A Surprising Answer to Your Constipation

Many clients suffer from constipation, it’s one of the most common symptoms we see in our clinic. But the solution might not be as simple as “drink more water”. It may, in fact, be a problem with the communication between your gut and your brain.

There is a nervous system that lines your gut, called the enteric nervous system and it controls the function of your gut. The enteric nervous system is also known as the second brain. It is responsible for peristalsis, or the wave like contractions of the gut, which pushes food downwards. It controls the release of our digestive enzymes as well as many critical neurotransmitters. In fact, over 90% of your serotonin (a happiness hormone) is made in the gut!

As the vagus nerve controls the motility of your gut and increases blood flow to your gut lining, any problems with this part of the nervous system will result in sluggish digestion. If you don’t move food fast enough, it will ferment, causing yeast overgrowths, enzyme deficiencies and provide the perfect home for nasty parasites and bacteria.

How do you test your Gut Motility?

You should be able to hear grumbling in your abdomen when you listen with a stethoscope
When you say “ahhh” the uvula, at the back of your throat, should rise evenly
You have a poor gag reflex

Research shows neurons need exercise, just like muscles. The more you exercise them, the stronger the neuronal pathways, and the better the outcome is. This is a fascinating field of research called neuroplasticity, and I love “The Brain That Changes Itself” by Dr Normal Doidge, a brilliant book on this topic.

Exercises to Increase Gut Motility:

Encourage singing, but it needs to be really loud so warn your […]

By |June 5th, 2016|Gut health, Health & Wellbeing, Nutrition, Research|0 Comments
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What Juicer Should You Buy, And Why

I was recently contacted by Vitality 4 Life, asking me to test run a juicer, and provide some feedback. Over the last 15 years I have always had one kind of juicer, or another. I often make up a juice combo to address an ailment, as the power of food as medicine is incredible. Mother Nature has a medicine chest full of therapeutic nutrients!

A three day juice revamp is the absolute perfect way to flood your body with energy boosting vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
What Juicer Should I Buy?
This is a great question! Juicers generally fall under two categories – centrifugal or cold pressed. I used a centrifugal the first few years of juicing then I upgraded to a cold pressed, an investment that has paid for itself many times over.

The differences are:

Centrifugal:

Most common type of juicer for domestic use
Uses a high-speed metal blade and spins the pulp and juice against a mesh filter
The fast spinning blade creates heat, which reduces the enzyme and nutrient content of the juice
Are less expensive

Recommended brand – Breville Juice Fountain as you don’t need to cut up the produce RRP $199

Cold Pressed:

They crush, squeeze and then press the produce
Have a higher yield
Don’t generate much heat at all
Are much quieter machines
Are an investment, but last 10 years
Retain far more nutritional content
Can make nut milks

Recommended brand – BioChef Atlas Whole Slow Juicer RRP $399

What I loved about the BioChef

It is the only slow juicer on the market with a wide juicing chute so you don’t have to cut up everything into small pieces. This makes it far more likely I will actually juice as it doesn’t seem like a big process of cutting all the produce into small pieces.
You can fit […]

By |May 25th, 2016|Detox, Emma's Detox, Gut health, Health & Wellbeing, Nutrition, Recipes, Weight Loss|0 Comments
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Is inflammation causing your symptoms?

Key Message: Your body can control the inflammatory response triggered by exposure to bacteria and viruses.

Action Point: Reduce any excess inflammation and include some healthy anti-inflammatory foods in your diet such as turmeric, fatty fish such as salmon and nuts like almonds and walnuts
 

According to researchers at Georgia State University, your body can control inflammatory responses produced by microbial pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. This is very interesting as the findings could lеаd tо the development of nеw ways to treat uncontrolled inflammation.

Thе study describes hоw mуеlоіd differentiation factor (MyD88), a рrоtеіn thаt рlауѕ a mаjоr role in mеdіаtіng hоѕt dеfеnѕе response against invading pathogens, іѕ tightly regulated tо рrеvеnt unсоntrоllеd inflammation.

