Friday, May 31, 2013

Get out your nut-crackers...


I love the fact that as far as our food intake is concerned, form equals function ... with a sliced carrot resembling the human eye - pupil, iris and radiating lines - with carrots greatly enhancing the function of the eyes. Grapes form a cluster in the shape of a heart and each grape looks like a blood cell with research confirming that grapes are also profound heart and blood-vitalizing foods and so it continues through celery (bones), walnuts (brain), kidney beans (kidney), eggplant, avocados, pears (cervix and uterus) and figs (sperm health).

Now here’s the study ... Antioxidant-rich walnuts won’t improve memory, mood or non-verbal reasoning abilities but can increase “inferential reasoning” according to new research published in the British Journal of Nutrition. Inferential thinking is “the ability to designate the degree of accuracy of the conclusions that have been drawn from certain facts.”

But walnuts do more ... and it’s heart health. Rich in vitamin E, folate, melatonin and the omega-3 linolenic acid, the European Food Safety Authority health claims panel recently found that walnuts consumption could benefit blood vessel function. 

Walnuts (in particular, but like all nuts) are best eaten when they're eaten fresh. Buy them in the shell and get yourself a good nut cracker. One that screws in rather than one requiring strong hands can be used by the kids. They have to eat what they get out of the shell, great way to boost their brain function with super-healthy snack foods.


Thursday, May 30, 2013

Stand and deliver!

Hannah Dahlen, Professor of Midwifery in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at University of Western Sydney, raises a very valid question. Why are Australian women still lying down to give birth? I’ve been writing about the benefits of being upright during labour for almost thirty years - but I’m just one of a chorus of voices advocating an active birth and explaining the role of gravity in assisting the baby down the birth canal. I’m just one of hundreds describing the ways in which women laboured in traditional societies - sitting on a pile of bricks or on a birthing stool, hanging suspended with the help of ropes, or supported in a squatting position. Even in modern birthing suites, if women are not instructed by a midwife or obstetrician, they will almost all give birth upright and forward leaning ... wonderful how their bodies know instinctively which way to go.


Of course the trend to birthing in the horizontal position is linked to the medicalisation of birth and the move from midwifery to obstetric care - the doctor’s job is facilitated when the woman is horizontal and at eye level. Dahlen calls for women to get off the bed and “stand and deliver.” When you’re upright to give birth you can expect stronger contractions, shorter labour, less need for forceps, vacuum extractions and episiotomies and better health for you and your baby. So get off the bed girls!


Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Get a little sun on your skin!

It’s surely not too much to ask in the name of optimal vitamin D status - get out in the sun! I defy anyone to say they don’t feel better when they step outside from their artificially-lit, air-conditioned home or office into a pool of warming sunlight. It’s the ultimate feel-good factor in my book and I’m sure that Nature intended it that way. 


The evidence now points overwhelmingly to the foundation status of vitamin D for optimal bone and immune health (to name just two vital functions) but also points to the widespread deficiency of this key nutrient amongst the general population. The debate as to the best maintenance dose for supplements and the need for ongoing testing to ensure optimal status, leaves me in no doubt about regular doses of sunshine to ensure you’re getting enough. 

For infants, a daily, unprotected sun bath, when the sun is more than 50 degrees above the horizon (but obviously avoiding the hottest part of the day), until the skin has a slight pink tinge, then wash only the smelly parts and all your supplementing issues are solved. Similar recommendation for pregnancy, with additional sun exposure on your nipples excellent preparation for breastfeeding. Same deal re wait for slight pink tone and no washing straight afterwards.






Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Early solids? To do or not to do...?

"Premature consumption of solid foods could significantly increase the risk of early weight gain and metabolic damage, according to new research in monkeys." 

Yet, in a misguided move to reduce the incidence of food allergy and intolerance, the Allergy Association in Australia recently made recommendations to introduce solids at four months. This flies in the face of this recent research showing that early solids may contribute to the obesity epidemic, but also in the face of World Health Organisation recommendations for exclusive breastfeeding for a minimum period of six months. 

Why not wait until the expert indicates readiness for solid food? In other words, when your baby starts to reach for food from your plate - when he is able to manage pieces of food in his fingers and when you don't need to puree, mash, strain and spoon - then it's time for solids! If you want to take steps to prevent allergy in your children, the best place to begin is before conception. Get a knowledgeable practitioner to help you sort out your own allergies, complete all the diet and lifestyle changes to ensure healthiest possible eggs and sperm, which is also the best foundation for a robust immune system in your developing baby. All the details right here ... 


