Guts and Girl Bits Episode #55

In this episode of Guts and Girl Bits, Raul Pastrana joins us to discuss sperm health. An incredibly important but often overlooked aspect of fertility, we discuss the importance of looking into sperm health at the start of the fertility journey, what can go wrong with sperm health (and why) and some tips to improve it. Sperm issues can contribute to ~50% of fertility issues, as well as contribute to many issues during pregnancy. The quality of sperm also has a massive impact on the health of the child, influencing many things including their immune health, reproductive and neurological health.

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About Raul

Transcript

Because when we talk about fertility, we so often focus on the female side of things, our cycles, our hormones, our eggs, and we forget that sperm health plays a huge role, not just in the ability to conceive, but also in the health of pregnancy. And even the long-term health of the child. Sperm health has been linked to pregnancy outcomes like miscarriage and preeclampsia, and what’s fascinating is that while women are born with all of their eggs.

Eggs that were actually influenced by our grandmother’s health. Men are constantly making new sperm every few months, so that means that there’s a much faster impact on our offspring based on what is influencing the genetic expression of the sperm. [00:01:00] So lifestyle, nutrition and environmental factors can all have profound impacts on sperm quality, which in turn shapes not only fertility outcomes, but potentially even the health of and the development of our future generations.

So now that doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re talking about like evolving mutant powers anytime soon, but we are talking about how the choices that men make today can influence things like neurological, mental, and immunological impacts of our future generation and our future children. So to dive into this fascinating and often overlooked topic, I’m joined by Raul Pastrana.

Raul is a degree qualified naturopath. Specializing in fertility and reproductive health, he focuses on helping individuals and couples optimize their fertility with a particular emphasis on male reproductive health, which is a factor that’s often underestimated when it comes to conception outcomes.[00:02:00]

Raul works closely with patients through IVF Preconception Care and Natural Conception. He creates tailored plans based on each person’s unique presentation and goals, and importantly their blood pathology and semen analysis result. He’s also the author of the Sperm Factor Fertility, A Shared Responsibility where he explores how men can influence fertility outcomes and provide practical, strategies to improve sperm health.

So in our conversation today, we talk about why it’s so important to look at sperm health early in the fertility journey, some of the key factors that influence. Sperm quality and why what’s considered normal on a semen analysis might not actually be optimal. Raul will also share some really actionable tips on how men can start to improve their sperm health today.

So whether you are on your own fertility journey, whether you’re supporting a [00:03:00] partner or you’re just curious about how male reproductive health fits into the bigger fertility picture and evolution, this episode is full of insights that might just change the way that you think about conception and reproductive health and wellness.

So let’s get into it.

Thank you so much for joining me today.

Thank you for having me. It’s a pleasure.

But now we’ve got. On the podcast, we can really shine, shine some light on what is the actual relevant information that people can action. How can we do things about it? So I’m really excited to get into this.

Has had multiple blood tests, is already taking a few supplements because she has done some investigations to what could, what can she do in order to improve her outcomes. But in many cases, the male factor is under assessed undertreated and also under research.

And this is really puzzling as a practitioner because the research is telling us that this is wrong.

50% of all fertility cases are related with the male factor. So there is, at least from all the infer, uh, infertility issues out there, 50% of them, there will be some. Male factor contribution. And this is why if a couple is having trouble conceiving, both sides of the equation need to be investigated at the same time in order to have the best fertility potential and the best outcome.

And in that semen analysis that is just the most basic, uh, start, we need to assess, uh, the most common findings, which may be, um, your listeners are already familiar with, which are the semen quantity or how much, how much sperm is there in terms of concentration.

Mm-hmm.

But also how is that sperm moving that motivity.

And last, how is the shape or the morphology of that sperm?

So these are usually the three factors that they are first assessed when the Mel factor is assessed at all. If so.

And that’s where, where everyone should start with,

That’s, uh, [00:07:00] that’s the baseline. The one thing that I will say, it gets overlooked. More often is the DNA fragmentation as well. So the DNA fragmentation, it’s a test that can be done in the sperm to understand what percentage or how damage, uh, is the genetic material inside of the head of the sperm. So if the genetic material inside of the head of the sperm is fragmented, that’s gonna have repercussions for.

Conception, fertilization uh, pregnancy outcomes and the future health of the baby. The DNA fragmentation think about it as a, if the DNA is broken, the instructions to make the baby and the instructions for fertility outcomes, they’re not gonna be as good as we want them to be.

Mm-hmm.

So we want to make sure that we are addressing all the factors that they’re affecting male fertility, to [00:08:00] make sure that the copies of the DNA inside of the head of the sperm as are intact as possible.

And the thing is, it’s just much more easy to get it done all together. On the first analysis, so the then there is not, uh, need to pay again to get again to the clinic. So it’s better if you haven’t done one yet. And fertility is a concern I always recommend to include DNA fragmentation inside of the panel.

I completely acknowledge that finances can be a barrier, but when you think about the cost of some of these very expensive and very invasive. Artificial reproductive technique interventions paying a hundred of dollars to understand the quality of the DNA in that sperm it is in the scale of things is not that much.

And does it swim correctly and swim fast enough?

Mm-hmm.

Because it’s not just about the sperm, be able to move, but move in a, in a straight direction. So the egg, so the sperm can meet the egg, usually in the fallopian tube.

And then they can be fertilization of the egg.

Because I’ve seen it and, but you would have the data on that.

Since the year 2000, so is sperm is not only declining in quality, [00:12:00] it’s also declining faster than it used to be since the year 2000. Um, and because the average male. Sperm, it’s has a such a poor, low, low quality. Then when we are, when we are creating those reference ranges, we’re, we’re comparing ourself with a sample that is not very good in quality.

Anyway, so I dunno if you know how those reference ranges were established, but in the year 2010, the World Health Organization um, did a study with over 4,000. Men from 14 different countries, and all of those men were able to conceive with a female partner in less than a year. And then they analyzed the data from sperm concentration, sperm morphology, and sperm multi for those 1400 men, and then divided from the lowest quality to the highest quality.

And they divided in percentiles [00:13:00] and they established that. The fifth percentile was the normal range, uh, and that’s what was established as normal reference range.

Not really normal will be the medium and the medial should be the 50 percentile, not the fifth percentile.

Mm-hmm.

And if you’re trying to assess that, it’s better to compare it with the 50th percentile. Yeah. So for example, for spare concentration, it’s still of 15 million. One five. You want to get closer to 73 million like you just said.

And for morphology is the same, only 4%. It’s enough to pass only. You only need a 4% of your sperm to have optimal multi uh, morphology in order to pass the test. And don’t get me wrong, you don’t need, uh, this parameter of morphology doesn’t need to be close to the a hundred percent whatsoever. It is very normal to have a morphology on the 10%.

Even 9% is it’s enough to to have a good fertility potential, but the [00:15:00] 50% I will be 15%. So you see the huge disparity that is between what is considered normal or what the reference ranges were established and what actually health and good fertility potential represents.

Men get told, you’re fine, you’re in the reference ranges. But we do wanna aim for a little bit better. We want super sperm. But I was thinking, and when I was researching for this, I actually realized that humans are the only species that have such a low average morphology. Mm-hmm. Compared like animals, their morphology is pretty much always like 99% normal.

We are our nutrition as an overall society and the quality of our diets is declining. The quality of our food supply, it’s, uh. Poorer than ever before with more, like I said, endocrine disrupting chemicals in the food supply. So all this is having an effect not only in morphology, but in all the other parameters.

And look what I always say to my patients or to anyone that is thinking about improving their sperm health, you want improve. Your particular circumstances, if you don’t identify the barriers and those barriers will be different from you than from someone else. Even though there are some commonalities, it’s important to do a thorough investigation to see what is affect, why your sperm health has been affected.

Mm-hmm.

And [00:17:00] things won’t get better because you take a very fancy supplement from the internet. That’s not how it works.

But taking just sup, a random supplement with really good marketing behind it is not going to solve the issue.

So that’s one of the major things that causes the damage at that point, isn’t it?

Mm-hmm. So that’s why if there is high level of stress, if there is chemicals, a sperm synthesis is the first thing that can go. And it’s a pro, this sperm synthesis or a spermatogenesis, it’s something that takes around 72 to 74 days to fully develop. And I think this is a really important takeaway from anyone listening because your spend results.

Can be highly influenced by you making the right things. So if alcohol intake is the problem, if stress is the problem, if sleep is the issue and you resolve and address that factor, you can see results. In your [00:19:00] sperm quality and quantity in only three months because of that constant and dynamic process that is happening in the, at the testicular area.

So renewing those those sperm cells every 72 to 74 days.

And just a note about what you said. So yeah, it’s a very delicate process that can be affected and influenced in many different ways. But from those 72 days, like you mentioned, very correctly, the last 15 days when the sperm is going through the final the final track in the reproductive male system is highly, um, highly and easily damaged.

