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  • Our Team
    • Alicia Widraj
    • April Lightowler
    • Bridgit Rouget
    • Jeannine Bell
    • Kara John
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    • Vallencia Howard
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Navigating the World of Natural Medicines

28/1/2025

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There’s been a bit in the news lately about the dangers of certain natural medicines. 
​While I strongly feel that for the most part, natural medicines still offer great benefits for a lot of people and far fewer side effects than many pharmaceutical medications, we can’t ignore the fact that there are risks associated with some of them, and also that there are a lot of people taking unnecessary supplements. 


This doesn’t mean we should all avoid them, rather it means that we should be looking to seek the guidance of someone who is well trained in these supplements, and knows what the risks are, what the contraindications are, and if they are needed or not.  
A qualified healthcare professional, among many other things, also knows what forms of supplements are best (for example, not all magnesium’s are created equal), whether there is enough (or too much) of an ingredient to be useful to you, and whether the brand you are looking at is of reputable quality (particularly important in fish oils where heavy metal screening is crucial).
​

Natural medicine is a huge industry now, but it’s not in your best interest to be taking something that is not going to be beneficial to you, just because it has been marketed well.  

Let’s look at some of the issues that we want to minimise in a bit more detail


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RISKS
Many people are unaware of what some of the risks are when it comes to vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements. 
Here are just a few common examples:
  • Withania (or Ashwaghandha as it’s sometimes referred to), shouldn’t be taken by people on Thyroxine
  • Fish oils may be unsafe for people on blood thinners
  • Kava may be unsafe for people with liver issues, 
  • St John’s Wort can interfere with many medications, including the oral contraceptive pill, and may be dangerous for people on anti-depressive medications such as SSRI’s.  

And then you have the risks of over consumption which has been the case with many of the reported news stories on B6. People are taking multiple supplements that contain one particular ingredient, and while each supplement has no more than the allowable amount, when added together they can put you over the safe limit.  Selenium and Vitamin A are two other notable supplements that contain serious risks when ingested in excess amounts. 
These are just some of the reasons why a qualified healthcare professional will want to know what other medications you are taking.

INFERIOR INGREDIENTS
One of the biggest issues with cheaper supplements is that they use cheaper forms of the main ingredients, which aren’t always well absorbed by the body.
For instance a ‘high strength’ magnesium supplement that touts 1000mg or more, may only contain 100-150mg of Magnesium and then the rest is made up of the molecule that the magnesium is bound to, which is quite often (in the cheapest brands) a molecule called oxide.  This is the cheapest most poorly absorbed form of magnesium you can buy and is really only useful for it’s laxative effect.  


INADEQUATE DOSES
Gummy vitamins and chewable multi vitamins are often the biggest culprits in this category.  They often have a long list of things that are in them, but the amounts of each vitamin/mineral are so small that they really will have no impact if you are experiencing any kind of nutrient deficiency.  
Often they are also packed with sweeteners to make them taste good.  
Reputable brands will use better quality sweeteners, but even so, they may not manage to make a chewable multi vitamin with adequate amounts of each ingredient in there to be worth it. 
Even in non chewable forms, cheaper brands of multi vitamins often just load up on the key things they know people are searching the label for, and the rest of the ingredients are often in far smaller doses than better quality brands.   

POOR QUALITY
Fish oils is one that springs to mind when I think of poor quality.  Cheap fish oils often have poor screening for heavy metals which is a huge factor when it comes to choosing a fish oil.  You want the fish oil you’re taking to be as clean and pure as possible so as not to create more issues in the body.

When taking the right supplements for your needs, natural medicine definitely has a place, but it pays to get advice from a qualified healthcare professional as not everything that can be bought is worth buying, and not everything worth buying will be suitable for you.  
Here at our store, we have Naturopaths on site every day to help you choose the right over the counter supplements, and for more complex situations, we have appointments available daily also. 

Rebecca Milham
Naturopath & Owner
The Natural Health and Wellness Centre
www.thenaturalclinic.com.au
www.thenaturalstore.com.au
(03) 5977 7342



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Why I'm a Running Convert

29/2/2024

1 Comment

 

I've never been a runner and I thought all people that did it were just a little bit crazy......but then a conversation with my Osteo after another long distance walk, combined with a close friend taking it up,  got me thinking that it was time to revisit my resistance to it.  

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Walking has always been my 'sport' of choice.  Last year I did three different 35km walks over a period of about 3 or 4 months.  
It was after the third one that my Osteopath suggested that perhaps mixing up the muscle groups I was using might not be the worst idea.  I was continually using all the same muscles to the extreme, and it was leading me to some niggling aches and pains.  
It had also become apparent that I got very little cardio anymore from walking, unless there were a lot of hills involved.  Having just read the book Outlive which talks extensively about the benefits or cardio (and strength training), this all started to make me question my previous resistance to running.
So the next day, I downloaded the Couch to 5k app and off I went.  
The first few week was pretty easy - 60 second jogs off and on with big breaks in between.  The second and third week started become a bit more challenging.  Then I looked ahead and realised that the next week they wanted me to run EIGHT minutes non-stop and I just thought for sure I wouldn't be able to do it, so on that days run I decided to run longer than the app suggested and just see how far I could get to try and ease my worries for the following week.  Turns out I could get to 10 minutes relatively comfortably. 
People kept telling me that when you're running, you just hit this magical place where it all becomes easier and you get in the zone, and I thought they were all crazy - but a conversation with my son about the science behind it helped me understand that the first 5 minutes were the hardest for me and while I can't say I ever find it 'easy', there is definitely a point where I did reach some kind of zone, and 6 weeks in I reached the 5km goal.  

