I am a proud sponsor of Birth Choices Expo. I believe everyone should have access to the information they need in order to make informed decisions about parenting. Parenting is one of the most rewarding, challenging and empowering things you can ever do. As I specialise in women’s health this means that I spend a lot of time with families, pregnant women and their babies.The journey of preconception, pregnancy and birth can be greatly facilitated with naturopathic care and that is what I will be focusing on at the expo. I present regularly to doulas and midwives and share with them how natural medicine benefits their women.Birth Choices Expo’s aim is to make information about pregnancy, birth & parenting more accessible so that you can make the right choices for you & your baby and experience the joy of parenting.You will have the opportunity, in a relaxed atmosphere, to meet with:• Independent Midwives• Birth Centre Midwives• Doulas• Natural Health Practitioners• Parenting Experts• Other parents, including dads at the Men at Birth table• Plus enjoy speakers, food, free show bags & more…So, put the date aside in your diary, grab your friends and come to see me at the Expo. I will have a few surprise give aways on the night but you will have to be there!
New Study Results – Iodine Proven to Help Even Mildly Deficient Children
This is a fascinating study – the researchers looked at how supplemental iodine improves the intellectual capacity of mildly iodine deficient children. You will know by now about the ground breaking study that was published in 2006 which demonstrated the link between iodine deficiency and intellectual capacity in Australian school children. This study goes a little further and looked at mildly deficient (63ug/L) 10 – 13 year olds. By supplementing with 150mcgr/day of iodine, perceptual reasoning improved. Perceptual reasoning includes visual perception, organisation and reasoning – this covers non verbal communication and an ability to be “street smart”.The children took iodine for 28 weeks and their iodine increased from 63 to 145 and compared to the control group these kids had an improved intellectual capacity. So, as iodine is measured in the urine, it is an easy and non invasive test for little ones. I strongly recommend that you ask a naturopath to organise your child to be tested and then supplement as necessary.Iodine supplementation improves cognition in mildly iodine-deficient children.BACKGROUND: The effects of severe iodine deficiency during critical periods of brain development are well documented. There is little known about the consequences of milder forms of iodine deficiency on neurodevelopment. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to determine whether supplementing mildly iodine-deficient children with iodine improves cognition. DESIGN: A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial was conducted in 184 children aged 10-13 y in Dunedin, New Zealand. Children were randomly assigned to receive a daily tablet containing either 150 microg I or placebo for 28 wk. Biochemical, anthropometric, and dietary data were collected from each child at baseline and after 28 wk. Cognitive performance was assessed through 4 subtests from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. RESULTS: […]
Food As an Antidepressant
A very interesting study from the University College London in the UK followed 3,486 people for five years. At the end of five years, they matched their depression to their diet.They found that the most depressed individuals consumed “processed food” (heavily loaded by sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products). In contrast, the least depressed people consumed a diet of “whole foods” (heavily loaded by vegetables, fruits and fish).Depression is a surprisingly common symptom. Before you turn to pharmaceutical antidepressants, start with changing your foods. If you eat a healthy diet your depression may subside. I strongly encourage you to take a good hard look at your diet – the best and most effective way is to write a food/mood diary and begin to notice any trends that appear. How did you feel an hour after you ate that coffee and banana bread this morning?I always see improvements in mood when the processed nutrient-poor food is removed and replaced with whole, organic and nutrient rich foods.Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle ageBACKGROUND: Studies of diet and depression have focused primarily on individual nutrients. AIMS: To examine the association between dietary patterns and depression using an overall diet approach. METHOD: Analyses were carried on data from 3486 participants (26.2% women, mean age 55.6 years) from the Whitehall II prospective cohort, in which two dietary patterns were identified: ‘whole food’ (heavily loaded by vegetables, fruits and fish) and ‘processed food’ (heavily loaded by sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products). Self-reported depression was assessed 5 years later using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression (CES-D) scale. RESULTS: After adjusting for potential confounders, participants in […]
Food As an Antidepressant
A very interesting study from the University College London in the UK followed 3,486 people for five years. At the end of five years, they matched their depression to their diet.
They found that the most depressed individuals consumed “processed food” (heavily loaded by sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products). In contrast, the least depressed people consumed a diet of “whole foods” (heavily loaded by vegetables, fruits and fish).
