When worry and anxiety takes a hold this soothing concoction will calm your nerves. It's also wonderful for aiding the onset of sleep. A good pinch of lavender
A good pinch of chamomile flowers
A good pinch of lemon balm (I used fresh but dry is also available)
Steep for 5 - 10 minutes in hot but not boiling water. Strain and stir with the intention of calm. Inhale the aroma, sip gently.
I want to talk about some of my least favorite things. Stomach pain, flatulence, bloating, the runs, and constipation. Does this sound like you?
Irritable bowel syndrome is a really common, in fact it's the most common condition I see as a naturopath. However there's no simple solution. Everyone is different and what’s causing your trouble may not be the same as your friend.
Numerous theories abound as to what may be causing your digestive upset. I’m going to cover the most researched hypotheses right here.
Your brain is in communication with your digestive system via a few different pathways in your nervous system.
The parasympathetic nervous system is known as ‘the rest and digest’ nervous system. This is switched on when you feel relaxed and there is no danger. Conversely the sympathetic nervous system is your ‘fight and fright.’ When you’re feeling stressed this will be switched on.
When you’re in stress mode, your body switches on your brain and muscles and turns off your digestive system. This is because digesting the food you just ate is the last thing you need to be doing when you’re in danger. No you need to be running away and figuring out how to outsmart the threat.
If you’re chronically stressed, this has an ongoing negative impact on your gut, where food in not digested properly causing pain and discomfort. You’ll also be missing out on the nutrients in your food because you won’t be absorbing them properly.
You may have heard of this neurotransmitter that often has feelings such as happiness and joy attributed to its actions. Did you know much of your bodies serotonin is actually manufactured in the gut? 95% of body stores are found in the digestive system. Serotonin has a major action on your gut motility – that is how well your digestive system passes food from one end to the other.
Researchers have found an excessive level of serotonin is likely to cause diarrhoea whereas too little tends to cause constipation.
Do you have an awareness of your digestive function? People with IBS tend to have a painful awareness of the stomach, small intestines and large intestines. Increased hypersensitivity has been associated with lower levels of serotonin.
After a severe bout of gastroenteritis the upset to your happy commune of gut bacteria may be enough to completely through the balance out of whack and IBS symptoms ensue. The harsher the infection, the more likely you will develop post-infection IBS. Other risk factors include depression, being female, longer duration of illness and fever.
Gut flora is commonly altered in incidences of IBS. This can be caused by antibiotic use, poor diet, the contraceptive pill, stress, and anti-inflammatory drugs.
Alterations in gut flora can eventually lead to overgrowth of the wrong kinds of gut bugs leading to poor immune defence and less production of short chain fatty acids. These short chain acids help water absorption and also feed the good bacteria. They are crucial to good gut health.
Bacteria who are good in one place can be bad in another. Sometimes they start colonising in places they shouldn’t, such as your small intestine. Small intestine bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is found in 50% of IBS cases.
Possible causes for SIBO include gastrointestinal surgery, proton pump inhibitors (medications for indigestion such as Omneprazole), immune insufficiency and malnutrition.
SIBO has been associated with medical conditions such as depression, acromegaly, diverticulitis and interstitial cystitis, cystic fibrosis and fibromyalgia.
Do your symptoms get worse after you eat certain foods? Some food intolerances may be because you lack an enzyme required to break the food down. For example you may lack lactase required to break down lactose, a milk sugar found in dairy. Others might be because your body can’t transport that kind of food molecule effectively. Basically in some way shape or form, your body is just not equipped to deal with that food.
When you do eat one of these foods you can’t handle, your intestinal wall becomes inflamed. This inflammation causes further sensitivity and creates even more intolerance. Food you were able to eat as a teenager is suddenly making you feel very under the weather.
The good news is, you may be able to recover from most of your intolerances once the daddy of all intolerances (milk, fruit, wheat, soy whatever it is for you) is removed from your diet).
If you regularly suffer digestive discomfort I’m sure you might have an idea or two about what might be contributing to your symptoms, especially after reading the above. Once we figure out the source of your discomfort we can go about treating you as quickly and as effectively as possible.
