Rachel's Blogs
The Polyphenol Prescription For Excess Iron
Do you realise we're often giving our patients Crabs? Stay with me 🙄 We're all BIG fans of polyphenols right, but did you know that one of the key ways they qualify as antioxidants is that they chelate metals? Chemically speaking that means that polyphenols...
Boron: A Victim Of Identity Theft 🦹♂️
It's no secret I am in the midst of some serious deep-diving through the micronutrient evidence base & at a depth of about 30 metres I struck Boron! Don't yawn! I saw that. Thinking, 'boring', when we hear, 'Boron', is almost as bankable as watching everyone...
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Independent Education For All
Over years of delivering independent education in integrative health I have spoken to some diverse audiences. This has included health professionals from very different backgrounds: from hospital-based psychiatrists & mental health nurses, to whom I presented on...
What’s Changed For You?
How much has THE world🌏 changed in the last 2 years?! Have the changes within the field of Integrative Health been equally seismic? I'm sure there are many different aspects to speak to & we all have our own thoughts to share on this. I shared my thoughts...
More FODMAP Fails
Last week, yet another patient with refractory diarrhoea, up to 10 stools a day, Bristol type 5-7, for 3 decades following a diagnosis of Crohn's at 16 years old. A range of specialists have thrown everything at 'it' - single & combination immunosuppressants, TNF...
Where Is That??!!!
Ever been guilty of having a 'man's look' for something? I have. Particularly when it comes to the online omniverse! I can be a bit flaky at finding things right there on the page...allegedly! So for those of you who have a similar experience with my website &...
Meet My Alter Ego
Did I say, ‘Our Brain’? 🙄 Maybe it really should be, ‘Their Brain...on Drugs: what recreational substances reveal'. While infinite self-analysis is an occupational hazard for health professionals, when we use our detective powers for good not evil, our patient...
I’m Against Absolutes
And health, no matter which side you sit on, seems to be particularly plagued by them. I (incorrectly) recall my 4 year degree as being a series of deep personal losses, some favourite food, then caffeine, then alcohol etc etc.😂 Likewise, I'm aware that...
That ‘Throat Feeling’
"My 7yo daughter was frequently distressed, telling me she had that 'throat feeling'." As you can imagine, mum offered up a smorgasbord of suggestions to help her try and describe it: Can you swallow ok? Does it burn or taste funny? Where is it? Is it hard, soft,...
What Good Can Come From ‘Getting on the Gear’
When was the last time you 'got on the gear?'. Wait, am I showing my age?🙄 The afore mentioned 'gear' could be beers or GnTs, weed or hooch, eccies or pingers, 'nose candy' or blow. I could keep going! While, anything beyond alcohol, might be purely a...
Flooded with Thoughts about Mental Health
I'm sure you've heard by now that we've been in deep water. My team and I are safe but shaken, both from our own experience of...
This
There's probably some poignant lines from a rap song everyone knows that I could insert here but, alas, Gold FM doesn't play anything produced after 1999, so I'm none the wiser. What I'm trying to bring to mind, is the potential clash between our reality & our...
FREE Introduction to Nutritional Psychiatry
I've been hatching this passion project for quite some time. In truth, I can probably trace its beginning back 2 decades, when I returned to practice, after working in psych meds for big pharma. I knew then I had something to say. Because even then I knew that we, as...
It’s Time To Go Home When…
THIS IS A NON-SERVING SUGGESTION!!! Supplements should not be chucked in together like this - clearly their stability testing Is based on being on their own in a closed bottle under controlled conditions - this is definitely a case of do as I say not as I do!!!...
Nutritional Neuropathies & Much More
Burning, tingling, crawling, buzzing, humming, zapping, pins & needles, numbness: our patients often tell us about strange sensations they have in various parts of their body. It's typically not their major concern, but they mention it as an aside, a curiosity,...
Last Words for 2021
I'm ready to zip my lips 🤐 and ride off into the sunset of silly season. But first I wanted to tell you about the BIG PLANS we have ON THE BOIL! Noticed a bit of a thyroid theme of late? Last month I presented training in thyroid assessment for the 4th time...
Urinary Iodine Curveball Corrected!
Example 1: Example 2: We love hearing from our fellow fearless friends on the frontline - working with lab results & pathology providers - everyday. We recently received an SOS! from the Francesca Naish over yet another iodine assessment issue that you may need...
Are You And Your Patients Stuck?
There are some things we say so often to patients we could record them and just press <PLAY> Like this daily dogma: 'When you're under stress, your demand for Magnesium rises and then in turn that can make you more susceptible to further stress, so we're going...
Functional Medicine Falsehoods ⛔️
An ideal T4 is 15 An 'anti-aging' DHEAs must be >7 A ferritin of 100 is optimal for women... I've heard it all, probably you have too, and far too often & too recently from practitioners who should have rationalised & researched their way beyond these...
RIP 2021?
It's quite the meme of the moment and while I completely get the sentiment behind its original meaning, my take is a little different: Results in Practice 2021! How were yours? Here were some of ours from the cases presented in group mentoring: 💪 We correctly...
When CKD C(omes) K(nocking) at your D(oor)
And it will. It knocked again on a practitioner's door last week. She in turn knocked on mine. It turned out to be a very familiar story: Firstly: Patient presents distressed - recently a nurse applied the term 'Chronic Kidney Disease' to HER (note no one has ever...
Were We Wrong – Is B6 Da Bomb?
And not in a good way, right. While we've known about the potential for peripheral neuropathy with excess B6 supplementation since the 1980s, currently there's a seismic shift in our sense of safety even with previously regarded 'safe' levels. You may have heard...
Female Pattern Hair Loss ≠ A Female With Hair Loss
I'm intrigued by the silence. Hair loss in women is frighteningly common, following pregnancy, menopause & with extreme stress (wait is that a tautology? 🙄) In fact it can strike at any age and for a multitude of reasons. When it happened to me a few...