As the effects of COVID-19 (coronavirus) continue to impact the lives of us all, we want to update you on what we are doing to support you, your health and safety during this difficult time.

Our clinic is following Australian Health Department Guidelines and continues to run as close to normal as possible.

We are classified as Medical and Allied health Services and under the new stage 4 restrictions permitted to continue to provide the health services we offer..

Phone or Zoom/Skype Consultations

We offer as usual a full in house clinic service at 1 Ward street Ashburton, however if you prefer we also offer Phone and Skype/Zoom consultations.

So, yes we are open to take care of your health needs with normal clinic hours, not only with existing health concerns, but with advice on how best support your immune system during this Pandemic.

Evidence of Appointment

If you plan an in clinic appointment, please bring the text message reminder with you. This will provide the evidence of your appointment if questioned.

Waiting Room

We have always done our best to limit your time in the waiting room. We may ask you to wait in your car if anyone else is waiting. Please come into the clinic by yourself, unless you are under the age of 18 or have a disability and need assistance.

Products

We also offer postal delivery services of products via Australia Express Post. You are also welcome to pick up health products from the clinic.. please ring the order through beforehand and we can have the order waiting for pick up. We are well prepared and well stocked. 

Self Care

This is a stressful time for everyone. Many stress releasing activities such as social gatherings, hobbies, gyms, concerts are temporarily closed. Do what you can to connect with friends and relatives via phone and social media.

Make time for walking in the fresh air, meditation, catching up on reading or other projects that have been put on hold.

I also feel strongly that nutrition plays a big role in not only immune health but in health generally. Maintaining good routines with exercise, sleep, fresh clean meals and appropriate targeted nutrients will go a long way in ensuring we all meet this challenge as best we can. Nutrients like Vit C, D and Zinc along with immune boosting herbs have a big role to play here.

Thank you for your support as we work to protect the health and safety of our patients, staff and visitors.

Kind regards

Luke Clarke: – ND, ANTA, Wellbeing Institute of Australia

Are you part of the 38% of the world’s population that is affected by chronic pain? If so, you know firsthand how it can reduce your quality of life, and take a detrimental toll on your physical and emotional health. If you’re at the point of feeling like you’ve tried everything, read on to learn about a compound that may be the pain-reliving answer you’ve been searching for. But first, let’s take a look at how chronic pain develops in the first place.

When tissues become injured or damaged, which occurs in fibromyalgia, arthritis, neuropathy, musculoskeletal disorders (and many more conditions), there are a multitude of systems, cells and chemical messengers that coordinate to create inflammation and the sensation of pain at the site of injury. In the ideal scenario, once the tissue is repaired, an orchestra of cells and compounds also work to slow and eventually turn off these responses, returning the body to normal. Unfortunately, when the body cannot resolve this tissue damage, turn off this inflammatory response, or reduce the amount of pain signals produced, chronic pain develops.

The Power of PEA

The powerful compound that works to reduce inflammation and pain, which I hinted at above, is called palmitoylethanolamide, or, PEA. Have you heard of it before? 

If not, PEA is a natural, fat-soluble molecule produced by humans, animals and plants, and can be found in foods such as meat, eggs, soy and peanuts. It is produced on demand when pain or inflammation are created within your body, acting to reduce their levels and helps to bring your body back into balance (homeostasis).

PEA is a natural, fat-soluble molecule produced by humans, animals and plants, and can be found in foods such as meat, eggs, soy and peanuts.

It does this by supporting a system you also may not have heard of before, called the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The ECS is made up of compounds and receptors that predominantly work on your brain, spine and immune system, communicating with them to reduce the sensation of pain and the production of inflammatory cells.

Specifically, PEA works to stimulate or increase the activity of the ECS, spurring it on when there is this pain to relieve or inflammation to dampen. However, if the pain or inflammation becomes chronic, PEA levels can become depleted, restricting the benefits it can provide.

For this reason, people with chronic pain may choose to supplement with PEA, to make up for what their body is struggling to produce. Being that PEA can already be made by your body, it is considered very safe to take, and has been shown in numerous clinical trials to assist a broad variety of pain-related conditions at several different doses.

