Lisa Hodge naturopath

02/01/2022

28/02/2021

28/02/2021

09/02/2021

Acne is not fun to deal with at any age!

If you want to use natural treatment for acne that just wont budge, first you have to figure out the cause

🌱Post pill acne
🌱Nutrient deficiencies
🌱High androgens (testosterone)
🌱PCOS
🌱Food reactions
🌱Poor pathways of elimination


These 7 supplements/ strategies can be super helpful in managing and reducing acne outbreaks


Zinc - hands down the best supplement for skin! It reduces keratin production, so it keeps pores open. It also kills bacteria and reduces inflammation.

Berberine - reduces inflammation, is anti-microbial, and also lowers insulin

Liquorice - is anti-inflammatory, and contains compounds that are anti-androgenic

Peony - Helps to balance hormones, especially in PCOS

DIM (diindolylmethane) - works because is an androgen blocker

Reduce Dairy - The A1 casein in cows milk can be highly inflammatory for some people. That coupled with mTOR stimulates keratin and sebum production

Reduce stress - Stress worsens skin because it disrupts insulin and female hormones and because it causes inflammation

09/02/2021

Is your choice of birth control causing hair loss, acne and excess facial hair (hirsutism)?

If you are a woman who is suffering from hair loss, facial hair (hirsutism), or acne then you know all about androgen excess (high male hormones)!

What you may NOT know is that certain types of birth control contain a progestin with a very high androgen index, and have side effects such as hair loss and acne

Unsure if you are taking a masculinizing type of birth control? Check the list below and talk to your health professional.

Highly androgenic types birth control include - Medroxyprogesterone(Depo-Prover injection), levonorgestrel (including many pills, Norplant implant, Mirena hormonal IUD, and the morning-after pill), norgestrel, gestodene, desogestrel, norelgestromin, norethindrone, and etonogestrel (many pills, Nuvaring, Nexplanon implant)

Treatment - change your birth control to a less masculinizing one. Or better again, choose a non-hormonal method such as copper IUD, Fertility Awareness Method (FAM), or condoms

*There are a few other reasons for androgen excess in women including androgen hypersensitivity, adrenal androgen excess, pill withdrawal, chronic inflammation, testosterone dominance in menopause, elevated prolactin and classic PCOS with insulin resistance

Unsure what's causing your androgen excess? Feel free get in touch for a chat

09/02/2021

The 4 types of PCOS

To treat PCOS, you need to know what’s driving it

Despite the name, polycystic o***y syndrome has little to do with cysts on the ovaries. The 'cysts' are follicles or eggs, which are normal for the o***y. You can have many eggs and still have normal hormones, which is why ultrasound alone cannot diagnose PCOS

First thing, you have to rule out other causes. Once you have a diagnosis and you're certain it's PCOS, then you can move onto figuring the driving cause

Insulin-resistant PCOS - 70% of PCOS is driven by high insulin

Tests include fasting insulin and HBA1c

Natural treatment includes:
Magnesium
Chromium
Cinnamon
Berberine

Post-pill PCOS - the symptoms started after you stopped the pill and features high androgens (male hormones), acne and facial hair

Natural treatment includes:
Peony
Liquorice
Zinc
DIM
Reduce dairy

Inflammatory PCOS - Chronic inflammation can stimulate the ovaries to make too much testosterone and is a contributing factor for every type of PCOS, but when chronic inflammation is the primary factor, it’s inflammatory PCOS

Symptoms of inflammation are unexplained fatigue, gut problems like IBS or SIBO, headaches, joint pain, and/ or chronic skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema, or hives

The treatment for inflammatory PCOS is to correct the underlying source of inflammation

Adrenal PCOS - only accounts for 10% of PCOS cases. Most women with PCOS have an elevation of all androgens including testosterone and androstenedione from the ovaries and DHEAS from the adrenal glands. If you have only elevated DHEAS (but normal testosterone and androstenedione), then you may have adrenal PCOS

Tests include DHEA and cortisol

Natural treatment includes:
Stress reduction
Magnesium
Adaptogen herbs (such as liquorice or withania)

01/12/2020

Dispensary set up at my new local practice location

24/10/2020

In person consulting is back (in regional Victoria).

I’ll be contacting everyone who has reached out to make appointments. Or go to my online booking system http://lisahodge.net.au

Unfortunately Telehealth is still the only option for my melbourne clients. Hang in there xo

I’m excited to see your faces at Macedon Chiro

31/03/2020

Mushrooms arrived. To those of you who are waiting for this I’ll be in touch today xo

30/03/2020

I hope everyone’s doing ok out there xo 📸 taken by at the peak of summer, when we were still allowed to hug our friends.

25/03/2020

Compounding nutrients, mixing herbal tinctures and packaging up your orders today folks xo

17/03/2020

Many thanks to those of you who have reached out and purchased one of my immune essentials packs. As a small business your support does not go unnoticed and for that I am always grateful. The mushroom complex is running low, but I still have a good supply of immune boosting syrups and tinctures.

https://www.lisahodge.net.au/shop-1

14/03/2020

“Truly my own body being sickly, brought me easily into a capacity, to know that health was the greatest of all earthly blessings.” Nicholas Culpeper

14/03/2020

What a time to be a herbalist.

What a time to be alive. 📸

14/03/2020

Morning immune tonic creations 📸

24/02/2020

Green tea, undoubtedly the healthiest beverage on the planet

It contains less caffeine than coffee, but enough to produce an effect. What caffeine does in the brain is to block an inhibitory brain chemical called Adenosine. This way, it actually increases the firing of neurons and the concentration of brain chemicals like dopamine and norepinephrine

It also contains the amino acid L-theanine, which increases the activity of another brain chemical GABA, which has an anti-anxiety effect and has been proven to improve memory, focus and attention

Not only can green tea improve brain function in the short term, it may also protect your brain in old age and reduce risk of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease

Lastly, it has also been proven to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes by helping to decrease weight and improve blood sugar regulation