Naturopaths are great at treating gut problems. We have an arsenal of gut soothing herbs, intestinal wall repairing nutrients, and can offer support and direction in your dietary choices. You don’t have to live your life afraid to go out in case you suffer a flare up/make a lot of smelly gas/feel bloated and disgusting.
If you’re a Perth local please make an appointment here I’d love to help you.
I wish you peaceful meals
References
Sheppach W, 1994, GUT an International Journal of Gastroentology and Hepatology Effects of Short Chain Fatty Acids on Gut Morphology and Function.
Hectman L 2012, Clinical Naturopathic Medicine, Churchill Livingstone Elsevier
Gorgeous photo credit to artist Camila Carlow, isn't it amazing? A floral digestive system. I love x
I love the term wildcrafting, don't you? It's so earthy and free. It means to harvest produce that grows wild, be it for food, medicine, or beauty. Wildcrafting is going into the wild and taking what is naturally available. There’s something so gorgeously real, primitive and abundant about getting what you need from the earth. There’s no exchange of paper money, or disconnectedly swiping a piece of plastic card through a machine.
Last year I planted some mustard lettuce in my vegie bed. It fed me well and eventually it’s life circle completed, I let it go to seed, it seeded. Everywhere. And then it died.
This year I have mustard lettuce growing up through the lawn and in cracks of my brick paving, It’s adorable and tasty and full natural goodness. And so so convenient too. I love pulling lettuce out of my lawn, giving it a wash and putting it in my lunch.
I have another weed growing ambitiously all over, and I had a sneaking suspicion was the medicinal dandelion species we use in herbal medicine as a liver cleanser and digestive tonic, but couldn’t be sure.
I looked it up and although my weed and the medicinal dandelion had very similar leaves and flowers, their sizes varied hugely. This was definitely a different plant.
The Taraxacum officinalis (botanical speak for Dandelion) seems to hang out low to the ground, whereas my ‘dandelions’ were towering up to over a meter high.
I had get to the bottom of this.
I pulled off a baby leaf of my mystery weed and gave it a little chew. Hmmm, a little spiky around the edges, slightly bitter but definatley palatable. Tastes like healthy greens, not poison. This was a good start.
So here comes the part where most would get on google, but I decided to meditate on my weeds first, to see what my intuition could tell me. I had a guided meditation waiting on my computer specifically for connecting with nature and this was the perfect time to use it.
Sitting in the garden, sun flowing over my face, headphones in my ear’s and computer by my side. I clear my chakras under the guidance of the beautiful Karina Ladet. I put my hands around a particular healthy specimen of this mystery ‘dandelion’ and felt a cleansing tingling feeling throughout my body. My blood felt clean flowing and light filled. My mouth moved towards a leaf and made a chewing motion, my bodies way of showing me it’s ok to eat this plant, and if fact I should eat it. I sat with my hands on the leaf for a little longer, I then decided to chew off a bit of leaf as if were an ape in the jungle, tearing the end of the leaf with my teeth, straight from the plant. It was a wild moment of connection with my inner animal, followed by a self-directed laugh at my gorilla-like behavior.
Giggly and amused, my guided meditation ends leaving me with a giant warm and open heart. I got the message that this plant is super healthy and definitely edible but the scientist in me wants some solid proof. Inside I identified my mystery weed as the Sow Thistle aka Sochus oleraceus, thanks to the wonderful guide to Edible Weeds and Foraging in Perth by Charles Otway (see reference below). Some sources report that this baby has a whopping 1500mg of calcium per 100g and 45mg of iron. It’s also high in potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and a good source of vitamin C. Not to mention the phytochemicals the flavones, stilbenes, polyphenols and glycosides that exhibit anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and all round good stuff properties.
Charles Otway thinks Sow Thistle tastes better when it’s still quite young, before it shoots up and flowers. I tried a mature flowered sow thistle though and I thought it was still good.
It’s very name ‘oleraceus’ is latin for good eating.
In short, you can safely pick (wildcraft) the leaves from these plants and nutritiously mix them through your salad, through your scrambled eggs, put on your pizza, use absolutely anywhere you use greens FOR FREE!
Traditionally more mature plants are boiled or steamed, but young leaves are good raw. I do recommend mixing the leaves up with other greens, rather then eating a bowl of sow thistle all by itself, simply because like all things, you can have too much.