For the first time it was found that a protein called CYLD, рlауѕ a crucial rоlе іn соntrоllіng the pathogen-induced іnflаmmаtоrу rеѕроnѕе by tаrgеtіng another protein called MyD88.

“CYLD acts as a “brаkе pedal” durіng thе bоdу’ѕ inflammatory rеѕроnѕе to раthоgеnѕ. It turns оff host dеfеnѕе rеѕроnѕеs аnd рrеvеntѕ оvеrасtіvе іnflаmmаtіоn” said Dr. Jіаn-Dоng Lі, dіrесtоr of the Institute fоr Bіоmеdісаl Sсіеnсеѕ аt Gеоrgіа Stаtе аnd a Georgia Rеѕеаrсh Alliance Emіnеnt Sсhоlаr іn Inflаmmаtіоn аnd Immunіtу.

Although an appropriate level of inflammatory response is crucial for combating mісrоbіаl pathogens, it is important that it be regulated as еxсеѕѕіvе оr unсоntrоllеd inflammation lеаdѕ to detrimental tіѕѕuе dаmаgе and a vаrіеtу оf diseases ѕuсh as ѕерtіс ѕhосk, asthma, саnсеr, сhrоnіс obstructive рulmоnаrу dіѕеаѕе аnd еаr іnfесtіоnѕ.

Steroids have been effective at suppressing inflammation, however they are not recommended for long term use as they can cause serious side effects. This study is significant because there is an urgent need to develop new and innovative anti-inflammatory ways to fight inflammation, and these findings could offer an alternative.

Understanding how […]

By |March 10th, 2016|Community Cleanse, Health & Wellbeing, Naturopathy, Nutrition, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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How playtime can optimise your child’s gut health

Key Message: Exercising at a young age can have a positive effect on gut bacteria

Action Point: Ensure you and your children get some level of physical activity each day to ensure optimum health and build a strong gut and immune system
 

The human gut contains over 100 trillion microorganisms and recent research has shown that exercising at a young age can promote a healthier brain and metabolic activity of the course of a lifetime by changing the gut composition.

The research, published in the journal Immunology and Cell Biology, shows that during early human development, there may be a window of opportunity to improve the chances of better long term health.

The positive effects of exercise have been well documented. Physical activity reduces the chances of obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and it ensures a range of other functions work properly. Now, a team from the University of Colorado-Boulder believes we can add the digestive system’s microbial community to that list.

Gut microbes are fundamental to the development of your immune system and other neural functions. In fact these microbes can add as many as 5 million genes to a person’s overall genetic profile and therefore have incredible power to influence aspects of human physiology.

During adult life, this diverse microbial community is influenced by various environmental factors such as diet and sleep patterns and although it remains adaptable as we grow, researchers have found that the gut microorganisms are especially ‘plastic’ at a young age.

Monika Fleshner, a professor in CU-Boulder’s Department of Integrative Physiology and author of the study said “a robust, healthy community of gut microbes also appears to promote healthy brain function and provide antidepressant effects”.

Future research will further investigate how these microbes influence brain function in […]

By |March 6th, 2016|Gut health, Health & Wellbeing, Research, Uncategorized|0 Comments
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How your bedtime affects your BMI

Key Message: The length and quality of your sleep can impact your weight

Action Point: Try to get the recommended hours of sleep per night and take measures to ensure your quality of sleep is as good as it can be. If possible, go to bed early at least one night per week
 

No matter what your age, too little sleep and too-late bedtimes may result in weight gain according to new research.

Babies, toddler and preschoolers need plenty of sleep and when they don’t get enough, it takes a toll. Due to busier schedules and more casual bedtimes, kids these days are sleeping less than their parents did at similar ages and going to bed later.

It has been shown that quality of sleep is very much linked to metabolism and any disruption could lead to weight gain in the long run.

