Rachel's Blogs
The Fig Fix for Potassium Goals?
My lord I can go on, I know. And for weeks now I've really been banging 🥁🥁 The 1st drum was me making us all salivate & suffer through my month-long Mediterranean feast The 2nd, my ongoing incurable fixation on the 'Power of the Ps' - Protein &...
My Big Fat Greek Feast…the End?
Ok look away now if you've already heard too much from me about Greece. I understand. For the rest of you, still prepared to tough-out the travel tales, we've been discussing my recent thrill at eating something very similar to the Mediterranean diet - often touted as...
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Imagine No Days Off…
A few weeks ago I was camping with my kids in rural northern NSW. We'd gone there for a long weekend to sail on the glorious Clarence river... yes that is literally what floats our boat! Anyway, thanks to a public holiday we all planned to stay on for the Monday,...
Correcting Urinary Iodine Results – A Newsflash!
Howdy hard working praccies 🙂 well I received a very interesting email this week from someone asking me if I thought her urinary iodine result was accurate or if, as I have written about previously...
The Case Is In – The Jury is Out
We have a case being presented on Monday at 3.30pm EDST on a 32yo Female presenting with hives, swollen lips and eyelids but minus the classic biochemical markers of allergy (IgE and eosinophil elevation)..what's going on? To boot she has very high stress levels,...
Sensational SAMe – National Tour in November
We're super excited to announce Rachel’s upcoming tour Sensational SAMe – Mental Health and Beyond with Nutrition Care & based on the incredible feedback about Rachel's last tour...you should be too! 🙂 "I love having the opportunity to share what I know about one...
New Insights into Vulvovaginitis: Getting Species Specific & Sex Hormone Savvy
No matter how long I am in practise there is always a group of patients for whom 'vaginal thrush' is a major problem. Most of us have some fabulous tricks up our sleeves to help resolve these issues & reduce their susceptibility - intravaginal lactulose is...
Is Your Rep a Good Rep?
Recently a practitioner lamented that because of her clinic location she didn’t see company reps very often & felt this was a barrier to her staying current with her clinical knowledge. Of course, I had to beg to differ. We’re quick to judge the medical...
Dump The Dairy But Not the Calcium?
It’s not sexy but it is one of my favourite deficiencies. Favourite because it’s incredibly common…make no bones about it (tee hee)! Favourite because a deficiency is actually reasonably easy to recognise once you know how (watch increasing phosphate levels...
Is there a role for you here?
A 33yo Female presents with severe long-standing diarrhoea, weight loss, fatigue and generalised musculoskeletal pain. Initially without a medical diagnosis, however she's been told by an 'integrative practitioner' that unusual African parasites were the cause of her...
Hold the DHA in Mental Health?
About a decade ago there was a lot of excitement about using fish oils in the management of mental health, so much so even the American Psychiatric Association developed recommendations suggesting that people with mood, impulse control & psychotic disorders should...
The Inclusive Specialist?
Lots of great conversations with practitioners following my recent post on the need to specialise – really thought provoking & clarifying ones which makes me think it’s been a good conversation starter. Key things that have come up for people are: How do I...
Speak of the (Synthetic Folic Acid) Devil!
It's just been reported on Medical Observer today that because of a 'worldwide shortage of food fortification folic acid' all Australian commercial breads covered by the mandatory fortification laws, will potentially be without this additional synthetic folic acid for...
Unmetabolised Folic Acid – Should We Be Worried?
Using products that contain synthetic folic acid (SFA)? Worried about this? There’s so much misinformation, fearmongering and hysteria out there I’m not surprised! I’ve been bombarded this year by really experienced & cluey practitioners who have...
Ever Wanted to Pick Rachel’s Brain For An Hour?
Well now’s your chance! Due to some of our regulars being away, suddenly a group mentoring session has opened up for tomorrow that offers you this fabulous opportunity! Running at 11.30am tomorrow at EST via Skype for 1 ¼ hours, Rachel will be holding a Q & A...
Is General Practice the toughest gig?
I will never forget a conversation I had with a GP colleague many years ago now, he looked tired and we were chatting about workloads etc. and he said to me, “If I had have known in uni what I know now about general practice I would have specialised!” He then went on...
Why I wouldn’t use Vitex
We had a great case in one of our graduate mentoring sessions the other day (thanks Kate 😉 ) , about a 40 something mum of 3 who reported to have cyclical mood and depression. Further investigation of the case, however, revealed that some of the key characteristics...
Want Help With Your Grave’s Patients? Recording Available
So...a 55 year old female walks into your clinic only recently diagnosed with Graves disease but when you look through her old blood work it looks like actually she has had hyperthyroidism (or at the very least suppressed TSH) for some time prior. She is experiencing...
Money and Meaning?
I had one of those conversations with a friend recently in which he was wondering out loud about what the point of it all is. Now don't panic...this is not 'suicidal ideation over a cuppa' kind of stuff ... no this is the regular existential crises that many of us...
Do You Know Men Like I Know Men?
I’ve just completed a seminar series educating practitioners across Australia about how to recognise & correct sex hormone dysregulation in men & the response has been overwhelming. Everyone seems to be in agreement that this subject was seriously...
Avoiding Overwhelm In Clinic
So…a 40 something female walks into your clinic with depression & anxiety…sounds common enough right? But here’s the twist: she’s already seen another practitioner who ran a range of investigations revealing she has pyrroles, high copper levels & is...
Iodine Excess in Action
I'm only human & there are some questions that do make me silently groan & invisibly (I hope!) roll my eyes. One is the old chestnut: “but the Japanese consume on average 7mg of iodine a day!” which is typically offered up as a rationale for the need...
Why Haven’t I Heard About This Before?!
Last week I spoke to a group of psychiatrists, doctors and nurses working at a psychiatric hospital about N-acetyl cysteine for a whole hour! Anyone who has worked in pharmaceuticals, (which of course I did in a previous life) or has seen medical CPD up close even,...