​This is such a personal topic for me! I’m forever shocked when someone says ‘oh wow! I didn’t pick that’. I think I wear it on my sleeve but like so many other anxiety sufferers I have learnt to hide it and hide it well! 

​In clinic I see a lot of anxiety suffers. There’s the life-long sufferers who have a low level of anxiety generally which kicks off into acute anxiety when things get a bit out of control. It’s then the regular anxiety attacks and sleepless nights hit. On an average day they use the anxiety to keep going, just that one step ahead. Very often they seem successful and totally in control- don’t judge a book by it’s cover. One loose shingle and we’re gone!

​And then there are those who are normally chill but life has dealt them some really nasty blows and here they are! Anxiety attacks, sleepless nights and so one. The acute phase is the same either way just the life-long suffers take less time to get there as they operate in that elevated state anyway. 

​What to do! I look at three main areas but there is way more that can be done but it’s really individual!

​Food is a huge area we use to help anxiety. These are some super simple ideas.

• Eat regularly. Yes, intermittent fasting works for a lot of people and it has it’s bonuses but it’s not necessarily the best in the acute phase of anxiety or even for life-long anxiety sufferers. It can make the body feel like it’s in survival mode meaning cortisol levels go up and that’s not great for anxiety as it’s already high with anxiety. Cortisol can also cause weight gain....anyone else gain weight when they're stressed? 
• Eat more good fats. Good fats re really soothing for the nervous system and also keep us full for longer meaning we don’t get the highs and lows that something like sugar does. Good fats include oily fish, extra virgin olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds.
• Oats for breakfast works really well as oats have tryptophan that converts to serotonin the feel good hormone! Start the day with oats.
• Ditch the sugar and the caffeine! Anxiety sufferers have enough energy surges with out the stimulants. Aim to keep energy levels even with meals packed with protein and good fats. 

And last, how could I leave you without a homeopathic?!
Aconite is the best known of the traditionally used anxiety remedies. It’s in every homeopathic first aid kit I’ve ever seen. It’s an acute remedy for an anxiety type attack with a hard and fast beating heart, fear, lots of fear and you may feel like you are dying (super important to seek help with these kind of attacks as it’s too easy to mistake a more serious condition for anxiety). It will come on suddenly and likely leave suddenly. 

Disclaimer: Homeopathy is a traditional medicine.The TGA considers Homeopathy a low risk medicine. It may be used in conjunction with other medicines. For any ongoing chronic condition, it is important to be assessed or examined by your healthcare professional or specialist. 
Information given here is in no way intended to take the place of advice from your chosen healthcare professional or specialist. Any examples given from the authors life do not indicate that the remedy in question will work for everyone in every instance. They are used solely to illustrate the use the medicine in a practical situation.
Information is generally in nature and nothing said on this website is intended as a diagnosis and should not be taken as such.
Always seek medical advice in emergencies.
​

This topic is peppered thorough everything I write and say so I figured the time had come to get some things down in writing! Gut health. It's a term that is incredible popular right now. It's a buzz word and I know why!

What's the first thing you think of with gut health? The first thing? Is it poo? I think of poo! I"m sure i"m not the only one (please don't let me be the only one). Well here's the interesting thing. It's only partly about poo. We can tell heaps by noting our bowel habits, timing, frequency, consistency, difficulty, smell, colour texture...but who honestly looks? I ask ALL my clients and consistently get "Great! Fine! All good! No problem!" but they are complaining of symptoms of a poor immune system, skin conditions, allergies, and a low mood or difficulty sleeping. Mix and match as you wish. Each and every one of those symptoms can be impacted by gut health. 
Here's couple of quick facts:

• 90% of seratonin (feel good hormone) is made in the bowel. It's not well understood but the gut-brain axis is a real thing and the bowel microbes play a role in all of this. One of the theories is the the microbes interact with the host (being us) to produce seratonin. Bottom line (pun intended) is that our gut health can directly effect our mood. Cool huh?
• About 80% of your immune system lives in your gut. I know! Who'd of thought! But it makes perfect sense when you think about it. The bowel comes into contact with tonnes of bacteria every day. There is a heap of gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) down there. This type of tissue helps stop pathogens in their tracks. But it can also get too excited and an excited immune system can result in all kids of allergies. If the mucosal lining becomes inflamed thanks to inappropriate bacteria we get a leaky gut thing going on and the bowel lining can't stop things passing through that really shouldn't pass back into the blood stream. This creates problems right through the body. 

           Not only that but histamine is degraded in the gut. Histamine is part of our immune response
           but if we get too much histamine it produces all sorts of allergic issues.

• We need lots of diverse healthy, good bacteria for digestion! That's simple.

Now we know why we need good gut health the bigger question is how do we keep it healthy? This is easier than you think!

• First we need to feed the good bacteria. Bad bacteria is just misplaced bacteria but can reek havoc. By eating a fibre rich diet we can keep the right bacteria happy.
• Eat onions and garlic as they are excellent prebiotics. These everyday foods feed the good bacteria.
• Stewed apples are another great prebiotic. Leave the skin on for maximum pectin action which is also soothing for the bowel walls limiting the chance for leaky gut.
• Glutamine rich foods like bone broth cooked for 24hours is utterly perfect for soothing the bowel walls and keeping them strong.
• Gelatin also has some bowel soothing and wall building components in it like collagen. 
• Naturally fermented foods are brilliant as they are a combination of pre and probiotics and yummy as well!

Totally easy to do! No excuses to give your gut some TLC to boost your immune system, mood mood and digestion! 
​Enjoy!