How much fibre do you need? Why is fibre so important? What is the best type of fibre? Can’t I just take a supplement? There are so many questions to be answered, and this article covers them all. Fibre feeds our gut microbes, which produce by-products beneficial to every aspect of our health, from reducing inflammation to nurturing the cells of our digestive system, cardiovascular system and brain. If we don’t feed our microbial overlords, they can make things pretty bad in our body’s - don’t let them get upset, give them what they want - lots and lots of different plant fibres every day!

Feeling bloated after meals, with abdominal pain, burping and discomfort ? Are you finding you either worry about where the next toilet might be, or that you might not poop again …for another day? Maybe you have SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.
This post will help you understand what SIBO is and how a range of natural treatment strategies may help you feel better.

Supplements are one of the most hotly debated topics in the natural health world. Are they life-changing, or just “expensive urine”? Should you take a handful of capsules every day, or focus on food and lifestyle first? As a naturopath, I see both sides: the good, the bad, and the downright ugly.

This article explores the benefits and pitfalls of supplements, offers practical guidance on what to keep in your cupboard, and shows you how to get the most out of your health dollars—without falling for flashy marketing or unsafe shortcuts.

It’s hard to avoid the talk about Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy or other GLP-1 receptor agonists and obesity. Everyone seems to be taking it, and for some, it’s the answer!
For some, the risks, side effects or their own medications or health conditions mean they can’t take them. Others don’t want to take any kind of drugs. This comprehensive article describes what these drugs are, what they do, and how natural ozempic (GLP-1) alternatives can help get better results out of alongside drug treatment, or as an alternative solution. The risks, the pros and cons of GLP-1 drugs, versus natural alternatives and how you can decide which might be the best for you.

Sunlight's Critical Role in Metabolism & Weight Management
Sunlight is more than just a source of warmth—it's a powerful metabolic catalyst that can transform your body's energy production. Our cells contain tiny power plants called mitochondria, which respond dramatically to light exposure. By understanding how strategic sun interaction works, you can boost metabolism, enhance weight management, and improve overall health.

This exploration reveals how just 10-15 minutes of daily sunlight can:

• Accelerate cellular energy production

• Support natural weight loss

• Improve metabolic flexibility

• Reduce inflammation

• Enhance overall physiological functioning

Discover how nature's most accessible resource can become your wellness ally.

Lion’s Mane Mushroom, one of the most recognised for supporting brain health, cognition, memory and neuron development. Did you know that it also has effects in supporting gut health, heart and vascular health and regulating blood sugar and metabolism. For anyone looking for brain support in neurodegenerative disorders, multiple sclerosis, perimenopause, menopause, cardiovascular disease and diabetes or obesity - this is one mighty medicinal mushroom!

In recent years, the research into the trillions of microbes that co-exist with humans, in, on and around our body’s has exploded with over 18,500 papers published in 2024! This article is a summary of the 6 most important discoveries from those papers, and what it means for our health.

Tremella has a long and valued history since the Tang Dynasty in China for beauty, and for health. Western science is catching up, revealling Tremella’s role in improving skin health, anti-ageing, immune health and metabolic health. It is a menopausal and perimenopausal woman’s best friend, supporting brain health with research revealing improvement in memory and cognition. It has roles in modulating the microbiome, reducing blood sugar, supporting the gut, protecting the liver and all while improving skin tone and texture. What more could you want?!

Explore how the short-chain fatty acids butyrate, acetate, and propionate—produced by gut microbes—support digestive health, immune function, and metabolic balance. Learn dietary strategies to promote SCFA production and why practitioner-led approaches are key to safe and effective gut support.

Are you perimenopausal and finding that no matter what you do, your body shape is changing? - and you haven’t changed a thing! This article covers the latest research on women’s health and metabolism, why women’s bodies are different when it comes to fat gain, weight loss and body size. Not surprisingly, the interaction of the gut microbiome has a significant impact on the way we store fat in the body that has less to do with calories than we were led to believe!

