Heidi Ballinger specialist in health. Nutrition & Naturopathy

29/11/2025

70% of your immune system lives in your gut. And everyday things like stress, antibiotics, birth control pills, NSAIDs, processed foods, alcohol, and poor water quality quietly damage the gut lining.

Here’s the simple 30-day gut reset I’ve used with thousands of patients:

PHASE 1: REMOVE (Days 1–10)
Cut out what inflames the gut…sugar, processed foods, seed oils, alcohol, gluten and dairy (short-term), and excess caffeine.
Support detox with filtered water, walking, sauna, fasting, and clean meals.

PHASE 2: REPAIR (Days 11–20)
Rebuild the gut lining.
Bone broth, cooked veggies, ginger tea…plus L-glutamine, zinc, humic + fulvic acid, and aloe.
Lower cortisol with sleep, slow movement, and rest.

PHASE 3: REBUILD (Days 21–30)
Repopulate the microbiome.
Add probiotics (Lactobacillus + Bifidobacterium) and prebiotic foods like onions, garlic, asparagus, and berries.

Heal the gut, and your digestion, hormones, immunity, and energy start to rise with it.

21/11/2025

A mindset of gratitude can change everything…and I don’t say that lightly.

Years ago, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever walk again. I was scared, frustrated, and in a really dark place physically.
But choosing to stay grateful—even for the smallest things—became one of the most important parts of my recovery.

Gratitude isn’t just a “positive attitude” thing…it literally calms your nervous system. It lowers stress hormones, calms your thoughts, and helps your body come out of that anxious fight-or-flight spiral.

And the moments you feel stressed, overwhelmed, worried, or stuck in a negative loop…those are actually the best moments to practice it.

Try this:
👉 Take a 5-minute walk and name at least 10 things you’re grateful for out loud.
👉 Or stop what you’re doing and say 3 things you’re grateful for—right there, in the moment.
👉 Another option is journaling. Write down some of the simple things you take for granted.

When you practice gratitude consistently, you’ll feel the shift mentally, emotionally, and physically.

Leave a comment below with something or someone you’re grateful for!

21/11/2025

"That which I no longer need leaves my life. Everything that surrounds me serves a purpose." 🐦️

19/08/2025

03/07/2025

Join us for the journey of a lifetime into the Never Never Land, at Kakadu National Park. Choose from Rock Art, Sunset, Waterfalls and billabong 4WD tours. We promise you a truely unique outback adventure.

11/05/2025

Knowing whether behaviours are part of childhood development or signs of a mental health concern can be a challenge.

Good news: Asking children about their mental wellbeing won’t cause a problem. “Don’t ignore it. You may not be right. It is better to err on expressing your concerns to a kid who isn’t having concerns,” says parenting expert Dr. Deborah Gilboa. “The first part of resilience in mental health is being able to talk about it.”

She notes that dramatic shifts in behaviour could indicate a problem. Changes to look out for include:
💚 Loss of interest in things they once enjoyed
💚 Changes in eating or sleeping habits
💚 Avoidance of friends
💚 New behaviours
💚 Isolation

Gilboa shares how parents can talk to their children about their wellbeing age by age.

• Preschool to Kindergarten: 4 to 6—
Parents of young children should help them identify feelings. Researchers indicate that children learn emotions like they learn colours or shapes. If parents teach them the words for 30 different feelings, they learn nuances.

• Grade School: 7 to 10–
Parents still should ask about feelings and forget about labels to conditions, such as depression or anxiety. If children struggle to explain how they are feeling, parents can ask their children to tell them a story. That way they feel it's safe to open up. Parents can also play a game with their children every night. Each family member lists their high and low of their day. “A high gets you a whole story and a low gets a whole other story,” Gilboa said. This shows children that: “I am the person you bring the hard stuff to and I am the person you bring the good stuff to.”

• Middle School: 11 to 14–
Parents can say ‘Have you ever heard the term depression? In what context and what do you understand it to mean?’” You can say, ‘Do you ever experience that yourself?’ Try saying: “I am asking you this because I see you; I love you; you’re very important to me.” Middle school students often lack self-confidence and need such reassurances.

• High School: 14 to 18–
By high school, teens are trying to figure out how they can talk to their parents about mental wellbeing. Parents can ask if their teens are worried about someone else or themselves. Give them some autonomy of when and where and how you can approach it to make it more successful. While some teens will talk to their parents, other might feel comfortable talking to another adult.

✨ Want to read more about building emotional resilience in you and your children? Check out our blog article here: https://neuro.now/lived_experience/building-emotional-resilience-in-parents-and-children/

References:
https://familyminded.com/s/talk-kids-suicide-tips-74690eb0f5f945b7

https://www.today.com/parents/how-talk-children-about-their-mental-health-t163358?fbclid=IwY2xjawHKUhFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHaF3eiSQLIVuAuaQV-pYJSsxnLSoJkLm3Ub7cuVW3adpFEg609pprcrqVA_aem_LqYkour7gweLEZM1PDB28w

https://www.aol.com/3-ways-parents-help-kids-003321351.html #!

06/04/2025