Functional Medicine

Hormone Testing; Serum, Saliva, or Urine?

Blood Testing (Serum) This is the most frequently used hormone testing in the Medical arena and has been the standard method for many years. It is reasonably accurate for testing the ‘peptide hormones’ of the body: FSH, LH, Prolactin, and Fasting Insulin. The only steroid hormone which is deliberately measured as the FREE component only, is Free Testosterone. So, if you are after testosterone levels only, blood testing would be fine. For our steroid hormones, it is another story altogether, as the blood level of these hormones can not differentiate between bound and free/usable hormones. To give …

Food + Exercise + Mindset = Happiness

At the risk of sounding like the Sheldon Cooper of the Naturopathic world, today I want to talk a little about the Chemistry of our emotions and mood… (One of my absolute favorite topics, so forgive me when I keep on talking… lol.) Mental health is by far one of the largest “issues” I see in the clinic, yet I still feel like most of us are only scratching the surface on how to correct it. The current medical model of “antidepressant” medications is dying a fast death, with the next …

Know anybody who hates Bright lights? Loud Noises? Cold weather?

Do you know anybody who will shy away from bright lights or loud noises? Do you have a child who, when you start to ask them a question, you can get their attention initially.. but if you take too long they appear to wander or even worse, simply shut down and ignore you? Usually, these people are not too good with heat or extreme cold either… and may have already been labeled as anxious, ADHD, a ‘daydreamer’, or even plain rude and arrogant. If this reminds you of somebody you know… …

18Jun

Hormesis; the way nature intended

So today I wanted to have a quick ramble about a thing called Hormesis. Hormesis revolves around the concept that certain systems of the body will adapt to, and even thrive from different types of shock, volatility, and stressors. Hormesis is responsible for the adaption you experience after things like exercise, intermittent fasting, vaccinations, and homeopathic remedies. All of these contain various “stressors” which challenge the body and in turn strengthen its’ adaptive response. This particularly holds for our immune systems, which need to be challenged continuously in order to …

Yeast, mould and fungal infections. The hidden culprit?

Yeasts and Moulds. Two things we may relate to are decomposing foods or dark bathrooms, yet both yeasts and moulds are common infections within the human body. Really, yeasts and moulds are almost the same things. They both belong to the Fungus part of the plant kingdom, however, yeasts are single-celled organisms, where moulds are microorganisms. So for the sake of this article, I’m going to group them together and call them “fungus”. We all have colonies of fungus within our digestive tracts from the day we are born, particularly if we …

How chemicals affect your hormones

One of the most frequently asked questions in clinic, is about SOY and its effects on the hormones, in particular estrogen. The “SOY debate” is a very well-published one, and it frequently divides a room with opinions… Most of the research you hear about is VERY out of date. Soy isoflavones (the active phytoestrogen in Soy), are now being used to effectively MODULATE the Estrogenic load in the body. It will raise low Estrogen levels, and bring down high ones… but more on that another time. What I want to …

Pain. What is it trying to tell you?

Today i want to talk about pain. After that nice long weekend we’ve had, some of you might be noticing that your headaches, or general aches and pains have subsided a little?Or, if you’re anything like me, maybe youve acquired a few more pains after trapsing through swordgrass and forests wearing shorts? lol ( good idea at the time….) Take a moment and reflect a little.. are you experiencing any pain right now? If so, where? How long has it been there? When did it originate and why?Regardless of the …

Reasons you might have low Vitamin D

The Vitamin D debate is still a very hot topic at the moment. What most people understand is that your body can manufacture Vitamin D after exposure to the sun. Then, if you do not get enough sun, you can take a supplement and top up your levels. The truth is, there are MANY factors which go into Vitamin D absorption. Today I thought I would share with you a few of them, just for your information… 1. The latitude where you live. At higher latitudes, the amount of vitamin D–producing …

Too much is just as bad as too little.

As one of the great founders of Nature-based Medicine, Hippocrates, once said “Dosis Facit Venemon”. Translated, this literally means ‘The Dosage is the Poison’… Yes.. too much of anything (or too little) will kill you. I know this might seem like a no-brainer comment to most of you, but one of the most common things I come across in clinic, is the notion that if you take an extra vitamin pill here or there, then you get an ‘extra’ result. With the massive influx of over-the-counter supplements available, combined with …

Vaccination support .3

Ok.. now that I have put the fear of god into you about our environment (sorry, but this stuff is very real!), I want to swing your attention now to the standard protocol here in Australia for medicating babies. In my last article I talked about the liver pathways, and how they are put under pressure by a variety of different environmental chemicals and substances. Specifically, I’d like to look at the most commonly prescribed paediatric medications in Australia, their effects on the liver, and potential complications. Paracetamol; Ibuprofen (Nurofen); …

Vaccination Support .2

Today I’d like to talk about the liver, and the absolutely crucial role it plays in the detoxification ofanything that comes near your body, including vaccines.In part one of my articles,Toxins in vs Toxins out, I referred to the ‘total load’ that is placed on the bodyby chemicals and heavy metals which come from multiple sources. It is important to understand, again,that when the body (particularly the liver) cannot keep up with detox demand, we are left with anoverload situation. This is when the body starts to show the signs …

Vaccination support .1

Vaccination. This word is probably the single most emotive word in this country today. It literally has the ability to divide a room, a social media thread, or even a family or friendship. Everyone has an opinion about it, and from my experience there are more than two sides to this argument- nobody is wrong. Statistically, vaccination has done some great things on a global scale! But, stats aside, the argument for ‘vaccine injury’ is very real. I have seen it with my own eyes. With the government legislations changing this …