What the Research Says

PEA has demonstrated its pain-relieving effects in the following conditions:

• Fibromyalgia (FM): 35 patients with FM, already taking pain medications, took 600 mg/d of PEA for 12 weeks. Results showed PEA reduced their overall pain. The average number of painful body points also decreased from eight to one.
• Osteoarthritis (OA): 111 people with mild or moderate knee OA received 600 mg/d of PEA for 8 weeks, and at the end of the trial, their knee pain and stiffness reduced by 53.7%, compared to 25% in the placebo group.
• Diabetic neuropathy: A 600 mg/d dose of PEA across 8 weeks reduced the intensity and presence of pain, pins and needles, burning and numbness in 30 people with diabetic neuropathy.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS): 50 patients took 1,200 mg/d of PEA for 8 weeks, experiencing a decrease in the pain intensity of their CTS, compared to people who didn’t take PEA, whose pain actually increased.
• Sciatica: 636 sciatica participants who were prescribed 600 mg/d of PEA for 21 days reported their pain reduced and quality of life improved.

A 600 mg/d dose of PEA across 8 weeks reduced the intensity and presence of pain, pins and needles, burning and numbness in 30 people with diabetic neuropathy.

PEA: The Missing Puzzle Piece?

If you’re suffering from chronic pain, PEA could be the missing puzzle piece in your pain management plan.

Whilst PEA does not carry with it many interactions with medications, I always recommend discussing your unique case with a healthcare Practitioner, to ensure PEA is appropriate for you. Further, as PEA is fat soluble, it’s also important you’re prescribed a type of supplemental PEA that enables it to become more water soluble, so your digestive system (which is also water-soluble), can absorb it properly.

Having seen PEA’s wonderful benefits in patients with conditions such as those we’ve been through above, I’d suggest to give it a go to see the pain relief you could experience too!

What do a cold, depression, and hayfever have in common? If you said “they’re all health conditions”, or even “they’re all inflammatory health conditions”, you would be right. However, there is something more unusual that connects the three.

Give up?

All three are influenced by your gut microbiome, the microorganisms that call your digestive tract ‘home’. You may be wondering how these tiny gut inhabitants could have any bearing on your throat, joints, and/or brain. In this article, we will find out how your gut influences these seemingly unrelated areas, as well as how to prevent your gut from making you sick, sad or inflamed.

Cold-Busting Colleagues: Your Gut and Immune System Work Hand-in-Hand

Your immune system’s main job is to defend you from pathogens (disease-causing microorganisms). Since pathogens are typically inhaled or swallowed, it makes sense for the immune system to concentrate on your respiratory and digestive tracts. In fact, 70% of the immune system is housed in your gut. It lies beneath the lining of your intestines, ready to spring into action if a pathogen enters your gut, to try to prevent you getting sick.

By contrast, some bacteria have a positive influence on your immune system. A healthy gut microbiome interacts with the intestinal immune system in ways that increase your body’s immune defences. However, a microbiome out of balance, which does not contain high levels of beneficial bacteria, is less likely to help you resist infection, including colds and flu.

Fortunately, certain strains (types) of probiotic bacteria improve the bacterial balance in your gut, with beneficial flow-on effects for your immune system. Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG), Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus plantarum all stimulate the immune system and improve resistance to infection. In fact, the combination has been shown to reduce the severity and duration of common cold symptoms. If you struggle with frequent colds and flu, working with a natural healthcare Practitioner to strengthen your gut microbiome may help.

A healthy gut microbiome interacts with the intestinal immune system in ways that increase your body’s immune defences. However, a microbiome out of balance, which does not contain high levels of beneficial bacteria, is less likely to help you resist infection, including colds and flu.

Jumping at Shadows: The Overactive Immune System

Another possible consequence of poor gut bacterial balance is inflammation, a key feature of autoimmune (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis) and allergic disease (e.g. hayfever). In these conditions, the immune system misidentifies harmless substances as threats, and launches an immune response against them. The resulting inflammation creates the symptoms you associate with allergy and autoimmunity, e.g. a blocked nose and watering eyes in hayfever, or joint pain and swelling in rheumatoid arthritis.

Fortunately, certain probiotic strains, namely LGG and Lactobacillus paracasei, can stimulate your immune system to produce anti-inflammatory compounds, reducing inflammation and symptoms. For example, research in hundreds of people has shown that  Lactobacillus paracasei significantly improves hayfever symptoms. Interestingly, LGG, when taken during pregnancy and breastfeeding, can reduce the incidence of eczema (an inflammatory skin disease) in children, by supporting the healthy development of the gut microbiome and the immune system. If your immune system is in overdrive, make an appointment with a natural healthcare Practitioner to help bring it back into line.