Monday, May 27, 2013

Magnesium for bones, exercise for little kids...


Finally, a voice of reason in the “must-have-calcium-for-your-bones-therefore-drink-milk” story. Researchers are now showing that magnesium may actually be more important for the health of bones in young people - which is when the bone matrix must be laid down properly if it is to provide a strong skeleton for a lifetime. 

I agree, magnesium is important but so is vitamin D (think time in the sun) and now we know vitamin K (also likely to be deficient but produced in abundance when the gut is healthy) and then of course the weight-bearing exercise (that simply means plenty of activity, especially when kids are growing). 

Which brings me to the other theme in my post for today. I was at Sydney’s famous Taronga Zoo on Sunday - helping a 38 year old mum with her two little kids. The zoo was heaving with families enjoying a magnificent autumn day. It had been a while since I packed red salmon sandwiches and salad and took my boys for a visit, but in ten years the zoo has been transformed. However, also transformed is the mode of transport for all those visiting kids. Now, the zoo and its stairways and ramps are choc-a-bloc with the biggest baby buggies imaginable. High time, if I may say to get the kids who can walk, out of their wheeled chariots and down on their own two feet. It’s surprising how far small legs will actually carry their owners. For those kids who are too small to walk, a sling or a back-pack offer much better ways for them to see the animals anyway. Everyone gets some exercise and baby gets better stimulation of balance and position receptors (and the message that life is about activity!) Read more on this topic

Friday, May 24, 2013

Getting with the program

I’ve always said that my Healthy Parents, Healthy Baby preconception program is about exactly that ... truly healthy parents and truly healthy babies! In other words it’s about a great deal more than fertility. Sadly, when there’s so much publicity given to those increasing numbers TTC (trying to conceive) in vain, when marketing of ART (assisted reproductive technology) as the answer to the baby prayers of anyone over thirty floods the media, it’s a wonderful endorsement of my work when the preconception workup works, just like it’s supposed to.


There’s nothing to beat the wonderful excitement of an easy conception and a first trimester free of morning sickness! Add to that a GP who advises no scan until post 16 weeks (of course I’d ask why scan at all if everything is proceeding normally, but hooray for a medical voice of caution) and I like the chances of a normal, unmedicated birth and successful breastfeeding.  Just as exciting are the words and actions of a young mum in my local wholefood market this morning, endorsing baby-wearing and co-sleeping as the reasons for her secure, confident, adventurous toddler! Hooray for another sane voice and may there be more of you...

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Who really needs an "extruded apple" snack?

Researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University have been “sneaking nutrients into children’s snacks”  via dried fruit powders. Not only are the extruded snacks from fruit powders more nutritious than the commonly given crisps et al. but tangerine and apple-flavoured ones at least have scored four out of five in the kids' taste/acceptance rating. 

The downside of making children’s snacks healthier via this method appears to be the financial cost - drying of fruit extracts to retain taste and nutritional value is expensive. I bet it is! But did anyone ever stop to ask why we need look beyond the whole fruit as a snack? Of course that leaves the manufacturers and marketers out in the cold ... but I digress.

Seriously, if you want your kids to eat healthy food, those tastes must be established in utero. So that means as a prospective mum your diet needs to be full of variety - organic if possible, fresh, whole, unrefined, in season and all the colours of the rainbow ! That means more red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple - it means reduced amounts of white and brown!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Modern Western diet? It's bad for your brain!

We're on the subject of better brain health! Very timely, given that the new edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is under fire. Abbreviated to DSM-5, this so-called "bible" of mental health conditions and treatments previously listed 90-odd mental conditions, the numbers in the latest volume rising to more than 350! Detractors point to blatant marketing by Big Pharma, with a universal human emotional response, such as grief over death of a loved one, requiring dosing with potent medication! 

But then again, it should come as no surprise that the mental health of the population is suffering - the average Western diet damages your brain! Of course lots of people have known that fact for a very long time - but now Australian researchers at Macquarie University, reviewing decades of evidence, have linked the high-fat, high-sugar, typical Western-style diet to impaired brain functioning and development of neurodegenerative conditions. They make it clear that the same foods that are making us fat are impairing our mental function and are also disturbing our appetite regulation.

