern Japanese company, famous for their excellent storage ideas and easy to wear clothes.Tel. 0171 494 1197Cashmere by Design: Classic all cashmere clothes, the best twin sets and the ultimate in understated glamour Tel 0171 240 3652. You're only 30 once, so you may as well celebrate in style. And the French-based mail-order catalogue, La Redoute, has decided to mark its 30th birthday with more style than most. The punky, flame-haired British model Sibyl Buck graces the cover of their latest catalogue, and inside, that most stylish of outfits -Yves Saint Laurent's smoking (or female dinner suit) - has been brought to mass distribution for the first time.

Also celebrating its 30th birthday this year, the smoking was created for the maestro's spring/summer 1966 collection. Since then, no Saint Laurent show has been complete without one. No self-respecting Parisian's wardrobe is complete without one, either. Fans include fashion icons such as Catherine Deneuve and Paloma Picasso. The former Saint Laurent muse LouLou de la Falaise wears the dinner trousers with pullovers during the day and Fergie is the proud owner of a made-to-measure suit. In black grain de poudre with satin lapels and pockets, an haute couture smoking will set you back up to pounds 14,000 However, La Redoute's version could be yours for pounds 270.

"The only difference is that the cloth is lighter than usual", insists Maime Arnodin, who is responsible for bringing the smoking to the catalogue.Maime Arnodin, a warm and feisty 79-year-old, has been making her mark on the fashion world for more than 40 years. It was she who termed the phrase "pret-a-porter" when editor of Vogue's sister publication, Jardin des Modes, in the Fifties. In the Sixties, she brought sportswear to France; and in 1977, she and her long-time partner, the late Denise Fayolle, introduced the first designer into the pages of a mail-order catalogue."Sonia Rykiel was always complaining that people copied her. So we said, instead of complaining, copy yourself by making a more affordable outfit and sell it in Les Trois Suisses catalogue."The likes of Jean Paul Gaultier and Azzedine Alaia followed, but when Maime and Denise left Les Trois Suisses in 1987, so did the designers.In 1992, they started working for La Redoute and decided to have a guest designer every season.