Hmm. So it’s at that stage where we want to be extra careful. What are we putting in our bodies? Alcohol intake, stress, et cetera. So what I do with my patients, if, especially for those that they’re gonna freeze their sperm and their sperm is gonna be used for XE procedures or IVF [00:20:00] procedures, I give them a high level.

Of antioxidants such as vitamin C, coq 10, lipoic acids, uh, nicotinamide riboside, and many others. Do. So we protect that testicular environment, uh, and that sperm going through the last 15 days before ejaculation.

So the DNA is intact. The morphology and the motility is as good as we, as we can.

I, um, wanted to share something that I found really fascinating when I was researching this is that when they are in the, um, epididymis, which is basically like a big, like collecting duct after they’ve gone through the testes. It’s like an a training center that they go through where they learn to swim really well and their [00:21:00] immune system changes.

And I saw some stuff where they said they, they took the sperm from the testes before they got to that point, and then they, they, but inseminated a woman with it and the immune system killed it straight away. Whereas after, had it been through the epididymis, it, it didn’t. Um, but we can talk about that immune onslaught of the sperm later because that’s also really interesting.

But they learned to, so they learned to swim. Their immune system develops and they learned to smell. How amazing I found that was just like so fascinating and that they learn to detect the smell of follicular fluid. And just like a shark, they can find one part per billion follicular fluid and this z and that’s how they know how to go.

And I was just like, I had no idea beforehand that sperm could smell.

So it’s believed that the egg is, some is releasing certain chemicals that, like you said, they are in such a low quantity, but the sperm can. Sort of smell them. Uh, and be attract to it. So it’s really fascinating. And like you said, the that training and that capacity to to have that sense is is highly influenced for what’s happening in the last 15 days before the sperm is ejaculated.

Um,

so like you said, it’s like a training center. It’s like the sperm are going through the gym in LA in those 15, last 15 days.

And that, that is where a lot of that [00:23:00] olfactory sense comes in as well, which is so super interesting too because of how we know that like, for instance, the microbiome of the oral health. And the re um, gastrointestinal health, that all influences reproductive health as well.

Uh, but we can also do a vagina microbiome. Mm-hmm. And that can give us some insight into if there are any immune. Factors that could be negatively influencing fertility potentials. And, um, there is still so much data coming out. There is a lot of science and a lot of money that needs to be still put on.

So we hit better and more quality studies regarding this, but it is clear that, for example, from the female, the vagina microbiome of the female in order to have a good [00:24:00] 30 degree potential needs to be lactobacillus dominance.

Mm-hmm.

So we know that much. And, and that will easy, that will have a huge influence to whether or not the sperm can actually fertilize.

Like we said, that motility needs to be happening. If there is not progressive motility, which is. Swimming on a straight, uh, on a straight line is not gonna reach the egg. So the, uh, the egg has been is released obviously from, from the ovary and travels to the fallopian tube. The sper, uh, the sper is ejaculated [00:25:00] and starts swimming.

The process of swimming usually takes around two days. In order for the sperm to reach, uh, the egg, and that’s when usually fertilization of the sperm in the egg happens in the fallopian tube. If everything is going well, then that embryo already created, starts traveling slowly towards the uterus.

And in that process of traveling, which can last around five to six days, the embryo starts developing in and subdividing and. Going through a process of cell division into something called blastos. It is the blastos then that arrives to the endometrium. And uh, and if everything is going well, there is good endometrial lining.

There is good endometrial receptivity and there is also good endometrial microbiome. Again the immune system having an influence to whether or not. The, that embryo will be able to attach itself to [00:26:00] that endometrial lining and create a pregnancy and hopefully a healthy pregnancy.

And on the way to get there, it has to sort of go through a bit of an immune onslaught, doesn’t it, from the woman’s immune system.

Nor bad. We need good levels of inflammation when we have, if we cut ourselves or or if we have an a pathogen in our system. But when inflammation is not resolved, becomes chronic, and if, um, there is chronic inflammation that’s gonna, uh, activate [00:27:00] chronically the immune system. Now, the process of pregnancy.

Is highly sensitive to this to immunity. So we need to be able to lower our immune defenses in order for that embryo to attach to the endometrial lining. And if notice is not going to happen, if that is constant hyper surveillance because of that low grade chronic inflammation the embryo will be rejected.

And I advise all my patients to get test. The DNA fragmentation on their first semen analysis sperm antibodies is on the other hand not my first line of, uh, assessment if for, that’s

Then we can investigate that.

What I would say with experiment antibodies is one of other little thing that, uh, will come in most cement analysis is something called agglutination, and [00:29:00] that is how is the sperm behaving the whether. They’re all together in the sample or, or not. And if agglutination of the sperm is very high, then I always test that.

Semen antibodies, sperm antibodies.

Um, and so the whole concept of like a woman having to lie down for a period of time after sex, like, so women, I think that they have to lie down for like, you know, half hour or an hour or something like that. Whereas it’s really not that long, um, because of how sticky it is. But I, that comes from like.

Like way back evolutionary times when a bit like a praying mantis or a spider, like the man’s gotta get in and run.

It’s such a hot environment which causes the damage that oxidative stress.

And what a baril is, is nothing else than at function of the cardiovascular system. So it’s, um, part of the cardiovascular system that is not working well. So if it’s not working well, the blood that is arriving to the testicles to bring in nutrient. Reach and oxygen reach blood and removing waste products is not working well.

The other thing that an optimal cardiovascular system is doing at the testicular area is, uh, making sure that there is no rise in a scrotal temperature like you just mentioned. So. Again, we, we were talking about evolution and, and why things are the way are so, females, they have their ovaries inside of their body and that’s because the process of egg production and egg maturation doesn’t require different temperature than body temperature.

Um, for, for male [00:32:00] fertility, the process of experi nitrogen is requires around two degrees lower than. Total body temperature. So that’s why the male go nuts are hanging out,

right?

Mm-hmm. Now, if for whatever reason that temperature rises, one of the things would be vari cell because there is not enough.

Um. There is not enough blood flow, and blood flow is not optimized. Uh, but another thing is w wearing tight underwear, uh, being sitting for long periods of time, pushing the testicles towards the body, going to saunas, all those factors are gonna negatively influence the quality and the quantity of the sperm.

And what you were saying about you know, the cardiovascular, uh, the system and the vari cell. If we think about it, what is the number one cause mortality for men worldwide. It’s actually, poor cardiovascular health and cardio cardiovascular events. I mean, unless that it has changed [00:33:00] recently.

If it’s not, the number one is at the top, at the top there. So one dysfunction that happens from having issues with the cardiovascular system is having vari cell, which again, has a huge influence in sperm health. And the way to assess whether or not someone has vari cell ultimately is with an ultrasound of the testicular area.

Treatment, isn’t it?

Mm-hmm. Um,

and this is based on research and unfortunately, some couples don’t have their, that time on their hands. And then instead of, uh, surgically removing the Barco cell, other options are offered like IBF or other artificial reproductive techniques.

Tell me your clinical history. You have you had any major, uh, health events? Do you have any? Diagnose medical condition because that’s obviously gonna have a huge effect on your sperm health. So that’s how I start a consultation, letting the person speak. And if they haven’t talked about this, then I always chat about what I consider the pillars of health.

So that will be how is your nutrition, how is your sleep, how is your stress management? And are you exercising at all If those are not addressed. Usually I start from there.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, improving their diet, improving their sleep, their stress management, which goes hand in hand with the sleep. And then I always encourage someone to start exercising if they’re not exercising at all.

Little by little, so that will be the way that I think about a consult. But a above and beyond the four pillars of health. There are so many other [00:36:00] things affecting a sperm quality. One of the things that I speak a lot in my, in the book that is coming out, the Male Factor and why fertility should be a shared responsibility is about the role that pharmaceuticals play in, in, in male fertility.

For example the use of antidepressants has been linked with poor semen analysis. I remember this particular case for one of a patient that I had, um, a couple of years ago. Uh, this person was having this male patient was taking 150 milligrams of an particular SSRI, and then we analyzed.

Many of the other factors that could be influencing him, his diet, his sleep whether or not he had nutritional deficiencies, whether or not he had low testosterone, which obviously also influences sperm health and everything came as [00:37:00] normal. Nothing, nothing else than the antidepressant was an alarm bell.

So I obviously gave her, gave this person high level of antioxidants. Um, I gave him a multivitamin, an Omega-3 to make sure that we were protecting that testicular environment and giving a mass of the nutrients that the sperm that the, the body needs to create this sperm. But then the one thing that I work with.

As well as in conjunction with his doctor is to slowly reduce the dosage of the SSRI. And this is a case to case, uh, scenario. Some people, unfortunately, they cannot reduce the dosage of their antidepressants because they really need it, but in this particular case. The patient was open to, to try, and we worked together making sure that his his neurotransmitters were repleted, that everything was working as, as, as well as possible for him.

And he went from 150 milligrams to only [00:38:00] 25 milligrams in the course of six

I, I can’t remember on the exact number, but I think he’s concentration went from like something like 9 million to 39 million, something like that. Mm. Um, and. I think exercise plays hit a huge role and we will never know how much what was the percent of the influence. On each of the factors, but SSRIs is a good example of how a specific pharmaceuticals can have a huge effect on sperm health.