A New Zealender by the name of Mawalagedera (2009) wrote a thesis about the antioxidant value of this plant, and makes a point that the a particular New Zealand Maori population has less incidence of colorectal cancer dispite being in a very high risk group for the disease. She writes that sow thistle is a staple in the diet along with sweet potatoes, silverbeet and watercress. Perhaps these foods are offering the protective factor?
She also writes the more mature plants have a higher antioxidant value.
A 2013 study reports sow thistle is may be an effective option for treating Diabetes because the high antioxidant value protects the liver, kidneys and blood plasma from damage caused by high blood sugar.
Wildcraft away. I know what’s going in my salad.
References:
Mofor Teugwa1*, Pascaline Chouadeu Mejiato1, Denis Zofou3, Bruno Tugnoua Tchinda1 and Fabrice Fekam Boyom2 BMC Complimentary and Alternative Medicine 2013,Antioxidant and antidiabetic profiles of two African medicinal plants: Picralima nitida (Apocynaceae) and Sonchus oleraceus (Asteraceae) 2013, 13:175 doi:10.1186/1472-6882-13-175
Sundara Mudiyanselage Maheshini Rangika Mawalagedera 2014, Antioxidant Activities of Sonchus oleraceus L.
Otway, Charles (undated) Edible Weeds, Common Plants and Foraging Around Perth, www.terraperma.com.au
Karina Ladet www.karinaladet.com
Are you a little shady on what a naturopath actually does? My mother never took me to see an alternative healthcare practitioner of any sort. If I hadn’t become so fascinated in nutrition I may never have found out. Now I’m super passionate about naturopathic medicine as a well rounded, affordable and effective health care with real value for everyone in our community. To put it simply, a naturopath uses herbal and nutritional science to get you healthy, and ideally, Super healthy. We see you for about an hour or maybe two, depending on the practitioner. We have a good long chat, we look at your blood, we put you on a fancy machine and give you a health scan. We look into your eyes with our iridology torch, We’ll talk about your diet, your lifestyle, and then we discuss nutritional, herbal solutions that are chosen based on your individuality to help you and your body gently heal and reach optimum health.
Yes herbal medicine absolutely works and is a wonderful tool for helping the body to heal. There are thousands of studies proving herbal medicines are effective in many different conditions. Plant medicine is 100% natural and organic, just like you are. Our bodies have a natural affinity for naturally occurring compounds, be they nutritional or medicinal. Just think about how good you feel after a vitality giving green juice compared to an artificially coloured, flavoured and sugared up refreshment. Your body can assimilate the goodness in an earth created product much easier.
Modern naturopathy combines evidence based science and modern testing techniques with traditional knowledge and health care. Naturopaths help you heal and repair back to a level of optimum health.
Your naturopath may refer you back to your doctor for testing and diagnosis of a suspected condition. Once diagnosed, we will work with you and your doctor to give you the best well rounded health care possible.
Naturopaths are trained to help you with any medical condition, and treat based on the whole person, rather then individual symptoms. Naturopaths great for dealing with chronic conditions such as allergies and auto-immune disease. The aim of naturopathic medicine is to get to the source of the problem and heal you from the inside out.
Sally goes to her GP with eczema who prescribes her a corticosteroid cream, a potent anti-inflammatory to make the symptoms go away. It works quickly and her skin clears. However once she stops using that cream Sally’s eczema comes back. She is frustrated and feels like she’s going round in circles. Sally doesn’t want to use the cream long term because she knows continual use of topical steroids thins the skin, weakens the bodies innate ability to heal, and also may interrupt her natural hormonal balance.
Sally see’s her naturopath and is prescribed a herbal anti-inflammatory cream to protect the inflamed skin and lessen symptoms, without any side effects. Her naturopath takes a full health and diet check, and identifies possible lifestyle factors that may be contributing to her skin condition. Together Sally and her naturopath eliminate irritants from the diet, and treat Sally’s digestive system and detoxification pathways. After 6 weeks the eczema has healed on its own, and after 12 weeks Sally is able to reintroduce some of the irritant foods with no re-occurrence of symptoms. Sally also has lost a little weight, is sleeping better and has more energy
It takes four years study in a full time science degree to graduate as a degree qualified naturopath.
