A note from Bobby-Jo:

Recently I've been focusing on working with children with ADD, behavioural disorders, ADHD, anxiety, and sensory and sleep disturbances. On a personal level this area of naturopathic care is particularly close to my heart. 

Did you know it only takes 26 seconds for chemicals to enter the blood stream and start playing havoc within our bodies!? 


I have seen first hand the immediate behavioural changes within my own kids after consumption of food additives. I know all the letters, numbers and long unpronounceable names on food labels can seem confusing and complicated, however some are worse than others and I can help guide you to make informed choices. Making a few simple changes can make a significant difference to behaviour and general health.


If this rings alarm bells for you or a little one you know, come in for a chat or book a consultation today. Rest assured there is a lot we can do with these issues from both a dietary and supplemental perspective. 


I'd love to work together towards better health for your family. 

Bobby-Jo  


Some common additives to avoid include:

102 Tartrazine, yellow #5, CI 19140
212 Potassium benzoate AVOID

Some common additives to should be treated with caution including:

216 Propylparaben or Propyl-p-hydroxy-benzoate
218 Methylparaben or Methyl-p-hydroxy-benzoate 

And when it comes to 951 Aspartame.... well you’ll  just have to come in and see me to find out more ; )

β-Glucans have been shown to activate pattern recognition receptors expressed on immune cells, such as macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils and lymphocytes [1,3]. Additionally, the enhancement of natural killer (NK) cell activity by β-glucan has been reported to play an important role in immune potency and to have anti-carcinogenic effects in in vitro and in vivo studies [4,5]. The immune stimulation and antitumoral activities of these β-glucans have been thought to be caused only by the β-1,3-glucans [6]. However, several types of β-1,3-glucans from different sources have been shown to result in a variety of different immune responses.

https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.ezproxy.une.edu.au/pubmed/28194264​

A new study by researchers from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, has shown for the first time that a substantial number of adults over 50 are at risk of deficiency in vitamin B12 and folate (the natural vitamin linked to the dietary supplement, folic acid).
The researchers found that one in eight adults in Ireland are deficient in vitamin B12; one in seven are deficient in folate; and there are variations in deficiency across different provinces in Ireland, in addition to variations dependent on health, lifestyle and the time of year measured. The findings form part of the largest representative study of its kind conducted among older persons in Ireland and have just been published in the prestigious journal, British Journal of Nutrition.
Both vitamin B12 and folate are essential for nerve function, brain health and the production of red blood cells and DNA. Numerous studies have shown that low nutritional status of folate and B12 are linked to poor long-term health, especially among older people.
In Ireland, fortification of food products is voluntary and some foods (such as ready-to-eat cereals) are enriched with micronutrients such as folic acid, though this is inconsistent between products fortified and over time, resulting in haphazard exposure. There have been repeated calls for an official policy of mandatory fortification of staple foods such as bread, with folic acid, to reduce the occurrence of neural tube defects in babies. Such a policy would also reduce the prevalence of folate deficiency in older adults who are most at risk. Before this can occur, however, comprehensive information is needed on the prevalence and determinates of deficiency.
Our study suggests that the current custom of voluntary food fortification is ineffective in preventing deficiency or low status of these vitamins among older people. The results are of relevance not just for Ireland but for all countries that do not have mandatory fortification.
Key findings:

• One in eight adults over 50 were low to deficient in vitamin B12 while one in seven were low to deficient in folate
• The prevalence of low or deficient folate increased with age, from 14% among those aged 50-60 years to 23% among people over 80 years old. Low folate status was also more common in smokers, the obese, and those who lived alone
• Low or deficient vitamin B12 was more common in smokers (14%), people who lived alone (14.3%) and those from lower socio-economic backgrounds (13%)
• Use of both vitamin B12 and folic acid supplementation was low, with higher rates among women than men but less than 4% overall taking supplements of either vitamin