Depression is a surprisingly common symptom. Before you turn to pharmaceutical antidepressants, start with changing your foods. If you eat a healthy diet your depression may subside. I strongly encourage you to take a good hard look at your diet – the best and most effective way is to write a food/mood diary and begin to notice any trends that appear. How did you feel an hour after you ate that coffee and banana bread this morning?
I always see improvements in mood when the processed nutrient-poor food is removed and replaced with whole, organic and nutrient rich foods.
Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age
BACKGROUND: Studies of diet and depression have focused primarily on individual nutrients. AIMS: To examine the association between dietary patterns and depression using an overall diet approach. METHOD: Analyses were carried on data from 3486 participants (26.2% women, mean age 55.6 years) from the Whitehall II prospective cohort, in which two dietary patterns were identified: ‘whole food’ (heavily loaded by vegetables, fruits and fish) and ‘processed food’ (heavily loaded by sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products). Self-reported depression was assessed 5 years later using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies – Depression (CES-D) scale. RESULTS: After adjusting for potential confounders, participants in […]
Did You Realise Your Teenager is Sleep Deprived?
The teenage years are a time when school, homework, extracurricular activities, active social lives and part time jobs keep kids busy from early in the morning until late at night. They are likely to try to make up for a lack of sleep by “sleeping in” on the weekends. Unfortunately this contributes to an irregular sleep schedule and actually makes the problem worse, setting them up for a kind of jet lag when Monday morning rolls around.In addition to having difficulty turning off the worries of their day, most teens show signs of delayed circadian rhythms –which contribute to their inability to fall asleep until later at night. During puberty, the biological clock in their brain naturally sets to a later time. The pineal gland releases melatonin later at night and this causes teens to fall sleep later.Then, when it’s time to get up, a teenager’s body clock is likely to still be producing the night time hormones. This makes it hard for them to feel active and energetic in the morning. Since many teens aren’t sleepy until around 11.00pm, but need to be at school by 7.30 or 8.00 they do not get an adequate amount of sleep.A growing body of research suggests that starting high school later, more in line with their natural body rhythms, improves attendance, achievement, and grades and reduces tardiness, in a landmark study a few years ago, the morning school bell was delayed for an hour in Edina, Minnesota. As a result, test scores on the SAT college entrance exams jumped more than 100 points on average. Unfortunately, most schools are not set up to start later and accommodate teen’s sleep needs.Lack of sleep can be very dangerous […]
Asthmatic Children Benefit From Supplements
Recent research has highlighted the nutritional deficiencies that affect Asthmatic kids. In a randomised, double blind trial, 60 asthmatic kids with an average age of 8, were supplemented with omega 3 fatty acids ( EPA & DHA), zinc and vitamin C. All three nutrients were associated with significant improvements in asthma measures, lung function and inflammatory sputum markers. Improvements occurred with single and combination supplementation. Omega 3 and zinc have an anti-inflammatory effect with vitamin C counteracting viruses and bacteria. Asthma is a multifactorial disease process with genetic, allergic, infectious, environmental, emotional and nutritional components. The underlying pathology of asthma is airway inflammation. Asthma is characterized by episodic airway obstruction, increased bronchial responsiveness and airway inflammation.The main symptoms include:? spasm of smooth muscle around the airways? oedema of mucosa in airways? increased mucous secretion? Injury or airway epithelial tissueImportance of Friendly BacteriaInfant and prenatal supplementation with probiotics such as Lactobacilli may help reduce the development of atopic disease. This is particularly important as optimal intestinal microflora may play a protective role by reducing the transport of antigens through the intestinal mucosa. Furthermore, probiotic supplementation during lactation may increase the immunoprotective potential of breast milk. I have seen many times the powerful benefits of probiotic supplementation of both mother and baby. The important thing is to ensure that you are both taking the correct strains of probiotic and also are getting enough probiotic (fuel source for the probiotics!) as well. I often put mothers on probiotics in the last trimester of pregnancy – not only to avoid Strep B but also to decrease the incidence of asthma, eczema and food allergies in their baby. Talk to me at your next consult about this. Omega-3 fatty […]