The bad news ... there is limited evidence to show that the neurodegenerative decline is reversible. 

Another study on the subject of memory and improving cognition, a topic very dear to every baby-boomer’s heart, the Mediterranean diet rears its healthy head once again. Yep, the benefits of olive oil, lots of red, purple and green vegies, plus seafood, nuts and legumes is undisputed. In other words, the things to avoid are red meat and dairy, those saturated fats that make up such a big part of the typical Western diet. 

The good news ... set your children on the right path, give them the very best possible start in mental (and physical) health. All you need to know about what you and your partner need to do in the time before you get pregnant ...  

Monday, May 20, 2013

Good nutrition boosts brain power!

Fancy that - science is making the link between nutrition and cognitive performance! The omega-3s (in particular DHA - docosahexaenoic acid) are just some of the specific factors mentioned, which along with the essential fatty acids, include trace elements and vitamins. Those particularly linked to improved brain health are biotin, folate, niacin, pantothenic acid, thiamine and vitamins B6 and B12. That means a high potency B-complex will provide all those and more) then iodine, iron, calcium and zinc (look for all the trace elements in a multi-B/mineral complex).

Interesting that the studies also mention water as a brain food - no doubt about the importance of properly hydrated cells, but I’d strongly recommend water from a high quality filter rather than what comes straight from the tap. If you’ve been following my blog you’ll also know that new studies link optimal gut health to neurotransmitter production and reduction in incidence of depression - an important finding for prospective mums to keep in mind.

Also relevant to my work is the importance of ensuring an abundance of all the factors that promote optimal mental development and function in the time before conception. Make whole food, grown on healthy soil, your foundation nutrient source, then add a comprehensive, balanced combination of all of the above with a high potency probiotic as well! All the details of best supplements and more ... 

Friday, May 17, 2013

We're living longer, but not healthier

Hot on the heels of my posts about giving the healthy gut bacteria some credit for disease (particularly obesity) prevention is the latest news from laureate professor, Alan Lopez of Melbourne University. Australia is now number five in the world for life expectancy. Females' average lifespan is almost 84 and males' nearly 80 and that’s a significant increase from 80 and 74 respectively in 1990.

But Lopez is quick to point out that obesity and the multitude of co-morbidities are not only a huge burden on health costs, but they will become more prevalent unless strong prevention strategies are implemented.

Couldn’t agree more! We need to not only encourage, but reward people who exercise regularly and put whole, fresh, unrefined produce on the top of their shopping and eating lists. We need to make it attractive, for those who take personal responsibility for their own health and that of their family without constant recourse to the healthcare system. But for those who are struggling with a legacy of several generations of inappropriate diet and lifestyle choices, burdened with the profound trans-generational effects thereof, we need to give them foundation nutritional support (e.g. probiotics) before we send them out to exercise and change their eating habits, especially if they're planning to start a family. 

Thursday, May 16, 2013

C-sec and bottle-fed babies need probiotics

The World Health Organisation estimates that by 2015 there will be 1.5 billion overweight consumers globally, costing $117 billion in associated health costs in the US alone! By crikey, that’s a scary amount of fat and a scarily big dollar cost. My question is - when are we going to get right down to addressing one of the most fundamental issues that is underpinning the obesity epidemic, because the evidence keeps piling up. Here it is again - the link between deranged gut microbiota (unhealthy bacteria in your gut) and skewed energy/fat metabolism and appetite.

The study confirms earlier work, indicates the need for ongoing dosing with healthy bacteria (in the form of a fermented product or a probiotic supplement) and also confirms the ability of the mother to confer a healthy gut population on her newborn child. That means: attention to gut health before conception and during pregnancy, a normal vaginal birth and unrestricted breastfeeding, although if any of those factors are missing, a probiotic product can act as a surrogate.

So, improve your mood, boost your immune response and reduce the likelihood of a child with weight management issues. That’s just for starters! What are you waiting for? 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Should school canteens be held accountable?

A review of 263 school menus across Australia identified that only 30 percent of primary schools and fewer than 19 percent of secondary schools are compliant with nutrition guidelines. What hope do kids have when national nutrition guidelines are flouted by the very school canteens and tuck shops where they should be most firmly upheld?

