HEALTH HUB Latest Articles
Our children’s health – who is really in charge?
by Victoria Herrera These days, way too many people are finding themselves with fatty liver disease and, in the vast majority of cases, this is because of their diet. It seems strange to me that people don’t really believe that their daily diet of highly processed, convenience food - which is super high in sugar and industrial seed oils - means that they are actually walking a very scary, yet quite deliberate, path to ill health – regardless of their age. I remember when I was in my teens and early adulthood, it seemed to me that I, and almost [...]
World Hepatitis Day
Did you know that World Hepatitis Day is 28th July? Hepatitis just means inflammation of the liver, because liver cells are called hepatocytes. However, this day focuses on raising awareness of viral hepatitis, with the aim of reducing the number of people who become infected through better prevention programs. Every single day, an average of 4000 people die from viral hepatitis around the world. There are five different hepatitis viruses but the most common ones are hepatitis B and hepatitis C. In Australia in 2011, an estimated 218,000 people were living with chronic hepatitis B. Approximately 60 percent of these [...]
Depression causes physical changes in the Brain
According to an article published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry 2015; online 30 June, depression causes shrinkage in the part of the brain known as the hippocampus (see diagram) This emphasises the importance of treating depression proactively and early as possible. The researchers analysed the MRI Scans of over 1700 patients with major depression and found that the hippocampus shrinks in relation to recurrent and persistent depression even in young people. These adverse physical brain changes can be reversed, especially if treatment is continued. In depression there is shrinkage in the connections between nerve cells whereas in dementia there is [...]
Eating your Placenta – it is trendy but is it healthy?
The habit of eating the placenta is called placentophagy and has been done by various cultures over the centuries for its supposed health benefits. The placenta contains large amount of protein, fat, collagen and hormones, especially progesterone. Placenta can be eaten raw, cooked, as a paté or freeze dried and put into capsules. It is becoming more and more popular for mothers to eat their placenta after it is ground up, dehydrated and put into capsules. There are 87 practitioners listed on the Placenta Services Australia website and they report around 40 clients a month. These women want to benefit [...]
Building a strong base
How is your training going? I just got back from a 3 week holiday/training camp in Bali and it is the best thing I could have done for my body and motivation. Training in different places and in better weather can really bring the flame back and it surely did that for me. We covered on average 1km swim, 70kms bike and 10kms running per day and this is very beneficial for our base work. You need a strong base work before you can start the intensity work. Base work is the slow miles that turn your body into a [...]
New Hope for Patients with Mesothelioma
Early Australian clinical trials in patients with incurable malignant lung mesothelioma have raised new hope for cure. Cancer specialists at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney have shown amazing results in patients infused with nanocells containing a type of genetic material called microRNA. MicroRNA is involved in controlling DNA replication, cell proliferation and cell death. This trial is around half completed and involves 24 patients and is a phase 1 trial. One 51 year old patient was given this microRNA and his mesothelioma cancer became almost invisible and his health improved dramatically. This improvement took only 8 weeks and [...]
Anti-inflammatory medication may cause progesterone deficiency and infertility
By naturopath Margaret Jasinska New research has shown that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as naproxen (Naprogesic) can inhibit ovulation in the majority of women. Other medications in this category include diclofenac (Voltaren), etoricoxib (Arcoxia) and mefenamic acid (Ponstan). They are some of the most widely used medications and are commonly taken for pain, fever, headaches and back pain. Some of these drugs are marketed to women for menstrual pain. New research has shown that taking one of these drugs for as little as ten days can inhibit ovulation. Not ovulating can be a problem for women who are wishing [...]
Alzheimer’s Disease – Reduce Your Risk
Drink raw juice! From purple grapes to yellow-orange citrus to dark green broccoli and red or green apples, the antioxidant chemicals known as polyphenols in fruits and vegetables, reduce the risk of age-related dementia, in particular Alzheimer’s disease. Investigators found that people who drink fruit and vegetable juices made from purple grapes, apple, citrus and other vegetables and fruits, more than three times a week, reduced the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 76%, compared to those who drank juices less than once weekly. In Australia, each year over 1,000 people are diagnosed with dementia each week. The majority of these [...]
Weight loss in winter
Remember - summer bodies are made in winter! When the weather is cold and gloomy it’s easy to become complacent or even despondent about your weight. Those fatty bulges and that liver roll are snugly hidden under the bulky, baggy clothes of winter; then when summer arrives you get a shock at how much weight has crept on! Many people crave hot soups, hot chips and other high carb foods like bread and potatoes during winter and it’s fine to enjoy those things but did you ever think that by just replacing one meal a day with a QuickLoss shake, [...]
Can gluten make you fat?
by Dr Sandra Cabot We have been taught to think that excess fat and sugar makes us fat, which as far as sugar is concerned is true. But can gluten alone make us overweight or stop us losing weight? You bet it can, I have seen it do this in hundreds of my patients. Gluten containing foods are naturally high in carbohydrates and most people do not need to ingest this type of carbohydrate. They are much better off to get their carbohydrates from vegetables and gluten-free grains. Other non-gluten containing grains, such as rice and corn, are also high [...]