Commenting on the significance of the research, lead author of the study and Research Fellow at TILDA, Dr Eamon Laird, said:
"This is the largest representative and most comprehensive study of vitamin B12 and folate status in older adults ever conducted in Ireland. There are striking differences in the prevalence of deficiency across different lifestyle factors such as obesity and smoking - both of which are modifiable risk factors. Our findings will provide useful data to help inform public health policy -particularly regarding the proposition of mandatory folic acid and/or vitamin B12 fortification. To place our findings in context, in a country such as the United States where mandatory folic acid fortification occurs, rates of low folate status are around 1.2% in older adults compared with 15% in Ireland."
Professor Anne Molloy, senior author of the study noted:
"This study shows a surprising level of inadequate folate among older persons, despite many years of voluntary folic acid fortification of certain foods on the Irish market. Concerns relating to excessive folic acid intake, particularly in older people, have been at the heart of current debates regarding the risks of population-wide folic acid fortification. However, in countries such as the US, mandatory folic acid food fortification for the past 20 years has prevented millions of cases of folate deficiency without any proven adverse effects. Irish public health authorities need to act on the facts from studies such as ours."
Professor Rose Anne Kenny, Principal Investigator of TILDA, said:
"The high rates of B-vitamin deficiency seen in the older adult population are of concern and, given that this can be easily treated with fortification, this has significant policy and practice implications for Government and health services. TILDA has consistently assisted policy makers by providing strong evidence based data on which to make recommendations but also by assisting with information of most vulnerable people and therefore those who should be targeted."

​Source:  Trinity College Dublin

​If anything makes us human it's our minds, thoughts and emotions.

And yet a controversial new concept is emerging that claims gut bacteria are an invisible hand altering our brains.

Science is piecing together how the trillions of microbes that live on and in all of us - our microbiome - affect our physical health.

But even conditions including depression, autism and neurodegenerative disease are now being linked to these tiny creatures.

We've known for centuries that how we feel affects our gut - just think what happens before an exam or a job interview - but now it is being seen as a two-way street.

Groups of researchers believe they are on the cusp of a revolution that uses "mood microbes" or "psychobiotics" to improve mental health.

The study that ignited the whole concept took place at Kyushu University in Japan.
The researchers showed that "germ-free" mice - those that never came into contact with microbes - pumped out twice the amount of stress hormone when distressed than normal mice.

The animals were identical except for their microbes. It was a strong hint that the difference was a result of their micro-organisms.

"We all go back to that first paper for the first wave of neuroscientists considering microbes," says Dr Jane Foster, a neuropsychiatrist at McMaster University in Canada.  "That really was very powerful for those of us who were studying depression and anxiety."  It was the first hint of microbial medicine in mental health.

How could bacteria be altering the brain?The brain is the most complex object in the known universe so how could it be reacting to bacteria in the gut?

• One route is the vagus nerve, it's an information superhighway connecting the brain and the gut.
• Bacteria break down fibre in the diet into chemicals called short-chain fatty acids, which can have effects throughout the body.
• The microbiome influences the immune system, which has also been implicated in brain disorders.
• There is even emerging evidence that gut bugs could be using tiny strips of genetic code called microRNAs to alter how DNA works in nerve cells.

There is now a rich vein of research linking germ-free mice with changes in behaviour and even the structure of the brain.

But their completely sterile upbringing is nothing like the real world. We're constantly coming into contact with microbes in our environment, none of us are germ-free.

At Cork University Hospital, Prof Ted Dinan is trying to uncover what happens to the microbiome in his depressed patients.

A good rule of thumb is a healthy microbiome is a diverse microbiome, containing a wide variety of different species living all over our bodies.

Prof Dinan says: "If you compare somebody who is clinically depressed with someone who is healthy, there is a narrowing in the diversity of the microbiota.

"I'm not suggesting it is the sole cause of depression, but I do believe for many individuals it does play a role in the genesis of depression."

And he argues some lifestyles that weaken our gut bacteria, such as a diet low in fibre, can make us more vulnerable.

The microbiome

• You're more microbe than human - if you count all the cells in your body, only 43% are human
• The rest is our microbiome and includes bacteria, viruses, fungi and single-celled archaea
• The human genome - the full set of genetic instructions for a human being - is made up of 20,000 instructions called genes
• But add all the genes in our microbiome together and the figure comes out at between two million and 20 million microbial genes
• It's known as the second genome and is linked to diseases including allergy, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson's, whether cancer drugs work and even depression and autism

It's an intriguing concept - that an imbalance in the gut microbiome could be involved in depression.
So scientists at the APC Microbiome centre, at University College Cork, started transplanting the microbiome from depressed patients to animals. It's known in the biz as a trans-poo-sion.

It showed that if you transfer the bacteria, you transfer the behaviour too.
Prof John Cryan told the BBC: "We were very surprised that you could, by just taking microbiome samples, reproduce many of the features of a depressed individual in a rat."
This included anhedonia - the way depression can lead to people losing interest in what they normally find pleasurable.
For the rats, that was sugary water they could not get enough of, yet "when they were given the microbiome from a depressed individual, they no longer cared", says Prof Cryan.

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-43815370#_=_

Over 3 million Australians experience significant symptoms of anxiety and depression every year. We have provided services to people aged 18-94 from every state and territory in Australia.