Gut Feelings: How Bacteria Make or Break Your Mood

More and more research is supporting an unexpected cause of depression: inflammation. Specifically, inflammation throughout the body (known as systemic inflammation), and even inflammation of the brain, may contribute to depression.

As you have already learned, the interaction between bad gut bacteria and the immune system can cause inflammation. However, did you know that the inflammatory chemicals released within your gut can also cause an inflammatory response in your brain?

If gut inflammation can influence mood, you may be wondering if specific probiotics can improve mood or reduce the symptoms of depression. While this is a hot topic in scientific research, we do not currently know which specific probiotic strains can influence mood. However, a good start in supporting healthy mood is taking steps to reduce inflammation in the body.

What we do know is maximising your gut health, e.g. by eating plenty of fibre-rich wholefoods (to provide your gut bacteria with their preferred food), can also increase the numbers of good bacteria, which is the best way to influence your mood via your gut. If your bacterial balance has become disrupted due to a stomach bug, antibiotics, or other causes, strains which support beneficial bacteria, such as LGG, Saccharomyces cerevisiae var. boulardii, and Bifidobacterium animalis ssp lactis  may help improve the composition of your gut microbiome.

Great Health is All in the Gut

By interacting with your immune system, your gut bacteria influences your ability to resist infection, reduce inflammation, and maintain a healthy mood. If you are wondering whether your gut may be making you sick, sad or inflamed, make an appointment with a natural healthcare Practitioner today. Together, you can assess your bacterial balance, and make a plan to improve your specific symptoms.

If uncomfortable bloating, constipation and smelly gas are a part of your daily life, chances are you’ve been looking for relief…

Did you know symptoms such as these often reflect a deeper issue related to your gut bacteria? For this reason, getting to the core of the problem requires an understanding of the complex relationship between the 38 trillion microorganisms living in your digestive tract (your microbiome), and you.

While that may sound like a big task, modern technology has made it possible for you to get to know your gut microbiome, allowing you to find out the number, type and function of the microorganisms that call your gut ‘home’. In this way, microbiome testing helps you discover how your unique microbial composition relates to your symptoms, and how to create harmony within your gut with the aid of a natural health Practitioner. Just as a road map helps you find the quickest route to your destination, a detailed ‘map’ of your microbiome can show you the best way to a healthy gut.

With the MetaBiome™ Microbiome Sampling Kit, you can get to the bottom of your digestive discomfort and receive guidance on how to manage it. This simple, easy-to-perform, at-home stool test delivers a detailed snapshot of your gut microbes, and how they might be causing your symptoms.

Microbiome ABCs

Your microbiome has been with you since day one, growing and developing throughout your life. Your microbiome supports your health in many ways, including:

• Breaking down the fibre from your meals, creating compounds known as short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that help keep your gut healthy and allow it to repair itself in cases of damage (e.g. gut infections);
• Using that broken down fibre to feed other beneficial species (a process known as cross-feeding, performed by certain bacterial species, such as Bifidobacteria species); and
• Producing essential vitamins, such as folate and vitamin B12, and feel-good brain chemicals, such as serotonin, for your body to use.

At the same time, these mechanisms help to maintain a healthy gut environment that best supports your microbiome, allowing your good bugs to thrive, and continue to nourish you. However many factors, including consuming a low fibre diet, or taking medications such as antibiotics, can negatively influence your levels of good bacteria, causing you to lose their beneficial functions. This usually means less beneficial species are able to take their place, and the resultant imbalance between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ species may be responsible for uncomfortable gut symptoms.

For this reason, testing can be useful. By finding out about the balance of beneficial versus non-beneficial species in your gut, you can discover how your microbiome may be helping, or hindering, your health.

Several microbiome markers can be used to determine the microbial causes driving your symptoms. Let us take a further look at these markers.

D is for Diversity

Having an abundance of different species enhances the health-promoting abilities of your microbiome. In fact, having a large number of diverse, beneficial bacteria is one of biggest factors in maintaining optimal gut health. A high level of bacterial diversity has been shown to reduce the risk of digestive symptoms, whilst a lower level of diversity has been linked with symptoms such as constipation, bloating and diarrhoea, due to a lack of functional and protective gut bacteria. The MetaBiome™ Microbiome Sampling Kit measures diversity, to help you and your Practitioner determine whether low diversity is keeping you from overcoming digestive issues.

A high level of bacterial diversity has been shown to reduce the risk of digestive symptoms, whilst a lower level of diversity has been linked with symptoms such as constipation, bloating and diarrhoea, due to a lack of functional and protective gut bacteria.