Side effects

Following on from The Nuanced Naturopaths podcast on the subjects (ep. 44 and ep. 46).  A topic that’s super relevant for anyone who’s ever taken a supplement or popped a painkiller: side effects or more correctly, ‘Adverse Drug Reactions’. Yes, those pesky little (or big) things that sometimes come along with our health remedies (pharmaceutical, herbal or otherwise). We’ll explore the buzz around Vitamin B6, and the concerns about paracetamol/acetaminophen, and why it’s essential to ask the right questions about what we put into our bodies.

The Surprising Truth About Vitamin D: Sunlight vs. Supplements

Vitamin D3 has become a hot topic in health conversations, shifting focus from calcium to its critical role in bone health and beyond. Research links deficiency to suppressed immunity, autoimmune diseases, and more, though supplement studies have fallen short of expectations. During the COVID pandemic, its importance was highlighted, with low levels tied to worse outcomes. But is the vitamin D we make from sunlight the same as what’s in capsules? This article explores the benefits of natural vitamin D production, other molecules made from sun exposure, and whether supplements are truly the answer—or if we’ve misunderstood this vital nutrient.

Circadian rhythm is so much more than the sleep and wake cycle, or even when to eat. It governs every cell to optimise tasks at different times of the day. The microbiome, too, works differently depending on the time of day, and a number of aspects of digestion are timed. So, how does the body tell the time? How does circadian signalling impact digestion and the microbiome? And, how can you improve your gut health with getting your light exposure right? This post explains why circadian signalling is important for the whole body, in particular the gastrointestinal tract and all of the organs of digestion, and how to optimise your digestive health by improving your circadian rhythm.

The most important regulator of ALL health in the body is a tiny little bean-like structure contained in all of our cells. Called the mitochondria it’s commonly known as ‘the powerhouse of the cell’, and new advances in science that bring Quantum physics and biology together, shows that this powerhouse is SO much more than that. And the ways we can improve it are literally outside our front door, free, and easy.

Sleep, we all do it, in fact, we spend around a third of our life asleep.

Some of us are better at it, and some struggle to consistently get good sleep. These patterns can change in different life stages, and some people seem to survive on only a few hours each night!

This article aims to answer all the questions…What happens in sleep? How does it affect our health? Why is it important and how to get better at longer, deeper and more restful sleep for better health? And, is it really possible to get away with less than optimal sleep?

It may be called Bali Belly, the Rangoon Runs or Montezuma’s Revenge but it can happen anywhere! What is happening? Why does it happen when travelling? What are the long term consequences? And, most importantly, what can you do about it? Sometimes, it’s good to look at the local remedies for help.

A comprehensive look at the symptoms, causes, contributing factors, conventional treatments and how some of the local natural and traditional remedies can help reduce symptoms and assist in a speedier recovery from traveller’s diarrhoea.

So many women find that digestive symptoms are worse around perimenopause, experiencing uncomfortable constipation, diarrhoea, urgency, bloating, flatulence and other embarrassing symptoms.

Why is that?

More importantly, what can you do about it?

Read on to find out why this time of life can be the start or worsening of these uncomfortable and embarrassing symptoms, and how natural medicine can help you to feel normal again.

In the past treatments have focussed on improving the integrity of the tight junctions - proteins connecting cells of the digestive tract. However, if this was the only issue for people with intestinal hyperpermeability (aka leaky gut), then why are some still suffering? New evidence highlights the importance of other factors involved in the gut barrier that drive disruption of tight junctions. If you didn’t realise that the digestive system is incredibly complex, you’re in for a treat.

Oxygenation may be the new focal point for treating digestive symptoms of intestinal hyperpermeability (also known as intestinal permeability or leaky gut). Learn what the new evidence is and what can be done to optimise the health of the digestive tract. Is this your missing link?

Are you finding that you are becoming intolerant to more and more foods? Feel like something is wrong, but don’t know what is going on? Intestinal hyper-permeability otherwise known as leaky gut, can occur when the microbiome becomes disrupted, or in a variety of other ways, leading to allergies, intolerances, autoimmune conditions, and a host of other disease states.

Bloating can be uncomfortable, painful, and embarrassing. It can make fitting into your clothes unpredictable from one day to the next and can be a sign of a food intolerance, health condition or, dysbiosis of the microbiome. If you’d like to know what it is and what you can do to reduce bloating at home, read on.