So we don’t need to study sperm, uh, in that case or female reproductive ’cause. God, I haven’t, haven’t forbid anyone study that. It’s like, it’s one of these things that is, it’s just an unknown and it often doesn’t get thought of at all until much later. Or it takes someone that’s a little bit more savvy to go, maybe it’s the medications causing the issue.

Potent form, DHT. So this medication prevents that conversion and therefore, because that doesn’t happen in the body head loss is prevented. So these days there are lots of 20 year olds, 30 year olds taking this medication. And, um, I have seen some preliminary studies that point towards how this medication is negatively affecting sperm health.

Clinically, I have seen a few cases of it where stopping the medication, uh, doing a bit of work with the male patient and retesting three to six months later lead to great improvements in sperm analysis. So, um. This is another factor, right? Um, this drug was not designed with the idea [00:41:00] in mind that could affect male fertility, but it is indicating that it, it does.

So if. A couple is having trouble to conceiving. I think it’s important to review all the medication that the two parts are taking the female part and the male part.

It is very common. It is, it is very common amongst teams, use users these days. I think, look, we could get into the rabbit hole of why is this happening in the first place, which will be, uh, social media putting body image placing attainable body, um, yeah. So social media these days, what I think it’s doing to our jam population is very clear.

It’s affecting their mental health, right? And then you have all these social media influencers telling [00:42:00] them, you can get the body that I have. You just have to follow this diet. And they’re not telling them the whole picture. In many cases, not all of them, but in many cases they might be using anabolic steroids.

And then this is filtering into the younger population. Everyday more and more I see, uh, the effect that anabolic steroids has in the medium and in the long term of a sperm health. So even if the person had used anabolic steroids a year ago or two years ago and they tr are trying to conceive the long-term effect that anabolic steroid had is still visible.

What you’re really doing is telling your brain you can shut down the communication between the brain. And the testicles. You don’t need to stim the brain doesn’t need to longer stimulate the testicles for more. Yes.

And

then like you said, how long do you [00:44:00] take the anabolic steroids for, and what doses did you take and how old were you when you were having this? All these will have an influence to how fast you recover if you recover.

So let’s, let’s share the way of. Responsibility when it comes to fertility. Let’s go to those [00:45:00] appointments. Let’s make sure that if we haven’t prescribed a supplement, we’ll take that supplement that if we’ve been told that we need to stop alcohol, which we haven’t spoken about, but obviously it’s huge, we stop alcohol altogether.

Or maybe you reduce from having seven drinks per week to just having one to two per these drinks per week with your friends, but do your contribution. That’s what I will say.

Or sperm health can lead to early miscarriage. Let’s do our part into supporting our counterparts, our partners, as much as we can, and share the weight [00:46:00] of responsibility.

And let’s do what were asking me. What are the main things that someone can do? Let’s tackle the big ones, right? Like the, the obvious ones. So alcohol, huge. Like, I mean, there is so much research and do we need more research? I mean, we always do need more research, but it’s very clear the toxic effect that alcohol has in sperm.

So just stopping alcohol is gonna have a huge, huge effect in improving your fertility outcomes, uh, making sure that you are sleeping well and that you’re prioritizing rest. It’s really, really, really huge. Um, I. Eating, eating well, uh, making sure that you’re getting your protein, your fiber, that you’re eating, a food that agrees with you.

Those are huge factors. And then what I will say as well, if you are not working with a health professional and you are unsure what the factors will be, that that’s when you need to ask for help. And I think females are much better than males are asking for help.

Mm-hmm.

There [00:47:00] is. There is not nothing wrong with saying, okay, I don’t know what to do who can help me to improve my outcomes.

I think that is an important factor to, to acknowledge when Google doctor is not enough and when you need to look for a health practitioner that can guide you in the right direction.

That will be my main takeout.

I can tell you the success rate was always [00:48:00] much higher.

Those have a big impact too, don’t they?

Maybe it’s not in the. First consult, but it’s in the second consult. Or I give them some some handouts for them to read or websites that they can visit to understand the if their. The things that they’re using at home to, to clean, uh, to clean the house is affect, could have a negative effect. So I like to give all those resources, which are very important.

Another big one is where are you working? What [00:49:00] are you spending most of your time? If it’s a pain factory, for example, then we know that that can definitely be one of the reasons for low or poor quality sperm. Mm

And then beyond there, we, we’d have to consider the things that are genetic or structural, like the vari CILs we mentioned, or conditions like, um, like Kleinfelter syndrome or mm-hmm. People who are structurally missing vans, deference, or other, other, like under sended, testes and those aspects. Mm-hmm.

So beyond when we get to that point, that’s when, you know, you have, we have the referral network and the dis usually at that point we’d be seeing very big things in the sperm analysis, like zero sperm. So that’s a big red flag to refer on for that. Um, so people don’t usually have to worry about [00:50:00] that.

If they have already got the sperm analysis, they can sort of go, okay, it’s probably not too bad.

To wanna talk about it. So if they have something that’s in front of them that they can sort of sit down and privately assess, that’d be really good. So I’ll, um, I’ll pop some links in the, in the show notes in the, in the description to help people find all of this as well. But can you just share your links.

So all those, uh, important conditions regard regarding the reproductive system and obviously male fertility. So that’s what I’m working at the moment. So, the website is rhreproductivehealth.com. For anyone interested to contact me, uh, they can do it through the website and I will be always happy to answer.

The post Sperm Health appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Imagine this scenario – you’ve been getting symptoms such as vulval itching and redness so you treat it with an over-the-counter thrush cream. The symptoms go. Must have been thrush, right?

It happens again later, but this time the treatment doesn’t work. So you try something else – maybe a pessary or an oral antifungal. Still getting symptoms…

Eventually, you get a swab from your GP, but the results don’t show anything definitive.

So you do a bit of research and decide to go on a strict anti-Candida diet and take several strong natural products that wipe everything out.

But now your gut’s feeling off, you’re anxious about everything you’re eating, and somehow you’re no closer to answers.

You go back to your doctor, and this time you’re given an antidepressant.

How did you end up here!?

Now take this story, and swap out thrush for recurrent UTIs, or BV, or interstitial cystitis. It’s a common journey for so many people, and it can be incredibly frustrating when symptoms keep recurring and you’re left without clear answers. Sometimes things do get picked up early and treatment is straightforward – but often I hear variations of this story, where people don’t fully know what’s causing their symptoms, or they’re led to believe it’s just something they have to live with. Others are placed on long-term medications they don’t feel comfortable with or are never told there may be an underlying imbalance.

A different approach –

When looking into vaginal microbiome health it’s important to have a good idea what you’re working with.
Most people are familiar with the classic symptoms of Candida/thrush – itching, redness, discharge. But sometimes it can present in less typical ways – for example, with only skin irritation or splitting, and no discharge at all. And importantly, Candida is just one type of imbalance. There are many microbes that can disrupt vaginal health – including bacteria linked to BV or chronic UTIs, and others that can trigger inflammation or discomfort without a clear “infection.”

So how do you find out what the cause is?

First and foremost we look at signs and symptoms. The colour, texture, sensations and odour of vaginal discharge can be very informative. Then we can narrow down whether the environment is too acid or alkaline, something that has a big impact on determining what sort of microbes can grow.

After examining symptoms, we can look at vaginal pH – an easy thing you can do at home to monitor the fluctuates from day to day. Vaginal pH is a good indicator of whether the condition is bacterial or fungal, and can show changes before symptoms appear.

A typical swab performed by the GP can also provide a lot of insight. Things like the presence of clue cells, leucocytes, what can be cultured, and whether bacteria appears to be there regardless of whether we know what type it is or not. However, Candida and other microbes don’t always show up on the day of testing, especially in cases of RVVC (recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis), which can wax and wane.

This can often be enough. But if we need to dig deeper a more in depth vaginal microbiome test can be helpful.

There are several versions of vaginal microbiome testing available, currently my preference is through Nutripath which I discuss in the below video.

What is a microbiome?

A community of microorganisms that exist within an area of our body contributing to that spaces function and wellbeing. In female reproductive health we commonly refer to the vaginal microbiome – that microbiome that exists within the vagina and also affects the vulval tissues, as well as the endometrial microbiome (impacting the uterus and surrounding fluids) which may be different depending on cervical competency, and the peritoneal fluid microbiome. In the case of RVVC and chronic BV the vaginal microbiome is the most relevant.

Unlike the gut microbiome, the vaginal microbiome is meant to be relatively low in diversity. In most people, it’s dominated by Lactobacillus species, which help keep the environment slightly acidic and defend against invaders. There are variations in the vaginal microbiome based on hormonal stage (e.g. puberty, pregnancy, menopause) and even across the menstrual cycle. The type of lactobacillus that is dominant may vary based on your genetics, referred to community subtype (CST).