A recent study conducted on young adults and adolescents showed that a later bedtime was associated with weight gain regardless of the total hours of sleep. This could be due to a number of possible causes such as eating meals later in the day. In a study conducted last year in Akron, Ohio it was found that there are significant associations between sleep quality, duration, bedtime stability and obesity.

“There is a strong relationship between sleep duration and obesity in both children and adults, in particular between short sleep and obesity,” says Dr Nathaniel Watson, president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

Not only is the quality of sleep important but also the time of day. Nighttime sleep is associated with the release of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep-wake cycles. In addition, untreated sleep disorders such as sleep apnea can reduce people’s motivation to exercise and […]

By |March 2nd, 2016|Health & Wellbeing, Nutrition, Research, Uncategorized, Weight Loss|0 Comments
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Late-night snacking may have an effect on your memory

Key Message: Eating at the wrong time of day can have a negative impact on your learning and memory

Action Point: Avoid late-night snacking and consume bigger meals earlier in the day.  If you must eat late at night, opt for healthier options
 

If it’s past your bedtime, then its probably best to avoid the fridge.

It has already been proven that eating late at night has negative effects on your body’s metabolic health from weight gain to an increased risk of diabetes and heart problems.

Now, for the first time, a new study conducted at the University of California, Los Angeles, suggests that late-night eating can cause damage to our brains, too. The research showed that eating food during hours when people are usually asleep can negatively impact the hippocampus – the part of the brain where memories are formed.

“We believe that late-night snacking may affect our learning capabilities by affecting the parts of the brain responsible for learning and memory” Dr. Dawn Loh, a project scientist at the university and lead author of the study. ”The timing of food consumption is what we believe to be the primary cause of the impaired memory that we describe.”

Their findings, published in the journal eLife, demonstrate how important a healthy eating routine is to memory as midnight munching may reduce our ability to learn new things and store memories.

By consuming food at the ‘wrong’ time of day, we cause misalignment between the various clocks in the brain and body. Researchers believe this may be due to reduced levels of a protein called CREB, which is key for your body’s internal clock and your brain’s ability to form memories.

CREB, regulates some genes involved in both the circadian clock and in […]

By |February 28th, 2016|Health & Wellbeing, Nutrition, Research|0 Comments
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Your diet affects your Grandchildren’s DNA

Key Message: Diet can alter the nature of one’s DNA
Action Point: Eat a healthy, well balanced diet prior to conception to reduce the risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome
We all know the age-old saying, “ you are what you eat”. Well now according to new studies, you are what your mother, father, grandparents and great-grandparents ate.

There has been much speculation about the ability of diet to alter the nature of your DNA, however researchers in two independent studies have found ways in which this is likely happening.

Epigenetics may help explain the increased risk that children face and the reason why poor dietary habits may be doing your offspring harm, despite how healthy they will try to eat.

A new study in the Netherlands showed the diet of human adults induces changes in all cells, including sperm and egg cells, which can be passed on to offspring. While such effects on a single generation have been known, what is still missing is an understanding of how such information is remembered from generation to generation.

The common belief is that during the process of cell division, all epigenetic markers are erased. However according to author Josep C. Jimenez-Chillaron of the Paediatric Hospital Sant Joan de Deu, in Spain his work and the work of many others “suggests that this is not completely true.” He says, “Although the majority of epigenetic markers are erased, some markers are spared for unknown reasons.”

Although the evidence is still inconclusive, another study conducted in Poland, speculates that nutrients, which affect the chromatin, can also cause mutations, both good and bad.

More experiments are needed however if mothers and fathers eat more omega-3 fatty acids, choline, betaine, folic acid and vitamin B12, these nutrients can […]

By |February 24th, 2016|Fertility, Health & Wellbeing, Naturopathy, Nutrition, Preconception & Pregnancy, Research|0 Comments
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What affects your baby’s development in the womb?

Have you ever wondered how much of a baby’s development in the womb is determined by genes passed on from parents, compared with the mother’s nutrition, mental health and lifestyle?