Unlocking Your Very Own Chamber of Microbiome Secrets

Certain bacteria are associated with gut symptoms, and discovering these bacteria within your microbiome can help guide your treatment. For example, having high levels of sulfide-producing bacteria (e.g. Bilophila wadsworthia) is a common culprit behind smelly gas (specifically, the kind that smells like sulfur), whilst methane-producers (e.g. Methanobrevibacter smithii) have been linked to constipation.

In addition, the MetaBiome™ Microbiome Sampling Kit can reveal the compounds your bacteria might be producing. For instance, helpful species will often produce high amounts of SCFAs, such as butyrate, which reduce inflammation, controls appetite and stimulates serotonin production. However, unhelpful species may produce high levels of harmful compounds, such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which can damage your gut lining, causing you symptoms such as abdominal pain.

Once you have mapped out the microorganisms in your gut and the compounds they produce, your healthcare Practitioner can help you strategically modify your microbiome (through food and strain-specific probiotics). This will enhance beneficial compounds and reduce damaging influences on your gut health, helping restore balance in your microbiome and reduce your symptoms.

Testing, Testing, One, Two…

Having access to cutting-edge microbiome testing that provides a detailed snapshot of your entire microbiome is a game changer. This is because it allows your healthcare Practitioner to combine their professional experience with information about your unique microbiome to create a personalised treatment plan to help you improve your digestive health.

The MetaBiome™ Microbiome Sampling Kit can illuminate which bacterial species are living in your gut, and how they may be contributing to your symptoms, allowing you to take control of your digestive issues and improve your overall wellbeing. Speak to a Practitioner about exploring your microbiome to resolve bloating, constipation and other gut symptoms for better health, today!

Sharing is caring – a delightful virtue when it comes to little humans; but when it is a plaguing cold or a nasty tummy bug, it can be nothing short of a family catastrophe! Whilst these kinds of experiences can help children build a robust immune system, evidence indicates that recurrent bouts of infection may be associated with a reduced presence of beneficial bacteria in the gut.

The bacteria (and the trillions of other microorganisms) in the gut, are known collectively as the gut microbiome, the health of which is essential for immune resilience and resistance to infection. These beneficial organisms directly interact with the immune system (a large proportion of which is also housed in the gut), helping to boost the overall immune response against pathogens. In other words, a healthy microbiome helps to build immune function, whilst a compromised microbiome reduces immune resilience.

Cultivating the Microbiome

Babies inherit their microbiome initially from vaginal flora at birth, in addition to skin -to- skin contact via breastmilk. This exposes infants to a wide range of bacterial species and specific carbohydrates (from breastmilk) that feed these bacteria, helping to establish a healthy gut microbiome.

Babies inherit their microbiome initially from vaginal flora at birth, in addition to skin -to- skin contact via breastmilk. This exposes infants to a wide range of bacterial species and specific carbohydrates (from breastmilk) that feed these bacteria, helping to establish a healthy gut microbiome.

That said, not all babies share these microbiome-building experiences. For example, caesarean section, premature birth, limited amounts of breastmilk, and antibiotic use can all impact the diversity of the gut microbiome. This can have a flow-on effect, leading to reduced immune resilience and a greater chance of developing recurrent infections in childhood.

This is perhaps most obvious when kids face one of the greatest immune challenges, where there is no shortage of germ-sharing… daycare (or school). Additionally, kids that experience recurrent ear, chest and/or gut infections also tend to require a greater number of antibiotics;  leading to a vicious cycle of poor microbiome health and impaired immune function. Fortunately, research reveals that probiotics may be the key to microbiome recovery; helping to improve digestive health and subsequent immune function.

Probiotics to the Rescue!

Probiotics are live bacteria, which offer beneficial effects on the microbiome and help to support childhood health in several ways including:

1. Increasing the quantity and diversity of bacterial species in the gut;
2. Enhancing immune activity; and

While several probiotics species have been shown to boost immunity, it is important to choose the specific probiotic strain for the condition you are looking to treat.

Probiotics species have been shown to boost immunity.

Less illness means more time for childhood

While the occasional cold or flu is a normal part of growing up, recurrent infections can be a sign that the immune system requires a little extra support. As discussed, resilience against infection draws greatly on the health of the microbiome, with probiotics offering a solution to help boost immunity and resistance to infection. To ensure you choose the right probiotic seek the advice of a qualified health care Practitioner who can prescribe the right probiotic for your child’s needs.