Signs of vaginal microbiome imbalance

• Itching in the vulval or vaginal tissues
• Redness or irritation
• Discomfort or soreness of the vulva or vagina that’s not related to
• Discharge that does not fit the typical ovulation discharge pattern
• Discharge that has a fishy, yeast, acidic, or “rotten/off” smell
• Recurrent UTIs
• Splitting in the creases
• Gushing or watery discharge (a clue depending on the microbe involved)
• Symptoms that flare or change during different phases of your menstrual cycle

Underlying Drivers of Vaginal Microbiome Imbalance

There’s no single cause for microbial imbalance. Often, several systems in the body interact and contribute. Here’s a breakdown:

• Gut health: Our gut is integral in almost all facets of our health and wellbeing. The impact of gut health on vaginal health may be different to what you may think. While older theories linked gut Candida to vaginal thrush, newer research shows this is unlikely due to the gut’s low-oxygen environment. RVVC is not typically caused by reinfection from the gut. Our gut health has an impact because of it’s influence on things like our immune system, hormonal balance, nutritional status and inflammation levels such as histamine tolerance. While gut candida is uncommon, and if present does not typically cause RVVC it is still important that we support gut microbiome in chronic dysbiotic cases.

• Oral health: Poor gum and oral health can drive systemic inflammation, which in turn can affect microbial balance elsewhere in the body.

• Immune health: An immune system that’s either overactive or suppressed can make it harder for the vaginal microbiome to stay balanced. Histamine excess can perpetuate chronic vaginal/vulval symptoms and can cause a heightened reaction when candida is present. There is a relationship between hormonal imbalance and mast cell activation issues that can feed RVVC.

• Hormonal balance: Both high and low oestrogen can create imbalances. In cycling women, this may lead to fluctuating symptoms throughout the month. In menopause, reduced oestrogen means less glycogen in vaginal tissues – a critical food source for Lactobacilli – leading to lower populations of these protective microbes. PCOS can be associated with a unique discharge pattern, and hormonal contraceptives like the OCP can alter both microbiome composition and typical discharge characteristics. Supporting hormonal balance is often a key goal in treating vaginal dysbiosis.

• Stress and nervous system regulation: Chronic stress can shift immune function, disrupt hormonal signalling, and create conditions in which opportunistic microbes thrive.

• Medication use: Antibiotics, antihistamines, and even some hormonal treatments can alter microbial environments by reducing protective species.

• Diet and lifestyle: High sugar and low-fibre diets, synthetic underwear, scented products, improper use of soaps or douching and certain sexual practices can disrupt pH or microbial stability.

The Complexity of Candida and RVVC

Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis is notoriously difficult to manage. One major challenge is timing – it may not show up on a swab done at your GP’s office if you’re between flares. But days later, symptoms can spike again.

And while low Lactobacilli is often linked to chronic Candida, this isn’t always the case. Some women have recurring Candida issues despite normal pH and healthy levels of Lactobacilli. In these cases, the key lies in addressing deeper factors – not just treating the yeast, but looking at immune regulation, inflammation, and systemic triggers.

The Broader Impact on Fertility and Reproductive Health

A disrupted vaginal microbiome can affect far more than just comfort. Studies link dysbiosis with higher miscarriage rates, IVF failure, and unexplained infertility. It may also fuel systemic inflammation via LPS production, worsening conditions like endometriosis and adenomyosis.

Both male and female reproductive microbiomes play a role in conception. The quality of the vaginal environment can influence sperm survival and how the sperm and egg interact.

What Can Be Done About It?

Effective treatment requires more than just “killing off” whatever shows up in a test. This is where working with a practitioner can make all the difference.

I’ve completed extensive training in vaginal microbiome care and offer tailored support – including custom pessaries and individualised treatment plans that target your unique underlying drivers.

A treatment strategy will typically involve:

• Supporting and regulating hormone balance

• Calming inflammation

• Addressing metabolic health and blood sugar regulation

• Modifying lifestyle and sexual practices as needed

• Supporting local vaginal tissue repair and resilience

• Enhancing immune function

• Restoring nervous system regulation and reducing chronic stress load

• Optimising diet, nutrient intake, and specific nutritional markers

• Identifying and targeting key pathogens where necessary

• Using timing strategies to prevent symptoms before they begin

• Balancing vaginal pH

• Supplying prebiotic fuels to feed beneficial microbes

• Using specific probiotics

References

Bradfield Strydom, M., Nelson, T.M., Khan, S. et al. The impact of fluconazole use on the fungal and bacterial microbiomes in recurrent Vulvovaginal Candidiasis (RVVC): a pilot study of vaginal and gastrointestinal site interplay. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 44, 285–301 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10096-024-04999-1

Ono, Y., Kobayashi, Y., Shimada, S., Fukushi, Y., Yoshino, O., Wada, S., & Yamada, H. (2024). Uterine Endometrium Microbiome in Women with Repeated Implantation Failure Complicated by Endometriosis. Journal of clinical medicine, 13(16), 4605. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm13164605

The post What to do when Thrush and BV don’t go away appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Guts & Girl Bits – Episode 45 with Kirsten Greene

I’m so excited to share this episode with you all because SIBO is a condition I have been seeing a lot in clinic, and so I am thrilled to share this deep dive into SIBO with you.

Kirsten Greene (previously Swales) is a Naturopath who loves working with all this digestion, especially SIBO. She shares helpful tips of how to work through SIBO and also her own journey with this condition.

SIBO, also known as Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth is a condition that can contribute to a wide variety of symptoms, but some of the classic signs that this may be something to consider include:

• Bloating, especially soon after eating
• Diarrhoea, or Constipation
• Wind (Farting, Burping)
• Stomach pain
• Food sensitivities – especially the fodmap group
• other inflammatory conditions that you can’t pinpoint the cause

In this episode Kirsten shares information about:

• What is SIBO
• Her personal journey with SIBO
• How to test for SIBO
• How to treat SIBO, and how to target treatment based on whether you have a dominance of methane or hydrogen bacteria
• How to support digestive health while healing from SIBO
• What is hydrogen sulphide SIBO?
• Other forms of microbial imbalance: LIBO, and SIFO
• Strep infections and SIBO, and how your dental health can impact SIBO
• Biofilms and SIBO
• What are some common mistakes that people make when trying to treat themselves from SIBO?

The Podcast

Have a listen here or on the embedded player below:

iPhone   Stitcher   Youtube   Soundcloud  Spotify 

Get in touch with Kirsten

Kirsten Greene (previously Swales) has been a practicing Naturopath, Nutritionist and Western Medical Herbalist for the past seven years, and specialises in working with clients who have SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth).

Kirsten has worked in Australia, South Africa and Europe and consults with clients worldwide online.
Originally from South Africa, trained and qualified in Australia, Kirsten is a practicing member of Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia and now calls Bali, Indonesia home.

Kirsten has worked in Australia, South Africa and Europe and consults with clients worldwide online.
Originally from South Africa, trained and qualified in Australia, Kirsten is a practising member of Naturopaths and Herbalists Association of Australia and now calls Bali, Indonesia home.

Her primary focus is helping women heal their digestive issues so they can enjoy a loving relationship with their body and food, and for some, so that they may feel “normal”, sometimes for the first time in their lives.

Having been through SIBO and suffering digestion issues herself for years, Kirsten is super passionate in this area and can relate to what her clients are going through.
SIBO free to this day, Kirsten has gone from living with an extreme fear of food due to bloating, weight gain and discomfort, to having a healthy, functioning digestive system and sound relationship with all food.
This is what she wants this for all other SIBO sufferers too.

Connect with Kirsten:
www.kirstenswales.com/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kirsten.greene.nd/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kirstenswalesnaturopath/
Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCjgjfDxqujHARmLtuf3Dpug

Kirsten’s Online Course: www.kirstenswales.com/online-course/

Podcast Transcript

Alison Mitchell 0:08
Hi everyone, you’re listening to Guts and Girl Bits. I’m Alison Mitchell, a practicing Naturopath. I hope to share with you all sorts of information about women’s health and digestive health to educate and empower you to make informed choices about your own health. Please remember that all information is general and does not replace consulting with the practitioner.

Hi, everyone. Welcome to guts and girl bits. Today, I’ll be talking with a fellow naturopath. All About SIBO! SIBO, also known as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is something that is affecting so many people and causing all sorts of tummy troubles. So I love working with people with digestive stuff, hence the name of this podcast, guts and girl bits and I’m really excited to share this information because Something that I’ve been talking about to a lot of my patients about SIBO and finding there’s heaps of people out there that are like ‘What? What is SIBO?’

So this podcast is awesome because my guest is extremely, extremely knowledgeable about SIBO. She has been through the process of healing herself, of SIBO and has helped countless people in their own journeys with the SIBO as well. We talk about what is SIBO? How does it come about? What are some of the testing options? What can we do to treat it, including different options with medicines from doctors like certain anti biotics as well as different herbal options, and we talk about, you know, do we use probiotics? And if you do, what sort do we use? We talked about the different diet options because there’s so much information out there. And what are the common mistakes that people make when trying to treat themselves for SIBO? And how long should we wait expect to get better.