I actually believe that the next generation’s preferences for healthy or unhealthy foods are established long before those kids first put food into their mouths and several recent blog posts highlight the mechanism for these epigenetic, trans-generational effects and the importance of making them positive rather than negative ones. School tuckshops come a long way down my list of potential positive influences.
But let’s face it, lots of parents have missed the boat in bequeathing their kids a taste for healthy foods. Lots of parents don’t have the knowledge or the intestinal fortitude that it takes to change the junk-food diet that their kids favour. So can we expect school canteens to set an example? I believe we can - but this recent report indicates that Australia still has a long way to go in getting rid of soft drinks, confectionery, cakes, pastries and other unhealthy fare. Legislation? Hardly a popular move, even though one Australian state has taken that step.  

I don’t know what my local high school serves at its canteen. But trending to green and healthy would explain why on recently queuing to pay for petrol, I was delayed by half a dozen teenage boys on their way to said school, scratching around in pockets for loose change. Eventually boys exited the servo with several litres of Coca-Cola and at least two cans of energy drinks apiece. Pity the teachers whose classes they will inhabit. But power to someone who can change those habits or limit the availability of such choices by school students at 8:00 am - maybe NYC Mayor Bloomberg has an idea?

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

How far have you strayed from your traditional diet?

Urbanisation, increasing wealth, aggressive marketing by the food multi-nationals, adoption of what are seen as “progressive Western eating habits”, changing work patterns, women in the workforce - I could go on, but the diets of the developing nations are at a watershed. Now Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) José Graziano da Silva has called for integrated nutrition strategies to help countries deal with rapidly changing diets. 

Well, I reckon he’ll be up against it, because big food companies see these regions as their new high-growth markets. However I’m heartened that da Silva appreciates and supports the need for and desirability of different crops for different regions and different diets for different communities. He indicates the need for individualised solutions that respect season, climate, soil, water and landforms.
Which begs the question, what would it take for communities around the world to revert to their traditional diets? When the world is one big melting pot, when the drift to the cities from rural communities is a global trend, I’d suggest that isn’t in the realm of possibility. However with the knowledge that we now have of the benefits of whole, unrefined, in season and non-processed, and the ill-effects of refined, sugar, salt and fat-laden, plain for all to see, “integrated nutrition strategies” are definitely called for. Let’s hope they make it off the FAO drawing board and into the developing communities around the world soon! And let's hope FAO start by enforcing the code for Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes!

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Thoughts for Mother's Day


This article suggesting the most positive way that mums are responsible for the men that their sons become, made me feel all warm and fuzzy. It was penned by one grown man who clearly recognises the major influence in his life. I like to think my boys would recognise such an influence in their lives. Maybe I’ll ask them ... but actually it doesn’t matter. I just think both of them are the 'bees’ knees' and everyone who had a hand should take a big bow. 

Dr. Christian Northrup’s story also made me pause and think. This wise author and women’s health expert explores the profound influence that mothers have on their daughters. Northrup is the author of numerous books and her truly holistic approach to women’s health and wellbeing is a model to be emulated. However, her article raises the very valid point that no matter how diligently a woman attends to all of her recommendations, if the mother’s influence was less than positive, the results in the daughter’s health and wellbeing department will always be limited. In other words if a mother’s relationship with her daughter was supportive and nurturing, and if the daughter’s knowledge of her body and how to care for it was sound and sane thanks to her mother, she is already programmed for health and wellbeing. The converse unfortunately also holds true.

On Mother's Day,  two very timely stories to make you stop and think about the kind of mother you want to be (whether you have sons or daughters)!

Friday, May 10, 2013

The pain of childbirth? Does it fade or doesn't it?

Interesting story and not too surprising conclusion. Women who have a positive birth outcome, which can be measured by a number of different yardsticks, are more likely to forget or rate the pain of childbirth low down on the intensity scale. Compare those women who have a less than positive outcome and expect their rating to be much higher on the Richter scale of pain. It also seems that a small number (3-6 percent) of women are so traumatised by the pain and the overall birth experience that they suffer a form of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Yikes - no wonder so many women reach for the nitrous oxide or call for an epidural. And yet the study also indicates that women who had an epidural may still remember the birth as painful overall. All of that said, my dear colleague, midwife and author Susan Ross who trains doulas and also teaches “hypno-birthing”  to prospective mums, dismisses the idea of painful labour. As a woman whose two short, straightforward labours, took place long before I met Susan and were indeed painful, I can’t give a first hand report on the likelihood of achieving pain-free birth.

