The vaginal area has its own distinct microbiome community which differs from the other microbiomes; the gut and the skin. An imbalance (termed dysbiosis) of the vaginal flora can play a large role in infertility, frequent miscarriage, endometriosis, frequent urinary tract infections, bacterial vaginosis, itching and pain.

Read on to find out more including the screening and products I personally recommend

Intermittent Fasting has become the new buzz word, 5:2, 16:8 - are you confused? I’m not surprised! In this week’s blog I explain what these terms mean and represent. Fasting is generally defined as: the abstinence from or limitation of food, drink or both. There are three main categories of fasting: time restricted fasting; intermittent fasting; and short term and prolonged or periodic fasting.

“I’m allergic to gluten and diary”, is a common thing I hear from both my clients and just generally in social circles. This whole area can be a very confusing topic, so, I am putting pen to paper and this blog post is designed to help you understand the difference between an allergic food reaction, food sensitivities or intolerances and whether you might benefit from testing.

The Gastrointestinal tract, or “gut” as it is more commonly termed has may roles and mechanisms.

When assessing clients that come to see me with functional digestive disorders, rather than focus on what specific disease they may or may not have, I endeavour to assess and restore normal function across all the digestive process, which is best broken down into 5 areas of function.

We read in a report this month from Public Health England, that nearly 12 million people – about one in eight adults in England – are taking medicines for pain, depression or insomnia, which they can find hard to stop. Shockingly, half have been on these medicines for a year or more and more than a fifth for over three years. Prescribing rates are 1.5 times higher for women than for men.

The poor potato is often marked as being an unhealthy food that is high in starchy carbohydrates and therefore off the menu for those that want to lose weight or following a lower glycemic index form of diet. However, while potatoes are high in easily digestible starch that can lead to blood sugar spikes, they are also high in resistant starch, especially when cooked and then cooled, and this has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity.

I initially saw this client in April 2018. She wanted to work with me to uncover root causes for her chronic eczema which was really quite pronounced on her face, her weight, and to reduce the increasing amount of time she was experiencing hives.

She had been prescribed numerous topical creams for her eczema, all to no avail. After taking a detailed case history, as I do with all new clients, I ran a comprehensive metabolic blood test - why? 

A popular theory of the pathophysiology of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is that it’s caused by bacteria in the colon moving up into the small intestine due to a faulty ileocecal valve (a valve that separates the distal (last) section of the small intestine, the ileum with the colon). It therefore makes great deal of sense to me, that we consider the oral microbiome far more.

In the words of Debbie Harry…… “The tide is high” and with regards to SIBO the landscape of this condition is most certainly….  moving on, rather than holding on!