So my guest is the amazing Kirsten Swales (Greene). She has been a practicing naturopath, nutritionist and Western medical herbalist for the past seven years. And she specializes in working with clients who have SIBO. She’s worked in Australia in South Africa and Europe and she consults with clients worldwide online. She’s originally from South Africa, but she’s trained and qualified here in Australia. And she now calls Bali Indonesia home. So her primary focus is helping women to heal their digestive issues so that they can enjoy a loving relationship with their body and food emphasizes that they might feel normal sometimes for the first time in their lives. Having been through SIBO and suffering digestion issues herself for years because it’s super passionate in this area, and can relate to what her clients are going through. Having been SIBO free to this day. Kirsten has gone from living with an extreme fee of food due to bloating rates. pain and discomfort to having a healthy functioning digestive system and a sound relationship with food. And that is what she wants for all other SIBO sufferers to have as well. Kirsten is so generous with her knowledge. And she has shared so much amazing content in this podcast. I was like wow Kirsten you are giving gold. So I’m really excited for you to listen to anyone that has been diagnosed with SIBO or suspects that they have SIBO or even if they just have some health issues that they haven’t quite been able to get to the bottom of have a listen to this episode because as we talked about SIBO is linked to so many other things in the body and it’s actually not a forever Doom diagnosis you can get better. So thank you for listening. I hope you enjoy!

Hi, Kirsten, thank you so much for joining me today.

Kirsten Greene 4:03
Thanks, Alison. Thanks for having me.

Alison Mitchell 4:06
Yay. So I’m so excited to have you here to talk about all things SIBO, because this is just a topic that I’m seeing so much more of, I think is becoming so much more common as well. And many people don’t know much about it, but it’s one of those hidden issues, isn’t it? Like, you know, if in doubt, look for SIBO in terms of gut health do you think that’s right?

Kirsten Greene 4:32
Definitely. And it’s just it’s been around I’ve found references in the studies from like the 1800s. But only recently has it been getting that awareness and it’s so so so common, and it’s something that is fixable, so I get really excited about it.

Alison Mitchell 4:47
Yeah, I love that you start with that it’s fixable because it is isn’t there then so many people like ‘oh no have I got this forever?

Kirsten Greene 4:56
Yeah, where sometimes people get tell they just have IBS, and it’s given what’s causing your IBS, and then this is something that causes it and you can get to the bottom. Mm

Alison Mitchell 5:05
hmm. You know, that’s so common, isn’t it? IBS? Oh, I’ve got IBS. That’s the answer. So I have to eat this particular diet or take this drug for the rest of my life. And it’s like, no. Oh, you don’t? So I’m really fascinated to know, how did you get into this career path?

Kirsten Greene 5:28
So I think like most naturopaths it comes from a desire to fix ourselves. I had issues most of my life, and I got a bit of a joke that I probably popped out the womb on a digestive back foot. my mom said I was a very colicky baby. And then I was always just aware that digestion was not so much digestion. I was always just aware that food was a bit of an issue for me. So I was often hungrier than I seemed. compared to most of my friends. I struggled with gaining weight really quickly, except now that I know that I want to know It wasn’t that I was getting fat, I was just getting bloated. So I just came to believe that it was normal that every time I put food into my stomach that it would puff out. That’s actually not normal. That’s not meant to happen. So i was constantly trying all these different things to just feel better than I did for any new diet that came along. I would try to eat one thing diet, I would try eat cabbage diet, I would try the Atkins diet just so I could feel better. And I maybe did feel better in the moment, but it would always just rebound. And I often feel a bit worse than when I first started. So that was always a thing for me. And when I travel quite a lot in my early 20s and then run by the age of 24. I decided I was going to study something and it just happened to be a trade remedial massage because I like people I like working with people and this was an area that fascinated me. So it always been into natural stuff and how this can help us without hurting ourselves and then didn’t even know what a naturopath was but the college that I was studying at in Australia had a naturopathy course, a nutrition course, had a homeopathy course. And then we go home and with my friend, we had that prospectus in our hand, and we were googling these names meant because we didn’t even know. But just before the course started, there was a lecturer giving a talk on introduction to naturopathy and I thought. Oh, my goodness, this is it. So walked out of that room into the registers to my course and haven’t looked back since. So I’m so so grateful for all the issues that I’ve had myself, even though they were so horrible, but it led me to where I am. And if I had to do it all over again, I totally would, I’m so grateful.

Alison Mitchell 7:37
Yeah, I guess that has given you that real empathy that so many people really need from their carer as well. Mm hmm.

Kirsten Greene 7:45
Yeah. I can totally understand because I probably had all the symptoms that they’ve had themselves. Yeah.

Alison Mitchell 7:53
Hence the passion for digestion. Right. So is that what people mostly come to see for for digestion, Or are people coming to see you for other things as well?

Kirsten Greene 8:04
Definitely digestion. And so now I focus. I specialize in SIBO specifically. So I myself had SIBO back in 2016. And since then that’s really, really been my focus. So I know inside out and I get so much joy from helping other people with it. So they come to me with SIBO. Sometimes it turns out that it’s not SIBO, even if they’ve been told that it’s SIBO. So, I don’t specifically exclude anybody else that doesn’t have SIBO so all digestive stuff I help with. So often the method of healing up the digestive system is the same the specifics in terms of treatment might be different. But there’s so many different guidelines that apply with all digestive health. So it could be “just IBS” or it could be crohns, or it could be coeliac or it could be food intolerances. So all these things are my favorite topics. And when people come to me for.

Alison Mitchell 8:53
yeah, okay. And SIBO in particular is something that as we were talking about, you know, it’s becoming more more well known people are getting more awareness around it. But it’s been around for a long, long time. But So how long have you been treating that specifically? Has that been something that you know, you’ve just jumped you started your practice really passionate about it? Or was there a moment where it’s like, oh, this is the thing.

Kirsten Greene 9:19
I kind of evolved from my own journey. So when I graduated as a naturopath I knew that I wanted to specialize in digestive health because that had been my journey. And then when I got see by myself four years ago, then it became my sole practice because I know it. I know it so well, because I’d been through it myself and I’ve all the hundreds of you are treated since then. I’ve just know it so well and what to look out for how to get better in the quickest and most enjoyable way because it doesn’t have to be awful SIBO treatment doesn’t have to be awful. You just need to know what you’re doing. And I really enjoy that the past four years and then just have health for the past almost decade, I guess. Yeah.

Alison Mitchell 9:56
Now I think there might be some people listening that don’t actually know what SIBO is. So can we just, you know, backtrack a little bit and say what actually is a SIBO?

Kirsten Greene 10:09
Sure thing so it’s S I B O, and that’s acronym for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. So it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s bad bacteria in your digestive system, it just means that it’s in the wrong spot. So ideally, we want this one to find to be relatively sterile in terms of bacteria. And then we want most of our bacteria to be in the large intestine. And there’s different kinds of SIBO as well. So there’s two main ones and then there’s a third one that’s getting more attention recently. So you have your methane dominant SIBO, where your methane gasses at highest produced by the methanogens, and then you get your hydrogen dominance SIBO, and then the third one that’s come out recently, more more focus on recently is the hydrogen sulfide to see by three different kinds there.

Alison Mitchell 10:56
Ah, and the hydrogen sulfide one is not somthing thing that I’ve heard or is that something that you can pick up, particularly with the testing, which we’ll talk more about the testing later.

Kirsten Greene 11:07
So there’s no specific test just yet that you can get Park Pimental from Cedar Sinai is working on it. But so it’s more of a process of elimination from the other tests, and then also taking a really good case history, and then they can find out more about this. There’s certain kinds of bacteria that released the sulphate gas, like Desulfovibrionales and Bilophilia wadsworthia they are the most common ones, but it’s that stinky guess is that rotten egg smelling gas may produce that.

Alison Mitchell 11:34
Interesting. So, let’s talk about some of the symptoms of SIBO what are some things that people should be looking out for that might go ‘hmm Maybe that’s related to me.’

Kirsten Greene 11:47
There’s so many, so the most common one for sure is the bloating especially and the timing of the bloating is important as well. So if it’s one to three hours after eating, then you can suspect at this moment of time, if it’s actually to three hours, then you might think of the large intestine. So definitely, definitely, definitely the most common symptom, but you don’t have to have bloating to have super. I’ve had clients before that, no issues with bloating but still have SIBO. Then also there are issues with your number twos. So it could either be diarrhea, it could be constipation, or could be an alternating of the two. Then you also get your food intolerances. So lactose intolerance is definitely a common one. And then also an issue with foods like the fodmaps, which are your fermentable carbohydrates and certain foods, and even garlic would be a biggest triggers for sure. There’s often an issue with digesting and breaking down the fibers in the foods and then the fiber is the indigestible part of a plant food so in your carbohydrates, so that’ll be the biggest one in there. But then you can also experience pain, gas. cramping, brain fog is really really common, joint pain, stiffness, skin issues, so many things associated with SIBO.