MindSpot has been designed to provide free and easily accessible help to people who need some skills to manage symptoms of anxiety and depression better.

The MindSpot Clinic is a free service for Australian adults who are experiencing difficulties with anxiety, stress, depression and low mood. We provide online Screening Assessments and Treatment Courses, or we can help you find local services that can help.
MindSpot is made up of a team of over 30 Psychologists, Clinical Psychologists, Psychiatrists and Mental Health Professionals who are passionate about providing a free and effective service to people all over Australia. We have a dedicated IT team to ensure that this happens as securely and efficiently as possible. MindSpot is based at Macquarie University, Sydney, and we are funded by the Australian government.

​mindspot.org.au/

DON’T USE PRODUCTS WITH PALM OIL!!!! UNLESS YOU KNOW THE SOURCE!
 
Palm oil is an edible oil from the fruit of the African oil palm and its use is PROLIFIC due to its versatility, high yield, and low cost.
 
Palm oil monoculture is responsible for catastrophic deforestation and animal deaths in Indonesia and Malaysia.
 
Palm oil is a hidden ingredient in almost every way it is used: food, cleaning products, makeup, body care, and bio fuels.
 
For body care and detergents, it is used to make synthesised ingredients with names such as Glycerine, Emulsifying Wax, Stearic Acid, Polyglyceryl Dipolyhydroxystearate, Caprylic Triglyceride and Cetyl Alcohol.
 
99% of "sustainable palm oil" claims have always been unreliable. The industry self-regulating body the RSPO has a complex certification scheme that allows non-certified oil use such as GreenPalm to be labelled “sustainable”.
The only 100% certain way to know if the palm oil used in your product is sustainable is to trace it back to plantation where it was grown, and this is almost impossible.
 
The complex supply chain, hidden nature of palm oil use, and the fuzzy certification scheme have allowed manufacturers to get away with the guise of “sustainable palm oil” for too long.
 
Palm oil is easy and cheap to use. However, if the true environmental cost was factored in (including carbon dioxide released when peatlands are decimated and wildlife deaths), and full traceability to source required, it would be more expensive and less appealing to use.
 
If a product is certified Cruelty Free, Organic or Vegan, this is no indicator of it being palm free.
 
There is a significant "glossing over" going on with natural and organic brands, as most are using palm oil derived ingredients and are not disclosing it on their ingredients listing - some without realising they are using palm, and most with no idea of where the palm oil was grown.
 
Many brands claim that they are Cruelty Free and tell us everything they do not contain, but they do not tell us that they do contain palm oil, which is hidden under names such as Plant Surfactant, Stearic Acid and Caprylic Triglyceride, because their suppliers can not guarantee what plant oil will be used to manufacture an ingredient. Brands need to know what is being used in their products, and unless they fully disclose all ingredients, you the consumer can not make a choice.
 
We have learned that it is not possible to rely on a brand's assurances that they use "sustainable palm" because they generally have not obtained thorough and legally binding commitments from their suppliers. The problem is they use ingredients that their manufacturer buys from other suppliers. There are too many links in the chain and when inputs change for commercial reasons no one tells us. Some suppliers state because they are Certified Organic it means the palm input is sustainable - this is not true.
 
Any body product that is creamy such as moisturisers, liquid makeup, or sunscreen requires an emulsifying agent to bind the water and oil together into a cream. That emulsifier is more than likely to be a palm oil-derived ingredient. Similarly, most plant-based detergents (or surfactants) are derived from palm or coconut, and the two are interchanged depending on seasonality and cost. If a brand tells us that their Stearic Acid, for example, is not palm-oil derived, we ask for a written guarantee of this. Once we asked for this, we found they could not guarantee it would not be palm.
 
In addition to its most common appearance as Glycerine or Glycerin, palm oil is used extensively in the cosmetics and skin care industry in synthesised ingredients (made by chemical reactions) that are not really natural anymore in
any case, such as Emulsifying Wax, Stearic Acid, Polyglyceryl Dipolyhydroxystearate, Cetyl Alcohol, and Caprylic Triglyceride. Skin care manufacturers buy these ingredients from a producer who purchased the palm oil from a distrubutor, usually from a bulk mixed pool of palm oil from sources around the world. You can see how it is difficult for the manufacturer of your moisturiser to know where the palm oil used in the emulsifying agent is grown.
 
 

There is plenty of clinical evidence that as we age our levels of B Vitamins, Magnesium and Zinc become depleted - before medicating with anti-depressants discuss simple supplementation with a professional
​