Natural Medicine

Think back to the last time you injured yourself. Perhaps you fell over and hurt your knee, or sprained your ankle playing sport. Along with the pain, you can probably recall how swollen, red and hot the area became. These changes were a sign of your body’s protective inflammatory response springing into action.

Fact 1: Antibiotic overuse is a serious problem.

Fact 2: Antibiotics disrupt your microbiome.

Fact 3: Antibiotics may cause both short-term and long-term side effects.

Fact 4: Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG®), Saccharomyces boulardii (SB) and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp lactis (BB-12®) are probiotic strains that help preserve and rebuild commensal bacteria populations and reduce antibiotic-associated side effects.

Fact 5: Your Natural Healthcare Practitioner can help you choose the right strains for you.

Our Pain is Insane With 20% of Australians suffering from chronic pain, and pain being the most common reason someone will visit a healthcare Practitioner in Australia,[¹] there is no question that we’re a nation in pain and inflamed! To understand how to reduce pain, we need to look at its main cause, inflammation.

The Purpose of Poo

As you read this, your body is working hard to:

• Clear waste produced during its normal, healthy activities
• Remove compounds (e.g. hormones) from circulation that have completed their tasks
• Neutralise toxins that can harm your body, and
• Fight off pathogens (infectious organisms) that could otherwise make you sick

Once it’s completed these tasks, the next step is to eliminate these unwanted substances. It does this by packaging them up and sending them to your intestines to be eliminated in your poo! 

HELP, I’m Inflamed!

Everyone has experienced the phenomenon of acute inflammation – a sprained ankle, a splinter, or a cut – resulting in the affected area becoming red, swollen, hot, and painful. This is your immune system rushing to protect your body from any bacteria or viruses that may try to infect the area, and is also the first step in repairing tissue damage. This is part of a normal, healthy inflammatory response and should die down, or resolve, once the injury heals.[¹] In some cases, however, inflammation sticks around and becomes chronic.

More than half of the Australian population suffers from chronic inflammation and pain.[²] Ongoing inflammation may be a response to repetitive damage that does not heal (e.g. arthritis), but it can also occur in response to other triggers such as toxins, allergens, or oxidative stress, also causing tissue damage. Chronic inflammation has been associated with the development of many types of disease such as type 2 diabetes, fibromyalgia, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), inflammatory bowel disease and obesity.[³]

Whilst the burden of pain can feel isolating, it is a road travelled by many. In fact, 3.24 million Australians suffered from persistent pain in 2018,[¹] making it a commonly shared experience. For some, it’s a headache that feels like a thousand ice picks; for others, it’s shooting, surging and pulsing lower back pain.

Modern stress is a handbrake. As a collective we’re experiencing unparalleled levels of fatigue, but why? Simply put, our bodies are trying to function in a world they just weren’t designed to live in.

Taking collagen for its health and healing properties has become a popular trend in recent years. Naturally found in the connective tissue of animals,[¹] it is the main protein responsible for keeping the tissue that connects, supports, binds, or separates other tissues or organs firm and flexible.[²] Making up 30% of our physical architecture,[³] your body needs plenty of collagen to help it heal and regenerate. As such, supplementing collagen can help to support and enhance the repair of your body. Read on to learn how collagen can help you from the inside out! 

As a Naturopath I am constantly asked which diet provides the best weight loss results. A more pertinent question however is which one will work for you? Let’s explore some of the diets that are currently getting the most air time and see which one resonates with your weight loss goals.

Have you ever struggled to get up on a Monday morning? The despair as you hear the alarm going off, the temptation to hit ‘snooze’ multiple times … we’ve all felt it. But did you know that “Mondayitis” is actually a scientifically recognised phenomenon?

Menopause is a natural process where a woman transitions from her childbearing years to the next stage of her life. Whilst menopause usually occurs around age 50, a woman is said to be officially in menopause once she has not had a menstrual period for twelve consecutive months so this can occur at various ages. 

However, for many women, the months or years leading into menopause (known as perimenopause), can mark the onset of challenging symptoms including irregular menstrual cycles, flushing sensations, irritability and night sweats.

Counting sheep? You’ve been lying in bed for what feels like hours, persistently watching the clock tick over, calculating how much time until the sun rises. Hundreds of thoughts rush through your mind and relaxing for a restful sleep is at the bottom of your to-do list. Did you know your sleep woes could be affecting your weight? There’s many more factors at play in healthy weight management than your daily food choices and exercise habits.