Jen Stroh Naturopath and Remedial Massage at Integrity Health

10/10/2025

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/poor-sleep-tied-accelerated-brain-aging-2025a1000r5k?ecd=wnl_tp10_daily_251009_MSCPEDIT_etid7784424&uac=455928HV&impID=7784424

Check out my website for sleep hacks to help you get a better night's sleep

Poor-quality sleep is linked to accelerated brain aging. Imaging results showed that adults with poor sleep quality had brains that appeared older than their chronological age.

02/10/2025

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/how-common-meds-secretly-wreck-your-patients-microbiome-2025a1000h0l?ecd=mkm_ret_250928_mscpmrk_gastro_microbiome_etid7753960&uac=455928HV&impID=7753960

a few are beneficial, but most are bad news!
Talk with your GP or naturopath about ways to reduce your meds

A study has linked 19 drug classes to gut microbiome changes that may affect patient outcomes.

28/09/2025

https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/orders-wrong-vitamin-d-test-rising-2025a1000o2b?ecd=WNL_conf_CAP-path-NON-SPON_250927_MSCPEDIT_etid7746019&uac=455928HV&impID=7746019
It's worth checking with your GP which test they have ordered

Researchers say ordering the wrong test cheats patients and the healthcare system.

19/09/2025

Coleslaw or sauerkraut perhaps?

Diindolylmethane (DIM) is a metabolite naturally produced from glucobrassicin after the consumption of cabbage family vegetables. It has attracted scientific interest for its potential health benefits, particularly in hormone regulation and cancer prevention. DIM influences oestrogen metabolism by promoting the conversion of oestradiol into less potent metabolites, which may reduce oestrogen dominance-related conditions. But it also has antimicrobial properties.

In a novel finding, scientists have recently discovered that DIM can cut plaque-causing bacteria in the mouth by 90%. The human mouth provides an ideal environment for bacteria such as Streptococcus mutans, a key contributor to tooth decay. After eating, S. mutans thrives in the warm, sugary conditions inside the mouth, forming a sticky biofilm on the teeth. This biofilm leads to plaque buildup, erodes enamel and causes cavities.

The study found that DIM was able to attenuate S. mutans biofilm formation by 92%. Also, treatment with DIM lowered extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) production and decreased its durability significantly under acidic conditions. EPS is the protective, gel-like matrix secreted by bacteria that surrounds the cells in a biofilm. These anti-biofilm and anti-virulence properties of DIM against S. mutans bacteria in an "oral setting" provide clear evidence for its usefulness in reducing biofilm formation, and potentially for caries prevention.

“The molecule, which was found to have low toxicity, could be added to toothpastes and mouthwashes to greatly improve dental hygiene,” says lead author Prof. Ariel Kushmaro.

In the meantime, I guess we can chew on the tablets!

We might also wonder if DIM can exert antibiofilm properties elsewhere in the body, such as in the gut and bladder. In other test tube studies, DIM consistently prevented biofilm initiation and weakened EPS matrix production across Gram-negative, Gram-positive and fungal pathogens at low- to mid-micromolar concentrations. It was less effective against established/mature biofilms, but did show antibiotic synergy.

If you want to generate significant amounts of DIM in your digestive system (from the stomach downwards), bloodstream and ultimately urine, you will need to eat your Brassica vegetables raw and chew them well. Anyone for coleslaw?

Unfortunately, you can’t generate DIM in your mouth by chewing on cabbage; we need our stomach acid for that.

For more information see: https://scitechdaily.com/natural-molecule-wipes-out-90-of-cavity-causing-plaque/
and
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37370336/

19/09/2025

Buyer beware!

Most people assume their supplements are tightly regulated — like medicines.

But here’s the truth: if a product isn’t AUST-L listed, it’s not regulated as a therapeutic good.

It’s regulated as a food. That means the same labelling rules as a breakfast cereal with 30% sugar and cartoon mascots.

So even if the label screams "energy", "immune support", or "high in iron" — the science (and oversight) behind those claims might be…questionable indeed!

Learn more here: https://rachelarthur.com.au/you-cant-compare-the-pair-%f0%9f%92%8a%f0%9f%92%8a/

17/09/2025

Definitely worth a go!

Olive Leaf Tea Successful in SIBO Treatment - Hot off the Press!

As many patients (and clinicians) can attest, successful eradication of SIBO can sometimes be a challenge - whether this is with pharmaceutical options or natural medicines, like herbs and probiotics. So as a clinician, I’m always on the hunt to add more well-researched, efficacious tools into my SIBO treatment toolbox. Cue this olive leaf study….

49 patients with SIBO (as defined by a positive glucose breath test) were enrolled into this trial. Just over half the subjects (25) were randomly allocated to the olive leaf tea group and the other half to a no-treatment control group. Patients with hydrogen, methane (IMO), and mixed SIBO were enrolled – 40.8% were hydrogen producers, 34.7% methane, and 24.5% mixed.

