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Elysia Humphries - Naturopath

Elysia is Naturopath based in Brisbane, Australia. She has a passion for health care and education. With 14 years clinical experience she created the Vibe Natural Health clinic with a view to providing clients with results based natural health care, within a friendly environment. Her journey towards studying Naturopathy and Nutrition began as a teenager when she had to take months off school due to glandular fever and immune system problems. This came after a period of stress and this lead her to realise the profound effect that stress can have upon wellbeing. Her family visited both doctors and naturopaths and with a combined treatment plan she recovered her good health and was inspired to study Naturopathy and help others on their journey toward better health. It's through keeping an open mind, exploring new ideas and information that we keep ourselves enriched, inspired and healthy. May this blog be a way for us to share ideas and keep inspired!

Start Fixing Fatigue With One Easy Step

Fatigue is a challenging symptom affecting more and more people in today’s world. These days it is rare that the cause of fatigue is easily pinpointed and corrected; with our fast paced lives, it often goes unnoticed until it is too late. By the time a lot of people realise they have a significant problem, the original cause of their lack of energy can be masked by a myriad of vague or prominent symptoms, which all differ in presentation and severity from person to person. So how do you find the cause of your fatigue and get the right type of help to return to health? One simple tool you can use that is with you all the time, and doesn’t cost a thing is, AWARENESS!

Read More »Start Fixing Fatigue With One Easy Step

Achieving Work Life Balance

 

Seeking a balance between our work and personal lives is something that most of us strive for. It is also natural, at the beginning of a new year, to seek perspective, regroup and assess our thoughts and goals. In our daily routines we may have ambitions to climb the career ladder, be the best possible parent, achieve high grades, improve our health and fitness or to start a new business. These ambitions lead to never ending deadlines, rushing from one meeting to the next, planning what to have for dinner, do house hold chores, tend to the children and so on. Then we still need to get to bed at a decent time to ensure we are well rested to face another manic day.Read More »Achieving Work Life Balance

What Are Your Goals in 2016 for Work/Life Balance?

 

Work-life balance can mean different things to different people. It is all about balancing the time, energy and attention that you put into work, family and friends, health, nutrition, physical activity, relaxation, and mind (emotions, values, beliefs.) For most people, achieving an exact balance every day, day in, day out, is not possible. So rather than a perfect balance of time, it is realistic to aim for a division of your time that helps you feel the best version of yourself as often as possible.

Benefits of work-life balance include an increased sense of well-being, energy, happiness, better mental, physical and emotional health, reduced stress and a greater enjoyment and appreciation of life.

Take time to look back over the last few months, has your life felt balanced?

Read More »What Are Your Goals in 2016 for Work/Life Balance?

Surviving The Silly Season

 

 

It’s the silly season, so here are a few tips to reduce your hangover!

Aside from stating the obvious, yes, avoiding drinking alcohol is the best way to avoid a hangover!

Drinking alcohol can lead to the following symptoms, such as dehydration (which causes thirst, dizziness and weakness), irritation of the stomach and liver (which causes nausea, vomiting and stomach pain), low blood sugar (which causes fatigue and mood changes), and disturbance of sleep (which causes ‘jet lag’ symptoms).

Preparation is the key!

A complex vitamin B supplement and herbal detoxification tablet than contains St Mary’s Thistle (aka Milk Thistle), Schizandra and/or Rosemary before drinking and when you get home will help your liver detoxify the alcohol more efficiently. Other important nutrients include magnesium, zinc, selenium and essential fatty acids. Best to line the stomach, especially with healthy fats, in the Mediterranean, they use olive oil.

The choice is yours!

Choosing alcohol with fewer congeners (a by-product of the fermentation process that provides a unique taste), such as gin and vodka, may cause fewer hangover effects than alcohol with more congeners, such as brandy, whisky and red wine.

Drink alcohol in moderation and ensure water intake while drinking alcohol, and again before going to sleep will also help!

But what about the morning after?

Read More »Surviving The Silly Season

Pathology Testing: How It Can Benefit Your Immune System

Sick of getting sick all the time?

 Boost your Immune system by testing and correcting your nutrient deficiencies.

Do you always get sick during the winter months or pick up whatever is going around the office / home? Have you ever wondered why you get sick more often and take longer to recover than those around you?

There are ways you can prevent this from happening this year. You could be deficient in the vital nutrients which your immune system relies upon to build immune fighting cells.