However what I do know is that labours are presently much longer and more difficult than Nature intended. There are multiple reasons for this, and while I don’t suggest that I have all the answers, they include some factors that can be very easily dealt with and you can begin on that check list well before your pregnancy starts. 

Here are my suggestions for not only optimising your birth outcome, but for increasing the likelihood that your own memories (if painful) will indeed fade away ...
  • optimise overall nutritional status - potent probiotic, comprehensive prenatal supplementation and zinc levels to be assessed and maintained throughout your pregnancy
  • regular exercise - particularly include specific stretches for an active birth
  • stress reduction - that includes giving some serious thought to where and with whom you will labour
  • be informed - understand the downsides of the medically managed birth (which includes pain relief)
  • avoid the doomsayers - listen to women who remember their birth experience as a high point in their lives (whatever pain they experienced notwithstanding)
  • believe in the power of your well-nourished, well-prepared body and mind 
  • believe in the normality of birth!

More in my latest mini ebook 

Thursday, May 9, 2013

When your child needs a room of his own

I couldn’t help but laugh when I read this article ... “warm grey palette”, “intuitively calm space” “contemporary look while maintaining that intimate lived-in feel.”

I just hope this couple’s child was old enough to appreciate their care and attention to colour and form before he moved into his designer-space! I ask whose needs are the parents actually serving in “stringing a knitted flag garland under our Aesop’s fable artwork?” Let’s face it guys - little kids do best when they sleep within arm’s length of their parents. The things that matter are the warmth and comfort of another human body, a mum or dad they can reach out and touch, the security of other family members in their immediate night-time environment.

The time will come when they’ll want a space of their own, but chances are they’ll be on the way to choosing their own decor and furnishings when that happens!

Of course co-sleeping and family-bed are still a contentious issue. When raised however, I suggest those advocates for solitary sleeping (usually those at pains to decorate their child’s room long before his birth) heed the wise words of Margot Sunderland, Director of Education at the Centre for Child Mental Health in London and one of Britain’s leading experts in children’s mental health. Based on the most current findings in neurological and psychological development, she advises parents to adopt co-sleeping practices until their child is five, affirming that co-sleeping makes children more likely to grow up as calm and healthy adults. End of debate as far as I’m concerned ... reckon it’s unlikely that “a warm grey palette” would have the same effect!

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Consumers' rights to scientific advances in nutrition

Outspoken opponent of the European Union Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation (NHCR) says NHCR denies consumers the right to scientific advancement in nutrition. 

Strong words, but Bert Schwitters is not done yet, going on to suggest that several thousand claims for health benefits of natural products, representing the most recent advances in nutritional products and functional foods, science which would fill the library of a reputable University, have been rejected. Those granted approvals, reduced the products available to the general public to a mere 222.

Author of Health Claims Censored: The case against the European health claims regulation believes that in the past, consumers tried the product for themselves, deciding whether it worked for them or not. They didn’t turn to scientific articles, professional journals or published research, relying instead on the time-honoured principle of try and like (or not). In other words, the proof of the pudding was in the eating. Now the opportunity to try and decide is denied to the public. Schwitters says that “consumers now find themselves at the mercy of politicians, policy advisors and consumer advocates, who have no qualms to censor scientific advancement and its benefits in accordance with their own ideological, political and idiosyncratic preferences.” 
Strong but accurate words Bert, let’s hope they make an impact and that the current legal challenges against the NHCR, mounted by natural food and supplement associations from Spain, Italy, UK and The Netherlands succeed in the courts!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

The good things that we find in plant foods

Scientists say it’s the the full range of vitamins and trace elements, but also carotenoids - lutein, lycopene, beta-carotene, zeaxanthin; flavonoids - anthocyanidins, flavanols, catechins, epicatechins, procyanidins, flavanones, flavonols, proanthocyanidins; isothiocyanates - sulforaphane; phenols, sulfides, thiols, chlorophyll, luteolin, punicalagin, the list of hard-to-pronounce compounds goes on...

Now Professor Jeffrey Blumberg, Director of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Centre on Aging at Tufts University is calling for some kind of intake recommendations to be established. He says that if we can do it for vitamin C, then we need to be able to do it for this vast class of compounds which are currently lumped under the generic term "antioxidants". But this terminology indicates one single mode of action when in fact we are referring to thousands of different chemicals,  with vastly different chemical structures.  

