Camberwell Naturopathic

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How can naturopathy help?

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The practice of naturopathy continually evolves, however the primary focus is to stimulate the body’s natural ability to heal by addressing the root cause of a health concern.

The Consult

We spend time with the patient, to understand what their health concerns are, and undertake a full health history including information about family history, lifestyle, and diet.

The naturopathic consult includes comprehensive case taking in order to determine the root cause of a health concern rather than rely on one single diagnosis. The naturopathic consultation time (usually one hour) is longer than a standard appointment at the GP. This allows the naturopath enough time to take a case history, discover any obstacles to health, and provide an appropriate prescription and treatment plan.

The concept of bioindividuality is important to the naturopath; that all individuals have a unique interaction with their nutritional and external environment. Naturopathic assessment involves dietary, lifestyle, occupational, social, environmental, and emotional considerations and their impact on health. Follow up consultations allow for treatments to be modified and tailored to suit the client and how their body responds to treatment.

The art of holistic naturopathic healing encompasses the modalities of herbal medicine, clinical nutrition, and nutritional supplementation. The addition of flower remedies, iridology assessments, tissue salts, and celloids allows further flexibility in treatment prescriptions and restorative agents. Specific pathology is addressed through the use of modern functional testing, which allows the practitioner the confidence to manage cases with the most appropriate therapeutic prescription.

Integrative Pathology and Functional Testing

Examples of integrative pathology and functional tests that assist the naturopath in diagnosis and treatment are: endocrinology analyses, CDSA, gut permeability tests, allergy testing (IgG/IgA,IgE), mould and biotoxin exposure, cardiovascular analyses, nutritional analyses, methylation testing, heavy metal and mineral analyses, genomic assessments, as well as standard routine pathology such as Full Blood Examination, liver function tests, and iron studies.

Finding the cause

As natural medicine practitioners, we treat the whole person and believe that disease processes occurs when there is imbalance or dysfunction in the body. This means that illness is viewed as a process of disturbance to health, and as naturopathic practitioners we aim to find the cause of the disturbance and root cause of the dysfunction.

Yvette is a qualified Melbourne-based Naturopath and Nutritionist, MINDD Practitioner, member of the Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia, and Complementary Medicine Association. Yvette specialises in the treatment of conditions commonly affecting women and children, with a key interest in children’s digestive and neurological conditions, as well as women’s hormonal concerns, digestive issues, fatigue, anxiety, and skin concerns. Yvette consults in Camberwell and South Yarra, Melbourne, as well as Australia-wide via skype/zoom/phone. Book here. 

The Naturopathic Co. Melbourne Naturopath 2020 South Yarra Naturopath, Prahran Naturopath, Toorak Naturopath, Armadale Naturopath, Malvern Naturopath, Richmond Naturopath, Cremorne Naturopath, Collingwood Naturopath, Kew Naturopath, Hawthorn Naturopath, Camberwell Naturopath

Exercise for wellbeing

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We all know that exercise is good for our health, but what are some of the negative health outcomes to a sedentary lifestyle?

Sitting accelerates ageing. According to studies, it increases your risk of conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular events, even organ damage (heart, pancreas, colon), accelerates muscle decline, contributes to weak bones (osteopenia and osteoporosis) and even just one day of prolonged sitting lowers your insulin response.

A fair few women discuss the issue of belly fat during consultations. This can be a combination of things (bloating, diet, hormones, metabolism etc) but can also be a result of prolonged sitting and under-exercising. 

When you slump in a chair, abdominal muscles go slack while lower back muscles tighten leading to a swayback. The sway in your lower back pushes on the abdomen, and your hip flexors are too tight to pull the belly back into the core. The result is a bulging belly. Exercise helps to get the hip flexors working again, tucking your belly in behind your abdominal muscles where it belongs. Exercise also helps with detoxification of course. Without exercise, our lymphatic network is not moving around our body, so waste just accumulates, contributing to inflammation and all kinds of health issues.

The top ten reasons we don’t exercise: 
1. No time 2. Easily bored 3. Not a morning person 4. Neglecting family 5. Too tired after work 6. Don’t know what to do 7. Too sick 8. No follow through 9. I’ll start tomorrow 10. Lazy

It’s always good to have a reminder of the importance of exercise for: mental health, sleep, detoxification, lower body weight (visceral fat), better waist circumference, better adiponectin levels (the hormone that burns fat), improved cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and overall general health and prevention. 

Yvette is a qualified Melbourne-based Naturopath and Nutritionist, MINDD Practitioner, member of the Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia, and Complementary Medicine Association. Yvette specialises in the treatment of conditions commonly affecting women and children, with a key interest in children’s digestive and neurological conditions, as well as women’s hormonal concerns, digestive issues, fatigue, anxiety, and skin concerns. Yvette consults in Camberwell and South Yarra, Melbourne, as well as Australia-wide via skype/zoom/phone. Book here. 

The Naturopathic Co. Melbourne Naturopath 2020 South Yarra Naturopath, Prahran Naturopath, Toorak Naturopath, Armadale Naturopath, Malvern Naturopath, Richmond Naturopath, Cremorne Naturopath, Collingwood Naturopath, Kew Naturopath, Hawthorn Naturopath, Camberwell Naturopath

Hello Spring, Hello Hayfever

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Now that it’s Springtime, I’m seeing a lot of patients with the return of their seasonal hayfever. Some days are worse than others (recent windy weather in Melbourne was contributing to an increase in symptoms). 