Alison Mitchell 13:01
Okay. So sometimes it could be something that you wouldn’t even think is related to your digestive system, but then turns out it actually is.

Kirsten Greene 13:13
I know, it’s all so connected.

Alison Mitchell 13:16
Yeah, the gut’s just connected to so many things. Okay. So why are people actually getting SIBO in the first place?

Kirsten Greene 13:28
Someone asked me on my Instagram a little while ago what I think the common cause of SIBO is, and I say stress. And that could be physical stress. It could be mental stress, or it could be emotional stress. So SIBO is a condition and SIBO is an underlying cause of things like IBS, but then what went wrong to allow SIBO to get there in the first place? Because our bodies are so amazing. It’s an amazing organism. It is so well adapted at keeping everything in check and functioning by itself. But for SIBO to have got there, there’s got to been a breakdown in a protective mechanism somewhere along the way that allowed it to get there. A really common cause is food poisoning. So a lot of people can pinpointed on that holiday to Mexico where they had a funny mohito. And now they’ve got digestive issues. So food poisoning can do things with a digestive system and then somehow the bacteria is allowed to migrate up into this momentous time. And once it’s in this momentous sign, you have to take steps to get it out. So that could be we’ll come to this later, I’m sure but the antimicrobials or pharmaceuticals or the elemental diet. So that’s a physical stress that can cause the SIBO but really underestimated is the emotional stress as well. So if we are constantly under pressure, and no one likes to think that they stress they really don’t, but if you could take a little minute and just look at yourself and how you respond to the stressors in your life. So say you say someone scratched your car and he didn’t even really care that might be pretty low on the scale. Say you went to the shop to buy an avocado and they were out of stock and he burst into tears, it would probably that your stress response is a bit on high alert And if you’re having panic attacks, and you might get a 10 out of 10. And I just wanted to bring that up is because when we’re in the stress mode, we tend to be in what we call our sympathetic nervous system, which is also called our fight and flight. And then when we’re in our sympathetic nervous system, our parasympathetic nervous system, which is our rest and digest gets shut down. So what that means is that sometimes our stomach acid doesn’t get produced at the right amount, or our stomach is constantly contracted like this, if you get a fright, you can notice that you gasps and your stomach will be contracted. So the peristalsis couldn’t happen. So things don’t move through as effectively. So that would be really common. But in terms of the physical thing for sure, there’s food poisoning, and then a history of antibiotic use. It could be back from when you were two years old, unfortunately, and things like this probably out of your control. So it’s always lovely to find your underlying Cause for getting SIBO in the first place. But also knowing that sometimes there might not be one specific thing. So for myself, I probably can’t relate it to one specific thing, more like a accumulation of things going wrong from birth, pretty much. So then it’s looking after your whole digestive system to get everything. And there’s protective mechanisms back in place, and then you can keep it away.

Alison Mitchell 16:26
Beautiful, thank you. I think that’s really interesting. linking it to that sort of relative stresses of that and how some people would say, I don’t have that much stress, everything’s right, but it really comes down to how they feel about it, how they react.

Kirsten Greene 16:42
yeah, if you’re waking up at 3am definite sign that your adrenals are a little bit fried. So I would you know, glands help us with our stress hormones, so adrenalin and cortisol, which is really important because if someone is pointing a gun at you, you need to make it so the cortisol will help us make those really quick decisions about which way to go. What do we do? So we need this one. But when it goes into prolonged stress, that’s when it becomes a problem. If you ever seen a zebra getting chased by a lion in the wild, while they’re getting chased, they in full on sympathetic nervous system fight or flight. But if they managed to get away from a lion and see the lion eating a difference zebra, they switch back very easily into their parasympathetic so they get back into the rest and digest. So you’ll see them eating grass happily and no problem. And then the biggest stressors, they say, studies have even backed this up. The biggest stressors that we have these days is deadlines, the deadlines at work, and bills that we receive a bill and then also even low batteries on our smartphones. So we know… laughs it’s so funny. So we intellectually know that these things won’t kill us. But our body will go into the same protective mechanisms as if it would. So it goes into your sympathetic nervous system, so digestion shuts down. Huge Cause.

Alison Mitchell 17:58
you know, I mean, for me I’ve got a really good life and things stress me out. And it’s the stupidest things. It’s things like my son way to put his socks on in time. You know, they’re such little things and yet maybe my adrenal glands need a bit of nourishing, who knows. But it’s all relative, it’s how you feel about the situation.

Kirsten Greene 18:24
And then also in our digestive system, we’ve got the enteric nervous system. So enteric relates to your intestines, and there are more nerve endings in your enteric nervous system than they are in the spinal cord. So if you’ve got digestive issues, and you’re constantly being triggered by an enteric, nervous system, say with food intolerances, that’s going to over stimulate the rest of your nervous system as well.

Alison Mitchell 18:46
For sure, so I think that people don’t often think about that do they but I’m so glad you’re talking about it because you’ve got to work on the gut to treat the nervous system, and you’ve got to treat the nervous system to treat the gut.

Kirsten Greene 18:59
No and it’s so wonderful when it all comes back into balance and it’s kind of I see my clients go through the process and then when I’m doing my last consult with them and then when they’re better we go through the intake form and compare with how far they’ve come and they often it’s so wonderful to see that they forget how stressed they used to be or they forget how scared of who they used to be. And that’s when you know that… God love it. I love it. I love it so much.

Alison Mitchell 19:25
That would be so nice, for both of you I would imagine. So that’s so that’s really interesting. So the SIBO has this massive connection with our mental health because of enteric nervous system and we’ve got all these neurotransmitters being made in gut like our serotonin and dopamine and our GABA, they’re all needing a health gut. We need that for our healthy neurotransmitters. But what about other sorts of conditions? Are there other sorts of health conditions or other seemingly unrelated symptoms that we can link to SIBO?

Kirsten Greene 20:04
I could probably tie almost every condition back to the gut. The main ones I’d say, because SIBO can lead to a lot of inflammation in the guts. And so SIBO can mess around with our digestion and absorption. So if you imagine that you are making food in the kitchen, and you just leave it lying around, so if you leave it laying around long enough, you’ll start to get the ants, leave it lying around even longer, and then you’ll start to get the mice and then you’ll start to get a whole bunch of stuff. So it gets a really big, festy mess. So that’s happening in your digestive tract. Just imagine the kind of bacteria that you are attracting and the pathogens that you are attracting, and it crowds out good stuff, which usually controls them. So then that can lead to a lot of inflammation in the digestive system. And then inflammation in that digestive system, if it goes on too long, can lead to inflammation, body wide. So most conditions have to do with inflammation. So almost anything that ends in ‘-ITIS’ so like arthritis, dermatitis, the itis relates to even hepatitis relates to inflammation of – all those conditions for sure. Then acne is a big one. I used to have horrendous skin, it was so bad. And then back when I was in college, it was okay. And then learning what we know, I came off the contraceptive pill, my skin just exploded. And then I was managing it a little bit with different herbs. And then I went vegetarian for a period of six months, because it was heralded as the most healthy diet. It’s like, Okay, this is gonna make me feel amazing. I’m going for it. So I went full vegetarian for six months. But I felt so so so awful, because at that stage, I didn’t have the digestive system strong enough to handle it. Whereas nowadays, my diet is mostly vegetarian, because I’ve spent so much time working on it and I can actually digest the food that I’m eating.

Alison Mitchell 21:52
A lot of plant fibres there.

Kirsten Greene 21:53
I know, and it’s so good for us. We just need to make sure that we can digest them and break them down. I had really, really bad acne when I was going through the vegetarian stuff. Now I don’t. So now that I healed my gut that’s gone away. Definitely joint pain for sure. And then also anxiety and depression often are connected to the digestive system as well. Not saying always, but definitely a lot of the time. If there is a group of bacteria called the gram negative bacteria, and these are the not so good bacteria, and then when our digestive system is out of balance, they can override a lot of good bacteria. Just I love to compare it like a garden it’s so similar to a garden. So if you have this garden, the grass and the plants and all the things and if the weeds start to take over, and they knock that balance, then they can just grow and grow and grow and more and more and more our good plants would kind of suffer there’s no space for them. So these Gram negative bacteria, they, in their shells, they have something called lipo- polysaccharides. So lipopolysaccharides are classed as an in endotoxin: endo means within and a toxin is a toxin. So these lipopolysaccharides are so inflammatory. And then if there’s a case of leaky gut, which is when the tight junctions of the gut separate and things can get into the bloodstream, they aren’t meant to. So if these lipopolysaccharides get into the bloodstream, and then just like the gut barrier, we have a blood brain barrier, which can also end up leaky, so leaky brain some people call it, and then if that gets into the brain, it can inflame the brain and cause feelings of depression. And this is even how they test the pharmaceutical antidepressants. Like they inject the poor mice with lipopolysaccharides and then test their pharmaceutical antidepressant to see if it’s effective. So that’s hugely connected.

Alison Mitchell 22:41
That doesn’t get spoken about much does it?