For 2 months, patients in the tea group drank 2 cups of olive leaf tea daily. Each cup contained 1.7g of dried powdered olive leaves (~2 tsp) brewed in 250ml hot water for 7-10 mins. It is worth noting that they did not do any dietary changes. Breath tests, gut symptom assessment, and metabolic parameters were assessed at the beginning of the trial and then again after 2 months.

After 2 months, 88% of subjects in the olive leaf tea group were no longer positive for SIBO on breath testing vs 4.2% in the control group (P

08/09/2025

See my latest blog at integrityhealth.com.au

08/09/2025

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-07/pesticide-review-thiometon-dimethoate-blueberries-raspberries/105701674?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

Beware the Berries!
ask questions to your supplier

A scientist investigating why pesticides were appearing in marine life discovers a banned chemical on NSW berries. The underwhelming response from the government has exposed regulatory blind spots in the system meant to protect consumers.

02/09/2025

Check put my latest blogs at integrityhealth.com.au

07/08/2025

Look to the deeper studies

There is considerable controversy over the clinical usefulness of vitamin D supplementation. This mainly revolves around the discrepancy between observational studies (that show associations between low vitamin D levels and an extraordinarily large range of health problems) and randomised controlled trials that often fail to show clear benefits from supplementation. Hence mainstream medical “experts” often make sweeping generalisations, rejecting its value in modern health care.

But these generalisations ignore the many trials with vitamin D that have demonstrated important and valuable clinical outcomes. For example, results of a recent clinical study in Brazil suggest that low-dose vitamin D supplementation nearly doubled the response of breast cancer patients to chemotherapy.

The research included 80 women over the age of 45 who were preparing to begin treatment at the oncology outpatient clinic of the general and teaching hospital (“Hospital das Clínicas”) at the Botucatu School of Medicine at São Paulo State University. The women were divided into two groups: one group of 40 received 2,000 IU (international units) of vitamin D daily, while the other 40 received placebo tablets.
Most of the participants in the study had low blood levels of vitamin D, defined as less than 50 nmol/L (20 ng/mL). After six months of cancer treatment and supplementation, 43% of the women taking vitamin D saw their tumours disappear following chemotherapy, compared to 24% in the placebo group. All participants underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a treatment used to shrink tumours before surgery.

“Even with a small sample of participants, it was possible to observe a significant difference in the response to chemotherapy. In addition, the dosage used in the research [2,000 IU per day] is far below the target dose for correcting vitamin D deficiency, which is usually 50,000 IU per week,” says Eduardo Carvalho-Pessoa, president of the São Paulo Regional Brazilian Society of Mastology and one of the authors of the article published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer.

For more information see: https://scitechdaily.com/vitamin-d-boosts-breast-cancer-treatment-success-by-79-study-shows/

30/07/2025

Green tea helpful plus phytonutrient rich diet

A new study links drinking green tea with having fewer white matter lesions (WML) in the brains of Japanese seniors, potentially providing a level of protection against dementia. WML are abnormalities in the brain’s white matter (the part of the brain that contains nerve fibres responsible for communication between different brain regions) seen as hyperintense (bright) areas on MRI scans. They generally indicate chronic small vessel (microvascular) disease and are a relatively common finding in an older brain.

Researchers from institutions across Japan teamed up to analyse data on 8,766 volunteers over the age of 65, collected as part of a survey conducted between 2016 and 2018. Self-reported green tea and coffee consumption was cross-referenced against magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans, which measured overall brain volume and features of five different brain regions.

The scientists claimed: “This cross-sectional study found a significant association between lower cerebral white matter lesions and higher green tea consumption, but not coffee consumption, in older adults without dementia, even after adjusting for confounding factors”.

The observed effects were not large. Averaged out, those who had three cups of green tea per day had 3 percent fewer WML compared with those drinking one cup per day. Those who drank seven to eight cups per day had 6 percent fewer lesions, compared to those drinking one cup a day. One cup of tea was equivalent to approximately 200 mL.

WML, indicative of cerebral small vessel disease, are associated with vascular dementia and Alzheimer disease (AD). Larger WML were associated with more severe brain atrophy in patients with AD. Recently, a longitudinal study also identified WML as an independent risk factor for cognitive decline, even after accounting for traditional AD risk factors.

Given previous investigations linking green tea with lower blood pressure, and other studies associating lower blood pressure with a reduced risk of dementia, at least one mechanism responsible for the results could be cardiovascular. Interestingly, the scientists observed a significant relationship between increased green tea intake and decreased white matter lesions in individuals without the ApoE ε4 allele, but not in individuals with the ApoE ε4 allele (p for trend = 0.008 and 0.491, respectively).

I have maintained for some time now that my microcirculation phytonutrient diet will help to protect against brain WML. Now there is clear proof of this for green tea (a key element of the diet). The relatively small protection seen for green tea highlights that, as per the basis of the diet, one single intervention might not be enough on its own.

For more information see: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/green-tea-drinkers-have-fewer-brain-lesions-linked-to-dementia

and

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39774601/

28/07/2025

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