The strength of your immune response (and its sensitivity level) is linked to how much else it needs to tolerate and deal with on a daily basis. 

For example, if you have food sensitivities and you continually expose yourself to these foods without realising, then you are burdening your immune system. 

If you have leaky gut and/or pathogens in your gut in high numbers (for example, opportunistic bacteria such as Streptococcus or  Staphylococcus, or yeast such as Candida albicans, or parasites such as Dientamoeba fragilis) then your immune system is already burdened with the task of keeping those in check. 

If you are under significant stress, then we know that the immune response is altered by stress. Studies have shown a dampened immune response under stressful conditions. 

If you are under-slept, then we know that you immune response will be less able to tolerate the onslaught of sensitivities, whether pollen, dust, grass. 

The general health of our gut is so important in our immune response. We know that the majority of our immunity is found in the gut, and therefore a healthy gut with the right balance and diversity in bacterial strains is so important for our immunity. When our gut bacteria becomes out of balance (good bacteria vs bad bacteria), or we have made a lot of poor food choices (which burdens the liver), or drinking excessive alcohol, general maldigestion or stress, all cause the health of our gut to plummet – which means a healthy immune response is also compromised. 

Naturopaths will take a look at your overall health, including all of these aspects mentioned above, in order to determine how we can strengthen your immune response (by addressing the underlying cause/s of weakened/dysfunctional immunity). 

So don’t just suffer through your hayfever symptoms, and try not to take antihistamines every day and hope it will just go away. Many of these antihistamines will be causing further problems. 

Make a time with your naturopath for a full health check, where we will find the underlying causes of immune dysfunction and correct them for you. 

Yvette is a qualified Melbourne-based Naturopath and Nutritionist, MINDD Practitioner, member of the Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia, and Complementary Medicine Association. Yvette specialises in the treatment of conditions commonly affecting women and children, with a key interest in children’s digestive and neurological conditions, as well as women’s hormonal concerns, digestive issues, fatigue, anxiety, and skin concerns. Yvette consults in Camberwell and South Yarra, as well as Australia-wide via skype/zoom/phone. Book here. 

Telomere length, and the best approach to anti ageing

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Telomeres are the caps at the end of each strand of DNA that protect our chromosomes, and as we age, our telomeres shorten. Research has shown that people who closely follow a Mediterranean style diet have longer telomeres due to the high anti-inflammatory component of the diet, as well as higher antioxidant intake. Certain types of food intake (processed food, sugars, trans fats etc) have been shown to accelerate telomere shortening, but there are also other lifestyle factors that play a part in health and aging by altering the rate of telomere shortening.

Stress accelerates telomere shortening and aging

Stress is associated with release of cortisol hormones by the adrenal gland. These hormones have been shown to reduce the levels of antioxidant proteins therefore contribute to higher oxidative damage to DNA as well as accelerated telomere shortening. One study showed that women with higher chronic stress levels had evidence of increased oxidative pressure, reduced telomerase activity, and shorter telomeres relative to the women in the control group. In addition to this, the difference in telomere length in these two groups of women was equivalent to 10 years of life.

Dietary intake of antioxidants reduces the rate of telomere shortening

A study showed that a diet containing antioxidant is associated with reduced rate of telomere shortening, whereas a lack of these antioxidants correlates with increased rate of telomere shortening, as antioxidants such as vitamin E, vitamin C, and beta-carotene reduce the rate of telomere shortening. Antioxidants can protect telomeric DNA from oxidative damage caused by free radicals.

Dietary restriction reduces the pace of aging

Dietary restriction or eating less has a positive impact on health and longevity. Reducing food intake reduces oxidative burden and reduces damage to DNA as well as delays the onset of age-associated disease. The reduction in oxidative stress by dietary restriction preserves telomeres and other cellular components.

Impact of fiber, fat, and protein on telomeres

Telomere length correlates with dietary intake of fiber and is negatively associated with waist circumference and dietary intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Reduction in protein intake of food also seems to increase longevity in telomeres.

Smoking may influence telomere shortening and accelerate ageing

Smoking is associated with accelerated telomere shortening, and the dosage of cigarette smoking is shown to negatively correlate with telomere length. Interestingly, the telomeres in most cancer cells are shorter relative to normal cells.

Obesity is associated with excessive telomere shortening

Obesity is also associated with increased oxidative stress and DNA damage. Studies show that waist circumference and BMI correlate with biomarkers of DNA damage, independent of age.

Exercise may preserve telomeres and reduce the pace of ageing

Studies have demonstrated that duration of exercise inversely correlates with biomarkers for damage to DNA and telomeres. Exercise reduces harmful fat and helps to detoxify the body, leading to reduced oxidative stress and preservation of DNA and telomeres.

Yvette is a qualified Melbourne-based Naturopath and Nutritionist, MINDD Practitioner, member of the Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia, and Complementary Medicine Association. Yvette specialises in the treatment of conditions commonly affecting women and children, with a key interest in children’s digestive and neurological conditions, as well as women’s hormonal concerns, digestive issues, fatigue, anxiety, and skin concerns. Yvette consults in Camberwell and South Yarra, Melbourne, as well as Australia-wide via skype/zoom/phone. Book here. 

The Naturopathic Co. Melbourne Naturopath 2020 South Yarra Naturopath, Prahran Naturopath, Toorak Naturopath, Armadale Naturopath, Malvern Naturopath, Richmond Naturopath, Cremorne Naturopath, Collingwood Naturopath, Kew Naturopath, Hawthorn Naturopath, Camberwell Naturopath