Health & Wellbeing Podcast #8

Laura Burton from Burton Health is back and this time we’re talking about menopause. We discuss the symptoms and stages of menopause, helpful foods and nutrients for soothing menopausal symptoms and reducing the conditions associated with this time.

Apologies the sound quality isn’t the best in this episode (especially at the start, it does get better after a few minutes!) but I wanted to share the video anyway and not let the quest for perfection get in the way of me delivering this information to you.

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.

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Menopause – Podcast #9

Podcast Breakdown

0:00 Intro, and what we’ve been getting up to
1:59 How Laura became interested in helping women with menopause
3:49 The common feeling of being alone in your symptoms when going through menopause
4:29 Symptoms of menopause
6:28 Understanding the different stages of menopause and knowing what stage you’re in: Pre/Peri-menopause, Post-menopause
7:44 Menstrual migraines in menopause
8:20 Surgically induced menopause
9:04 Chemically induced menopause
9:15 How long does menopause last for?
10:03 Is it menopause or PMS?
10:46 Hot flushes
12:56 Helpful foods and nutrients for menopause, as well as a few lifestyle tips
17:55 Bone health, osteoporosis and osteopenia.  (Book mentioned was Strong Women, Strong Bones)
19:24 Weight gain in menopause
21:57 Inflammation often increased in menopausal women, leading to more aches and pains
23:23 Soy
26:00 Xeno-oestrogens, and is high or low oestrogen the problem?
28:56 Q1: Could the role of the liver be explained and what are the benefits of supporting liver function in menopause?
29:41 Oestrogen forms and metabolism
32:45 Keeping inflammation under control
33:30 Common retail menopause supplements: Red clover, Black cohosh, Wild Yam cream.
39:24 Our favourite menopause herbs

The post Menopause – Podcast #8 with guest Laura Burton appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

10/1/15

Vitamin D for healthy blood sugar levels in pregnancy

If you’re not getting enough Vitamin D while you’re pregnant, your blood sugar levels may suffer. This could mean that you’re more likely to get issues with blood glucose and insulin regulation, which can lead to conditions such as gestational diabetes (1).

The worse the vitamin D deficiency, the worse the blood sugar level control is. (2) Vitamin D deficiency usually occurs when your blood levels become lower than 50 nmol/L, but personally, I suggest keeping them around the 90-120 level for optimal health.

Over 3 in 5 pregnant women in Australia have insufficient Vitamin D, and during pregnancy you need about 4-5 times more Vitamin D, as it has such an important role to play in the health of yourself and the baby (3).

Vitamin D is involved in the regulation of calcium metabolism, blood sugar levels (4), immune health and is also an important nutrient for keeping breast cancer risk low. Vitamin D is also well known for it’s involvement in bone health.

Pre-eclampsia, low birthweight, preterm birth, increased risk of post-partum depression and autoimmune disease are also associated with Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy. (5)(6)

Why so many people are deficiency in Vitamin D despite living in the ‘Sunny Country’ is still not completely understood. Unfortunately Vitamin D testing has recently been removed from the Medicare rebate list (except in rare circumstances), so this is a test that will need to be paid out of pocket. Because of this, and also because of the high safety levels of vitamin D supplementation it’s likely that the best course of action during pregnancy is to supplement at a range of 1000-2000IU Vitamin D in addition to what is contained in pregnancy multi-vitamins, as well as getting smart sun exposure. (5)(7)

Tips on how to get vitamin D from the sun while still being safe:

• Vitamin D is best absorbed between 10am and 3pm.
• Get 7-10 minutes of sun exposure to arms and legs.
• Follow with SPF30+ sunscreen.
• Always protect the face.

Works Cited

The post Vitamin D helps blood sugar level stability during pregnancy appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.