Reoccurring vaginal infections like thrush and bacterial vaginosis can be frustrating and impair your quality of life. Current medical treatments tend to focus on killing the bacteria or the fungus but they do very little about changing the environment that the infection occurs in so the infections keep coming back. We focus on how to influence the vaginal microbiome so that is naturally protests the environment from reinfection.

It takes about 120 days for the immature follicle to develop into the egg that will eventually leave the ovary and hopefully get fertilised. For men the life cycle of sperm is 70 days.  Your health in that time is crucial for the quality and development of the egg and the sperm.  Pre conception planning (including diet and lifestyle factors) should be done well in advance of actual pregnancy in order to ensure the best fertility outcomes.  This is also true if you are embarking on any artificial reproductive technology (ART) treatments – nutrition absolutely can influence egg quality.

Periods should not be so painful that you lose quality of life dealing with it. You shouldn’t feel like you are going to rip the head off your partner a few days before your period or feel like you are a complete mess beforehand.  Period health is s pretty good indication of what your overall health is like so it’s worth seeking assistance if you don’t think your periods are in a healthy pattern. 

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is most definitely on the rise in our society and is usually (but not always!) characterised by difficult to shift weight, increased androgens (the most well-known of which is testosterone) irregular or absent periods and a level of insulin resistance. Sometimes increased facial hair and acne is seen. Sometimes not.  The name is actually a misnomer because there are not actually cysts in the ovaries.  They are multiple small immature follicles that are not developing as they would into one dominate follicle so they appear as cyst like on ultrasound.  There are some great lifestyle changes that can influence the severity of PCOS plus herbs and nutrients that help some of the typical PCOS markers.

In endometriosis, tissue that is similar to that normally found inside the uterus lining grows outside of the uterus lining, most commonly the ovaries, fallopian tubes and tissue lining the pelvis, sometimes the bowel. Although in rarer cases has been found in places the lung, shoulder and breast. It is generally characterised by pain as the tissue  follows the hormonal pattern of the uterus tissue and thickens every month following the rise and fall of hormones that occurs in a menstrual cycle. The most recent thoughts on endometriosis is that it is an inflammatory condition that is made worse by the presence of oestrogen.  Endometriosis is often misdiagnosed as IBS initially. That inflammation and potential bowel link are our starting points with endometriosis.

You are classified as being menopausal when you have not had a period for a full 12 months. Peri-menopause encompasses the decade that is leading up to menopause. This is when our hormones start to fluctuate month to month resulting in some of the symptoms classically associated with menopause.  Irritability, depression, hot flushes, sleep changes, weight gain, skin changes, vaginal dryness are all associated with peri-menopause and menopause.  You do not have to suffer in silence through this time of your life though. There are options to help restore some quality of life.

It’s a long sentence but the short explanation is that most nutrition and diet styles have had their research done on men, menopausal women or women on the oral contraceptive pill (yep, especially the ones that are the most popular right now).  The ebb and flow of our hormones and what nutrition they need in order to be present at the right levels is crucial. That can even alter from the first part of the cycle to the second part of the cycle as there are different hormones dominant at these times.  There are multiple stories of people embarking on specific diet styles and then experiencing disordered menstrual cycles. On a side note, if you do any training first up in the morning – please do not train in a fasted state!  Your hormones will not thank you!