A consult with your naturopath takes an hour initially, and an average of 30 – 50 minutes for each consult thereafter. These long consults are an opportunity to really explore your health and lifestyle thoroughly and identify ways and means to improve your experience of living. Your health is important and often the value of having someone to really listen to you rather then rush you out the door can be priceless. The act of talking and being heard is often quite healing in itself. A naturopath gives you the benefit of being heard by a scientifically trained expert in herbal and nutritional medicine, who can really give you solid strategies for achieving your health goals.
Are you feeling a little more informed now? Can you see the benefits of seeing a naturopath? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
Tell me your naturopath story, or put down any concerns or questions you might have regarding seeing a naturopath and I’ll do my best to nut it out with you.
Healthily Yours
Libby
Naturopath and Shiatsu Massage therapist with a great wellness blog
This is a great example of how chemicals in many household cleaning and personal care products are assumed safe until proven harmful, when perhaps they should be assumed harmful until proven safe.
Both ultra processed foods and tobacco 'are legal, easily accessible, inexpensive, lack an intoxication syndrome, and are major causes of preventable death."
Some 'to-do's' have significantly more positive impact on your life than others.
This is a really simple, nourishing and easy one pot dinner, with plenty of protein and fibre and some healthy fat.
It's the kind of soup where you know you're looking after yourself with every slurp. The spices and ginger have some wonderful anti-inflammatory properties. It's inexpensive, easy, and counts as self-care points for the day.
A shiatsu at Wild Grace is a spiritual experience. Healing occurs in both physical and spiritual planes. A shiatsu involves breathwork, massage to physically manipulate and stretch muscles, and the use of healing sound to move energy out and through. At times I may guide you through healing imagery, and you may receive guidance from your spiritual support crew.
Here are some of most medicinal foods for your immune system, chosen for the phytochemical properties:
New research with some surprising new information on preventing and treating long covid, with some tips to make it accessible at home.
I’m always on a mission to eat the healthiest foods possible. Here’s twelve of the most nutritionally dense foods in our supermarkets and tips on how to eat them.
Have you noticed that you're gaining weight but don't think you've made any change to diet and lifestyle? Or it used to be easy to drop a couple of kg by cutting out snacks and exercising a little more but now that doesn't seem to be working. In fact, your jeans just keep getting smaller.
If you have chronic disordered digestive function, irritable bowel, weight gain, inflammation, low energy, autoimmune or chronic mental illness a thorough investigation into your microbiome can provide a very solid basis upon which to build a treatment plan and resolve your symptoms.
and maybe it was a missed opportunity to role model healthy self esteem and masterful life skills.
a gentle reminder to bring mindfulness to your dinner table and as an in-depth guide to how you can nourish yourself and your family with ease and joy.
Some herbs, like licorice, can interfere with the attachment of viruses to host cells and prevent their entry into the cell, helping prevent an infection from taking place.
I woke up minus the sore throat albeit with a husky voice, and no snot has overcome me.
Shiatsu is it's a combination of lightwork and deep physical manipulation of musculature. Rhythmic breathing and meditative music means you float out of the massage room feeling like you're walking on a cloud.
We all have a dialogue in our heads with a running commentary about our lives and opportunities. Do you let that voice diminish and debase you? Or do you train that voice to be on your team?
Creating a ritual bath (aka medicine bath, healing bath) is more about intention than having the exact ingredients listed and performing elaborate opening and closing rituals.
Your fertility hormones estrogen and progesterone are actually great for skin, and this is why your skin may be clear and beautiful in the middle of your cycle but break out when those hormones drop off before your period. Here are three things you can try to lower inflammation and reduce period acne.
Nature has a special way of healing and resetting, always with the goal of evolution in mind.
Red Clover’s very nature mirrors the circumstances of the menopausal women, who at that age are often nurturing children, elderly parents and even grandchildren, as well as the workplace and wider community. Menopausal women are the nucleus necessary for life.
Tulsi tea is a wonderful dietary addition for those who may be diabetic, healing metabolic syndrome, diabetes or polycystic ovarian syndrome . Tulsi is best known for its adaptogenic properties. This means it helps your body adapt and thrive during times of stress. It's also inflammatory and antioxidant.
For the sake of better health, I want you to think seriously and honestly about what habits are impacting negatively on your health and what can you can do to avoid those triggers.