Did you know that Naturopaths can request blood tests for you to pick up deficiencies that could be leaving you open to a weaker immune system? Read More »Pathology Testing: How It Can Benefit Your Immune System

How Digestion and the Gut Influences Your Mood

The gut and brain talk and sometimes it’s not pretty

For years Naturopaths have talked of the gut-brain connection.  How the health of the gut health will influence mood and mood will influence the gut.  With the increase in research into the interplay between humans and bugs – the human microbiome – comes some really exciting findings that back this traditional concept.  Though more research is required to get all health care professionals on board, it may not surprise you that many people have made this connection for themselves.  They work to set their gut and mind up to talk nicely to each other for happiness and best of health.

The balance of the bugs

It is said that our body has 10 times the number of bugs than human cells and 150 times as many genes – wow that’s a lot of bugs.  Now before you start scratching and head for the shower, know that when the bugs play nicely together they support our health in a wide range of ways.  It is only when the bugs are out of balance that things go array, including negatively impacting your mood.

Research has shown the link between the overgrowth of specific bugs and an increased prevalence of anxiety, an increased sensitivity to pain, memory dysfunction, autism, IBS – irritable bowel syndrome – and IBD – more serious inflammatory bowel diseases such as ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.  This list melds both conditions of the mind and of the gut and supports the gut-brain link.Read More »How Digestion and the Gut Influences Your Mood

Digestion and the Mind Body Connection

Mindful eating focuses on the increasingly important roles of mind and spirit and their contribution to our eating habits and choices. In regards to our digestion, it is becoming more essential to consider not just WHAT we are eating but HOW we are eating, and it’s impact on our digestive function. By looking at diet and digestion from this new perspective, we can begin to establish a brand new relationship with our mealtimes and the food we eat.

Digestion is the process of breaking down, absorbing and assimilating food and the nutrients it contains. What happens when your digestive function isn’t working as optimally as we need it to? You can experience a multitude of symptoms that can include cramping, bloating, abdominal fullness, reflux, indigestion, constipation or diarrhoea; or a combination of these. So how much of this has to do with what you are eating and how much has to do with how you are eating it? Digestion can be affected by many different factors including poor diet choices, medications and food intolerances to name a few; but two of the biggest and often overlooked contributors to digestive dysfunction are stress and speed.Read More »Digestion and the Mind Body Connection

IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Help for Bloated Bellies

As a Naturopath, I’m not scared to talk about poo, bloated bellies, or farting. Sounds gross and like something you don’t want to talk about, but the fact is, 1 in 5 Australians will have IBS throughout their lives and need help fixing it.

Good digestion is the key to good health –  a fact we’ve always innately known and this has become part of our vocabulary with old sayings such as “you are what you eat.”

If your belly isn’t happy – your body is sending you a signal that you may not be digesting and absorbing your nutrients properly. Healthy clean eating and super foods have become mainstream,, which is brilliant for health. But if you’re not digesting your food well, then you could be eating the worlds cleanest, healthiest diet, but you won’t optimize the nutrients from it, which are needed to keep your energized and prevent disease.  So if you think things may not be working so well in the belly department, it’s time to listen to your body and learn about what your tummy is telling you!

IBS Symptoms

  • Abdominal bloating and discomfort
  • Changeable bowel habits – alternating between constipation or diarrhoea.
  • Stool habits change – watery, loose, nuggety, thin ribbons.
  • Wind
  • Feeling of discomfort after eating & food sensitivities
  • Feeling of urgency – needing to go to the toilet often or feeling not fully evacuated when you empty your bowels.

Read More »IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome – Help for Bloated Bellies

Preconception Nutrition and Lifestyle Tips

Addressing preconception health will have lifelong benefits for you and your child.

Factors that may affect fertility include:

  • Stress
  • Poor diet and nutrition
  • Toxicity
  • Pollution
  • Radiation
  • Increasing age
  • Immune system status
  • Drugs (including caffeine, tobacco and alcohol)
  • Previous contraceptive history
  • Genitourinary infections (eg Chlamydia, Mycoplasma)
  • Reproductive conditions (eg endometriosis, PCOS)

Fertility problems are due to male reproductive health about 40% and the female about 40% of the time, with both partners reproductive health implicated in the remaining cases.Read More »Preconception Nutrition and Lifestyle Tips

The Benefits of Sports Massage

Many professional and Olympic athletes include Sports Massage in their training programme to keep their performance level high. It helps strengthen and tone your muscles and get you ready to perform at your best. It also reduces the risk of injury. On their website, the Australian Sports Commission recommends Sports Massage as a physiological and psychological strategy for recovery.

However, Sports Massage is not just for top athletes but also for amateur athletes, those who do physical work and even people who take their dog out for a walk.Read More »The Benefits of Sports Massage

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