Well now, an international study published in Genome Research, has used an analysis of genetic DNA marks to measure exactly this.

The combination of our genes and our experiences at the beginning of our lifetimes, inside the womb affect our health throughout our lives.

The link between a baby’s development in the womb and its risk of obesity and heart disease later in life is thought to be linked to epigenetics and DNA methylation markers.

This research provides important evidence showing most of the variations between babies come from the combination of the environment experienced in the womb and the genetic information passed on from their parents.

According to Professor Godfrey, from National University of Singapore, “development in the womb can be likened to an orchestra, in which genes are the instruments and epigenetic changes are the musicians who determine how the baby is formed.”

The Singapore GUSTO Birth Cohort Study, led by researchers at A*STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) in collaboration with the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, used samples of umbilical cord DNA which showed that genetic differences alone explained only 25% of the epigenetic variation between babies.

This is the world’s first study using DNA to estimate how big a role the prenatal envi-ronment plays in a child’s development and how much is simply genetically determined.

This is an extremely important study as the findings are likely to revolutionise the un-derstanding of gene-environment interactions in early life and how a mother’s nutrition and lifestyle have long lasting effects on the health of her children.

So watch this […]

By |February 21st, 2016|Children, Health & Wellbeing, Nutrition, Preconception & Pregnancy, Research|0 Comments
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Decrease the risk of childhood eczema with probiotics

With the incidence of childhood eczema at almost one in five babies in Australia, a study has showed astounding results for mums and bubs alike. Eczema is debilitating and heart breaking but there is now proof certain strains of probiotics can help.

In this study, 415 pregnant women were divided into two groups. From 36 weeks of pregnancy until 12 weeks post birth, one group took a probiotic milk supplement while the others were given a placebo.

The researchers evaluated the children at six years of age and assessed them for eczema, asthma, allergic rhino conjunctivitis, and atopic sensitisation. There was a statistically significant 52% decrease in the risk of eczema in the probiotic group.

References

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4522068/

By |February 17th, 2016|Children, Gut health, Health & Wellbeing, Nutrition, Preconception & Pregnancy, Research|0 Comments
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Our top 5 Healthy summer snacks for kids

With summer fast approaching it’s time to rejoice and harness the energy of the sun.
Healthy summer snacks are key to keeping your child well nourished during holiday season. Young children need energy to help them grow, develop and reach their maximum potential. When children get hungry, not only does their behaviour and moods change but they can easily turn to quick unhealthy snacks to satisfy their needs.

With a little bit of planning, you can keep your child on track for a healthy summer with some healthy and tasty snacks to nibble on! A great way to get them onboard with the selections is to involve them in the planning.

Food has to be fun and tasty. Give them options. When they decide, it gives them a feeling of control and they are less likely to refuse eating.

It is important that the snack foods you provide are healthy, low in sugar, fat(do you mean pro inflammatory?) and salt. Being a role model and buying food that is healthy will go a long way in shaping your child’s relationship with food too.
Here are a few fast and easy ideas to get you started:

Smoothies – these are perfect for the hot days ahead. Simply blend yoghurt, milk and fruit such as bananas and berries. They also make a great power breakfast in the morning. Get some silly straws to make them even more fun.
Frozen fruit ( e.g oranges, bananas, watermelon and grapes)
Cheese slices or cheese sticks either on their own or with low fat crackers
Homemade frozen yoghurt icy-poles. Blend natural yogurt and fruit, pour mixture into icy-pole moulds, freeze and enjoy. A great alternative to ice cream on those hot days.
Carrot, zucchini or celery sticks combined with healthy […]

By |February 14th, 2016|Children, Health & Wellbeing, Nutrition|0 Comments
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How to Heal Your Adrenals Naturally

How to Heal Your Adrenals Naturally

Adrenal fatigue is one of the most under diagnosed illnesses in western society. Download a copy of my free ebook to learn about the symptoms and how to heal your Adrenals naturally.

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