Of course what the researchers are discovering is making their job harder rather than easier, with no identified specificity for individual compounds. Rather each acts on the whole human health platform, and I’ll suggest they act on different pathways in different people too. I reckon some can substitute for others, in fact if the pathways can all be elucidated, I'd be very surprised. I also question whether taking them apart and analysing each individual component really serves any purpose. I guess it will keep the researchers in business for a few more years...

Historically we looked at things rather differently, learning that form equals function with a sliced carrot resembling the human eye - pupil, iris and radiating lines - with carrots greatly enhancing the function of the eyes. Grapes form a cluster in the shape of a heart and each grape looks like a blood cell with research confirming that grapes are also profound heart and blood-vitalizing foods and so it continues through celery (bones), walnuts (brain), kidney beans (kidney), eggplant, avocados, pears (cervix and uterus) and figs (sperm health).

Then at the most fundamental level, we’re reminded to think red, yellow, orange, deep green, leafy, purple - and choose colors from the rainbow every day! Mum told us to eat up our vegies, or at least my generation of mothers did and they sure knew what they were talking about! Now the researchers (bless them for reminding us) confirm how truly miraculous vegetables are in what they provide. If you want kids to eat their vegies, get them started on growing their own, then enlist their help in the kitchen. 



Monday, May 6, 2013

The race is on for New Zealand to become 100 percent organic by 2015.

Wow, this is exciting! Our little next-door neighbour, long-regarded as some sort of poor country cousin by a lot of Aussies (well at least when they’re not talking about Rugby) has aspirations to be the world’s first totally organic food-producer before this decade is out!

Michelle Glogau, CEO of Organic Certifier Biogro said: “We strongly believe that organics should be the standard rather than alternative way of growing, processing and trading in New Zealand - for the wellbeing of our environment and communities and animals. The ongoing success of our certified organic-producers is proof enough that consumers in New Zealand and around the world want more [organics] of what we have got.”

But the gauntlet is down, with the tiny Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan likely to give NZ a run for their money. It seems that they might just do it in the organic stakes, thanks to their Buddhist heritage, already displaying an enviable approach to economic development, centred on protecting the environment and focused on mental wellbeing. As far as I know Bhutan doesn't yet field a Rugby team...

Seriously though, this is an enviable aim on New Zealand's (and Bhutan's) part. What would it take for Australia to clean up her agricultural act and get with the real power in farming? Everybody's health would benefit and the farmers' bank balances would be better off too. Oh and maybe Monsanto would experience a slump in profits?

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Blessings bestowed by gut bacteria

The World Health Organisation estimate that by 2015 there will be 1.5 billion overweight consumers globally, costing $117 billion in associated health costs in the US alone! By crikey that’s a scary amount of fat and a scarily big dollar cost. My question is - when are we going to get right down to addressing one of the most fundamental issues that is underpinning the obesity epidemic, because the evidence keeps piling up. Here it is again - the link between deranged gut microbiota (unhealthy bacteria in your gut) and skewed energy/fat metabolism and appetite.

The study confirms earlier "elegant" research, indicates the need for ongoing dosing with healthy bacteria (in the form of a fermented product or a probiotic supplement) and also confirms the ability of the mother to confer a healthy (or unhealthy) gut population on her unborn child. 

So - reduce the likelihood of a child with weight management issues, improve your mood, boost your immune response. That’s just for starters! What are you waiting for? 

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The brain cells that grow in your gut

A new study from UCLA and Danone shows that daily supplements of a fermented milk product may influence the parts of the brain linked to emotion and sensation.

Yes, the gut-brain axis is alive and well, with science now confirming what all of us have understood intuitively all along ... 

“I knew in my guts it was wrong” 
“I just trust that gut-feeling”
“My insides were in knots”
“That was my initial gut-reaction!”

and so on ... our emotions, our response to stress, our initial impressions of an idea, a person or an action ... deep-seated and gut-connected. There is a brain in our guts, with connections and receptors that are very like those in our “head brain”. What’s more, this latest study, though hardly surprising, shows that gut brain is influenced by the health and composition of the gut microbiota.

I keep saying it and the research is piling up in support. This is the new frontier where natural (and orthodox) medicine will finally discover the foundation of true physical and mental health and wellbeing (well at least until we can all manipulate our energetic anatomy but that’s likely to be longer in the doing). In the meantime ensure your regular daily intake of a premium probiotic product for emotional balance and stress-reduction! So very easy - Zoloft sales might never be the same again!