The benefits of running are numerous, and include some of the following:

PHYSICAL BENEFITS
- improves cardiovascular health
- improves muscle mass
- improves bone density - runners have the better bone mineral density than people who are sedentary or participate in low-impact activities such as swimming according to Osteoporosis International
- improves lifespan - one study of over 55,000 people showed that people how ran at least 3 times a week had lower risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality (30 and 45% respectively) compared to non-runners.  Even accounting for different lifestyles that runners vs non-runners might lead, other studies have found similar results. 

MENTAL BENEFITS
- can reduce stress - including lower the stress hormone, cortisol
- if running outdoors you also get the benefits of connecting to nature, and even better, if you join a parkrun, or run with a friend, you also get the benefits of human interaction.  
- improves neurotransmitters such as dopamine which can improve mental health
- improved memory and focus - regular exercisers have larger hippocampuses - the part of the brain associated with memory and learning. 

As we age, it's important to look at what we've been doing, and what we need to be doing going forward to achieve our health goals.  What worked for us before, may not be what we need anymore.  
For me - my focus has shifted to strength training and improving my cardiovascular health
which is why at the age of 44, for the first time ever, I've decided that running is now part of my exercise routine.
I don't always run 5km anymore - some days are harder than others depending on lots of factors - how well rested I am, where I'm at in my cycle, or just how good my motivation levels are!  But I do aim to run 3 times a week for at least 20 minutes, and I can definitely see improvements in my overall health.  

If you'd like to chat more about your health goals and how you can achieve them, book an appointment online at www.thenaturalclinic.com.au/bookings, or by phoning 03 5977 7342

Rebecca Milham
Naturopath
The Natural Health  & Wellness Clinic
12 Eramosa Road East, Somerville






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Sleep as Medicine

17/7/2023

2 Comments

 
What kind of 'sick' person are you?  Are you the kind that pushes through, or the kind that slows down at the first sign of illness?  
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The Benefits of Breathwork

20/2/2023

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​On an ordinary day generally we breath 16 times a minute, 960 breaths an hour and 23,040 breaths a day. How many of those breaths do you notice? Unless you're doing a breathing practice or physical exercise most of your breaths will probably go unnoticed!
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The Pitfalls of Avoidance Diets

11/1/2023

11 Comments

 
It's that time of the year when people are evaluating what they want from 2023.
Often people are thinking about their health and making adjustments to their food and exercise plans.  Sometimes this includes resolutions to cut out various food groups or alcohol. 
While cutting out unhealthy foods is important for our health, sometimes when we spend all our time thinking about what we shouldn't eat, we forget about what we should eat and the foods we need to promote health, prevent disease, and improve our lifespan. 
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DNA Testing - Is it a Novelty, Or Could it Hold the Answers to Your Health Questions?

20/9/2022

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I'm going to be honest - I started writing this blog about 18 months ago after sending myself of for some genetic tests, but never finished it because of , well - life! However the importance and relevance of finishing it presented itself last week after doing a family members genetics as well.   
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5 Factors That Affect Your Internal Energy Star Rating

8/7/2022

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The cost of living is a big topic this year, as are ways to keep your heating bills down.  There are obvious external things we can be doing (like closing doors and windows, turning the thermostat down a couple of degrees, choosing energy efficient appliances etc), but did you know there are also internal factors that can increase your sensitivity to the cold?  Here's five reasons why your body may not be heating you up right....
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SUPPORT POST COVID

20/6/2022

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Have you caught COVID-19 but still have symptoms lingering weeks or months after? Perhaps you still have brain fog, feel fatigued and just not quite feeling 100%. Well, you're not alone, but the good news is there are natural supplements and herbs that have proven to help! 
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A GUIDE TO MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTATION

19/5/2022

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A GUIDE TO MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTATION
Let’s be honest - buying supplements is confusing.
It feels like there’s 1000 different brands out there, all claiming to be the right one for you, with prices that fluctuate wildly.

One of the supplements that most people think they can’t get wrong is magnesium - I mean it’s just magnesium right, surely they’re all the same?  Unfortunately not.

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There are many different forms of magnesium out there - some are good for your muscles, some are good for your nervous system, some are good for the cardiovascular system, some are good for sleep - and some are better when used topically.
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Bowen or Massage?

11/2/2022

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We all have our favourites and there’s nothing wrong with that but sometimes changing it up is exactly what our body needs to take our healing to the next level. Understanding that there are other options can open up your healing world.
 
Did you know that there are many occasions where Bowen or Massage could effectively address your issue?  They are quite different techniques but can be equally effective. The hardest part is trying something you don’t know anything about. Here’s a little rundown on their similarities and differences and more info on Bowen – in case you didn’t already know!
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