Kirsten Greene 23:43
Noo, and people don’t realize and they think that it’s a nervous system condition, when actually it’s coming from the gut. And if you can fix your gut, you don’t need to be on antidepressants you don’t need to be on even if it’s herbal Nervous System support, if it’s coming from your digestive system. There’s a lady called Dr. Allison Siebecker. She’s probably one of the pioneers in terms of theSIBO world. I love her. And she’s got a website called siboinfo.com, and she’s got a whole page dedicated to associated conditions. Also, because she’s a research scientist, she’s got the research studies backing up all the different things. If you wanted to see more, what’s involved in you can go to siboinfo.com. I forget the exact page, but it’ll be there somewhere.

Alison Mitchell 24:25
I’ll pop the link for that in the show notes. (Here it is: https://www.siboinfo.com/associated-diseases.html).

…more transcript to come!

The post A Naturopath’s Guide to SIBO appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Health & Wellbeing Podcast #38

Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disease that causes strong reactions to wheat. It can affect your hormonal health, mental health, nutritional status and more.
In this episode I chat with herbalist Sarah Corbett about her personal journey with coeliac disease, and the herbal allies she used to help herself heal.
We chat a lot about coeliac disease in general and a little about women’s health and the risks of gluten contamination that people with coeliac / celiac disease need to be aware of in their herbs and supplements.

The Podcast

Click here to listen on Soundcloud or via the embedded player below.

iPhone   Stitcher   Youtube   Soundcloud  Spotify 

Podcast breakdown

3:13 Sarah’s experiences growing herbs in her garden
4:17 What’s the difference between gluten intolerance, wheat allergy and coeliac disease.
Sarah’s journey of being diagnosed with coeliac disease, and the healing process
09:46 the difficulties of a coeliac diet
10:45 how rare is coeliac disease, the prevalence of women having coeliac disease and autoimmune conditions
14:30 the symptoms Sarah was experiencing to prompt her seeking a diagnosis
15:50 Getting diagnosed with coeliac disease
20:56 Has the incidence of coeliac disease been increasing
22:00 Viral infections as a potential trigger for autoimmune disease/coeliac disease
24:00 Hormonal imbalances and coeliac disease – is there a link?
27:00 Mental health and coeliac disease, how it can impact brain chemistry, and impact the gut-brain axis. How living with a chronic disease such as coeliac disease can impact your mental health.
29:50 what are some of the biggest understanding around coeliac disease
31:00 how can we heal with coeliac disease. The increased nutritional needs.
33:00 Would you have done anything different to treat yourself now that you know what you do with herbs? What herbs did you use to heal yourself when you were diagnosed with coeliac disease?
Healing herbs: Plaintain (Plantago lanceolata), vulverary herbs including Calendula (Calendula officinalis), lymphatic herbs, immune-modulators, astringents, bitters, carminatives, Cleavers, Peppermint, Marshmallow, Reishi, licorice..
35:43 Does she use herbs as liquid extracts, teas, food etc?
38:30 Intestinal permeability and microbiome imbalance
39:56 Gluten contamination in herbs and supplements – what to think about
43:49 advil liquid gels contains gluten
47 :44 gluten free recipes
49:47 Favourite herbs for gut health
52:11 Sarah’s personal protocol.
55:00 How to get in touch with Sarah, Rowan and Sage

About Sarah

Clinical Herbalist and creatrix of Rowan + Sage, a small-batch apothecary brewing plant potions and other herbal magic in the heart of Atlanta, GA. Sarah’s path as an Herbalist blossomed from experimentation with plants to support her own health challenges, specifically through her experience with Celiac Disease. She is a forever student of the magic of nature & the human body, holding a Bachelors of Science in Psychology with an additional focus on Nutrition, certifications from the College of Purna Yoga, and over seven years of combined self-study and formal education in Herbalism. Through her work with Rowan + Sage, Sarah offers a line of Celiac-safe herbal products made from locally sourced herbs grown in her bioregion and offers one-on-one wellness consultations to help others experience vibrant well-being.

Get in touch

www.rowanandsage.com 

Instagram: @rowanandsage

Facebook: @rowanandsageshop

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/rowanandsage

The post Coeliac Disease – How to take control of your health and healing your gut with herbs. appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Health & Wellbeing Podcast #36

In this podcast episode I chat with herbalist Kyra Howearth about how plant medicine can be of help in couples trying to conceive.

We talk about tips for boosting sperm health and egg health, a little about herbs during IVF, and the importance of preconception care.

The Podcast

Click here to listen on Soundcloud, or via the embedded player below.

iPhone   Stitcher   Youtube   Soundcloud

About Kyra

Kyra works with couples trying to conceive in her clinic in Tamworth and she also helps couples through her online preconception programs. She has 4 children of her own, although she had fertility issues along the way. 

Get in touch

http://kyrahowearth.com.au/

Email: hello@kyrahowearth.com.au

Phone: 0423 043 908

The post Herbs for Fertility appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

The Safety of Beauty Products

When Ash was just month or so old, I attended a talk at a local cafe Lime and Coconut by the gorgeous Therese Kerr. Therese was spreading her message of the importance of choosing chemical free, certified organic body products. Most of the people in the room were shocked when she explained the nature of some common ingredients in our beauty products, and the threats that they pose to our health.

If I asked you to go into your cupboard and examine the labels of all your beauty products, I bet you wouldn’t be able to tell me much about the ingredients. And that’s fair enough, I wouldn’t have either. And possibly, like me a while ago, you may have assumed that there was a good amount of safety testing that took place to ensure these products we used were safe. But the extent that most testing goes to is to see whether the product will give you a skin irritation, not whether that chemical will interfere with your hormonal and immune health.

But if you look close enough, it’s possible you will encounter a chemical that does much more harm than good. Chemicals which are classed as Obesogens, Neuro Developmental toxins, Endocrine disrupting toxins, reproductive disrupting toxins, developmental disrupting toxins, Teratogens (synthetic chemicals suspected to cause birth defects), Immunotoxins, and Carcinogens can all be found in beauty products.

Our skin absorbs a great deal of what we put onto it, and unlike our digestive system which has a detoxification process, our skin is unable to filter a lot of the chemicals contained in our beauty products and so these go straight into our blood stream.

Why should we worry?

These chemicals can accumulate in our tissues and not only affect us, but also our children. Chemicals are passing through to our babies and into our breast milk, and this can have some pretty serious consequences for some.

We’d all agree that these scientific findings are concerning …

• 200+ synthetic chemicals are being found in new born babies umbilical cords.
• 200+ synthetic chemicals are being found in breast milk.
• Children are being born with more fat cells in their little bodies than ever before in history.

What can we do about it?

Vote with your dollar. Become educated and empowered.

Whenever it’s time to replace a product, choose one which is safe. Australian Certified Organic is a good marker that the product is free from harmful chemicals. You can also look at products and ingredients on apps and programs such as http://www.thinkdirtyapp.com/ and http://chemicalmaze.com/

Therese released a range of beauty products which utilise the actions of herbs such as Lemon Myrtle, Rooibos and Aloe Vera, and are Australia Certified Organic.

Therese used to manage her daughter Miranda Kerr’s range of skincare, Kora Organics which targets a young demographic, but moved away to release her own range of beauty products to stand beside this and fill the gaps in the market. The Divine Company includes a range of beauty products including body washes and moisturisers, hand sanitisers, toothpastes, mouthwash, baby products as well as a men’s range.

Watch the video for a discussion with Therese about the chemicals in beauty products and the importance of choosing Australian Certified Organic.

Watch the video:

Or just listen to the audio:

About Therese

Therese is an Author, Visionary, Public Speaker, The Health and Wellness Ambassador of Australian Organic, a Wellness Ambassador for Mindd Foundation, Animal Rights Activist, Advocate for holistic family health and an Ambassador for Endometriosis Australia. In late 2015 Therese was voted Australian Organic Industry Leader and one of Australia’s Top 50 Most Influential Women. Therese is a recognised Public Speaker, sharing evidence-based research on holistic family health specialising in the impact of chemicals on the endocrine system and on overall health.

Therese and the fellow Directors through The Divine Company: http://www.thedivinecompany.com provides the world with the highest quality, nutrient and antioxidant-rich, Australian Certified Organic (ACO) products – products as nature intended.

Through the use of the latest technology in scientifically proven, age-defying plant-based botanicals, the beauty benefits and efficacy of the Divine Company products surpass even the efficacy of conventional products. In addition all of The Divine Company products are free from the chemicals commonly found in most skin and personal care products.

Leaders in certified organic manufacturing, The Divine Company educates and empowers people to make healthy choices without compromising quality.

The Divine Company range of products currently consists of Certified Organic Personal Care, Baby, Self tanning and Men’s care products and soon to be released Divine Woman – certified organic age-defying skincare.

Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/TheDivineCompany | https://www.facebook.com/ThereseKerrOfficial

Twitter: @divinebytk | @therese_kerr

Instagram: @thedivinecompany | @theresekerr

Website: http://www.thedivinecompany.com

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The post Interview with Therese Kerr – Podcast #22 appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing the beautiful and inspiring Lee Holmes. Lee has created several amazing recipe books and her blog has always been a source of inspiration for my dinners. I am so keen to share her new book – Eat Right for Your Shape – with you, it is filled with delightful recipes and a beautiful and easy to read guide of Ayurvedic lifestyle practices.

In this podcast Lee talks about her trip to India which inspired her recipes for this book and how her eating style has changed over the years. We also chat about intermittent fasting, some ayurvedic principles and Lee explains how we can balance our health by eating to suit our dosha.

Watch the video here:

Or just listen to the audio:

About Lee

Lee Holmes holds an Advanced Certificate in Food and Nutrition and is a certified holistic health coach (IIN), yoga teacher, wholefoods chef and bestselling author of the Supercharged Food series, which includes Eat Your Way To Good Health; Eat Yourself Beautiful; Eat Clean, Green and Vegetarian; Heal Your Gut; and Supercharged Food for Kids.

She is a columnist for Wellbeing Magazine and Lifestyle Food Channel’s Healthy Eating Expert, and her articles have appeared in leading Australian newspapers and journals, as well as The Times and The Daily Express in the UK and The Huffington Post in the US.

Find Lee at her award-winning blog, superchargedfood.com

You can also connect with Lee on her social media channels here:

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Google Plus

You can purchase this book here, along with any other of Lee’s books.

The post Interview with Lee Holmes – Podcast #21 appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Health & Wellbeing Podcast #20

There’s been a bit of a gap since my last podcast and blog post, but never fear, I am still here! I didn’t fall off the side of the planet, I’ve been spending some wonderful, blissful, quality time with my little cherub Ash. He’s now 5 months old, can you believe how fast that has gone?

This podcast was one that I recorded with Laura Yen from Burton Health back when I was in my last weeks of pregnancy. It’s taken me a good while to get this out, but it’s worth the wait because this podcast is jam-packed with helpful information about sleep and insomnia.

Sleep is a very important part of your health to get right. Alongside things like stress levels, diet and exercise, sleep is one of the basics that need to be addressed in order to be healthy.

In Australia, 13-33% of adults have regular difficulty in either getting to sleep or staying asleep. In NSW alone, almost one-fifth of the population are chronically sleep restricted. That really sucks.

Conventional sleeping medications will certainly get you to sleep, but many people are hesitant to use them because of their side effects and addictive nature.

In this podcast Laura and I talk about the importance of sleep, sleep cycles, what sleep deprivation does to us, and how to improve our sleep.

Want to subscribe to get podcasts automatically? You can do that here:

iPhone   Stitcher   Youtube   Soundcloud

Video

Part 1

0:00 Intro and disclaimer.

1:07 Some sleep statistics and the connection between sleep problems and depression.

2:04 What is insomnia?

3:02 Sleep cycles

06:04 Why sleep is important

07:00 Biphasic sleep, or segmented sleep.

7:50 How can sleep problems affect health?

9:57 Lack of sleep can affect your ability to think clearly, and getting a good night sleep is very important for students.

10:30 Are phones in the bedroom affecting sleep health?

12:28 Sleep deprivation can worsen inflammation and affect gut flora

13:00 Causes of sleep issues: light, shift work, artificial light, noise, temperature, sleeping environment

17:04 Earthing

17:55 Light affects dopamine which can affect insulin signalling and cortisol, and how cortisol can affect sleep

Part 2

0:20 Get into a good routine and start improving sleep hygiene

1:30 How your dinner can affect your sleep

2:10 Sleep routine, and training yourself to sleep

03:10 The blue light from electrical gadgets can affect sleep. F.lux is an app you can get tochange the colour of your computer screen, or you can get orange/amber coloured glasses.

04: 10  Stimulants and sleep

04:50 More on food and sleep: carbohydrates and low-carb diet for sleep; amino acids in foods to help sleep hormones; alcohol

06:15  What time should you go to bed?

08:05 Mindfulness, meditation and journaling

10:45  Sleep debt

11: 45  Address stress in the day, cortisol test and herbs for stress

12:46  Have a nice bedroom

13:47  Supplements and herbs for sleep

Audio

About Laura

Laura is a clinical naturopath practicing in St Leonards and Dural. Her key areas of interest are female hormone disorders, digestive health, stress & adrenal fatigue. Through her clinical experience Laura has identified the prevalence of stress in our everyday lives and sees it as the most common cause or exacerbating factor of her patients health conditions. Laura believes that we need to get back to basics and work on our ability to release and manage stress in order to prevent and treat disease.

Last year Laura set herself the mission to reach beyond the walls of her clinics and send her de-stress message out to Australian and New Zealand households through the Burton Health Tea Club. Each month she sends love letters and tea packages to her members to inject joy and excitement into their days and to remind them to slow down, relax and reconnect while sipping on a cup of organic herbal tea.

You can connect with Laura via her website www.burtonhealth.com.au, on Facebook, Twitter or on Instagram.

The post Sleep and Insomnia – Podcast #20 appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Health & Wellbeing Podcast #19 with guest Hayley Stockbridge

Acne can be very troubling, affecting your self confidence and at times rather painful. It’s synonymous with the teenage years and often with PMS as well, but it doesn’t have to be. There is so much that can be done to help your skin if you are experiencing acne, including nutritional medicine, diet support and herbal medicine.

A lot of people believe that the only solutions for acne are medications such as the oral contraceptive pill, roaccutane or antibiotics, but all of these have their potential side effects and certainly aren’t for everyone. If you’re looking for a different solution to your skin complaints, naturopathy may be your answer.

In this episode Hayley and I chat about a naturopathic approach to acne, the underlying causes of acne, how to improve your skin with your diet, and more.

Hayley practices at Manly on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and in Stanmore in Sydney’s Inner West. Her major focus is always educating her patients to live healthier and happier lives. She treats women, men and children of all ages and a wide variety of health issues such as weight loss, digestive problems, anxiety/stress, fertility, hormone imbalances, food intolerances and headaches.

You can also connect with Hayley on Facebook and Instagram.

Want to subscribe to get podcasts automatically? You can do that here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/health-wellbeing-podcast/id1006574743

Podcast Breakdown:

0:00 Intro and disclaimer
0:40 Meet Hayley
1:24 What’s going on in someone who has acne?
2:40 Why do some people get acne and some don’t?
3:52 Hormonal acne
6:43 Adult onset acne
7:34 The meaning behind the location of acne
8:55 Keratosis pilaris
9:20 Foods that can cause acne
13:20 Conventional treatments for acne and some issues with them
16:40 Naturopathic treatment for acne when coming off the pill
18:25 Topical treatment that Hayley recommends for acne.
MooGoo Acne Cleansing Cream – https://moogoo.com.au/acne-cleansing-…
19:35 Essential oils for acne
20:30 Clay masks
21:00 Moisturisers and oils
22:40 Scar treatment
22:55 Nutrients for acne
25:26 Herbs for acne
28:45 The benefit of a wholefood, plant heavy diet for acne
29:30 Anti-inflammatory foods for acne
30:33 How to get in contact with Hayley and Alison

The post A Naturopathic Approach to Acne appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

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Health & Wellbeing Podcast #18 with guest Hayley Stockbridge

In this episode Hayley and I discuss our approach to treating eczema from a naturopathic perspective. We talk about the link between gut health and eczema; a nutritional approach to eczema such as nutritional supplements, diet change and looking at food intolerances; herbal medicine for eczema; what topical treatments we recommend; how stress affects eczema, and more.

Eczema Podcast

Hayley practices at Manly on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and in Stanmore in Sydney’s Inner West. Her major focus is always educating her patients to live healthier and happier lives. She treats women, men and children of all ages and a wide variety of health issues such as weight loss, digestive problems, anxiety/stress, fertility, hormone imbalances, food intolerances and headaches.

You can also connect with Hayley on Facebook and Instagram.

Want to subscribe to get podcasts automatically? You can do that here: https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/health-wellbeing-podcast/id1006574743

Podcast Breakdown

0:00 Intro and disclaimer
0:43 Welcome
2:09 What’s happening in the skin of someone with eczema?
3:15 Food intolerances and allergies
7:20 The importance of treating the gut
8:55 Types of people who experience eczema more
10:27 Increased prevalence of eczema
10:50 Immune imbalances leading to eczema especially in children
13:50 Probiotics to prevent and treat eczema
14:40 Stress and eczema
16:40 How can diet affect eczema?
17:33 Common nutrient deficiencies in eczema.
18:40 Herbs in eczema.
19:24 Low stomach acid is common in people with eczema.
20:33 The importance of changing your diet.
21:00 Topical treatments for eczema.
Moogoo Eczema and Psoriasis Cream – http://moogoo.com.au/irritable-skin-balm.html
Hope’s Relief – https://www.hopesrelief.com.au/
22:30 Cautions with topical coconut oil
23:40 Oat baths
24:30 The illusion of having less time
25:25 The importance of an individualised treatment approach
26:35 How to get in contact

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The post Naturopath’s Approach to Eczema – Podcast #18 appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.