Dr. Jasmina Dedic-Hagan

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Turramurra, NSW
Dr. Jasmina Dedic-Hagan

Functional Medicine Doctor | CMO & Founder, Vitality360 | Helping Women Reclaim Their Energy & Health | PhD Molecular Biology

As Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer of Vitality360, I help people reclaim their energy, optimise their health, and achieve long-term vitality through evidence backed functional medicine. My approach identifies and addresses the root causes of fatigue, hormonal imbalances, stubborn weight, and metabolic dysfunction, delivering practical, science-based solutions for long-term health. With a background in functional medicine and molecular biology, I bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and real-world application, with a strong focus on women’s health. In my clinical practice, I take a comprehensive approach - integrating nutrition, lifestyle, fitness, and, when necessary, targeted supplementation or medication - to help women feel their best at every stage of life. I am passionate about making complex medical science accessible and actionable. With extensive teaching experience, I specialise in translating the latest research into practical strategies through workshops, content, and expert guidance. At Vitality360, my mission is to empower women to take control of their health, restore their energy, and build long-term resilience.

11/12/2025

At this time of year when we're all indulging a bit more into that something sweet, I thought this might be a good topic to deep dive into to help us make the best choices.

Here's what the research tells us:

Artificial sweeteners aren't metabolically inert. They interact with your gut bacteria, your insulin signalling, and your appetite hormones in ways we're only beginning to understand.

- Studies show compounds like sucralose can reduce beneficial gut bacteria populations significantly.
- Aspartame has been linked to glucose intolerance through microbiome changes.
- And the sweet taste itself - even without calories - triggers insulin release, potentially disrupting the very metabolic processes you're trying to support.

Does this mean all sweeteners are bad? No.

Raw honey, pure maple syrup, and whole leaf stevia behave very differently in your body... They come with cofactors, enzymes, and compounds that support rather than disrupt.
But here's what matters most: understanding WHY you're reaching for sweetness in the first place.

Intense sweet cravings often signal:
↳ Blood sugar dysregulation
↳ Cortisol imbalances
↳ Nutrient deficiencies (magnesium, chromium)
↳ Gut dysbiosis
↳ Poor sleep

Address the root cause, and the cravings often resolve themselves.
Save this one. 🤍

PMID: 40277825
PMID: 9062523
PMID: 35967810

10/12/2025

A few things worth knowing before silly season kicks off.

I'll never be the person telling you to skip the champagne toast, but after years in practice, I can tell you... January is when I see women at their most depleted. And a big part of that is what happens when the liver gets overloaded through December.

Alcohol and estrogen use the same clearance pathways. When one backs up, so does the other. Add broken sleep, blood sugar chaos, and stress, and things unravel quickly.

Swipe through. Save it for later. 🤍

PMID: 11163119
PMID: 23347102
PMID: 17966122

04/12/2025

This is the bread I actually make at home. Just five minutes of hands on time! No kneading. No complicated steps. Just throw everything into a bread maker in the right order and let it do the work.

Spelt is an ancient grain that hasn't been hybridised like modern wheat. Many women who struggle with regular bread due to gluten (the bloating or digestive heaviness) find spelt much easier to tolerate. It also brings more protein, fibre, and minerals to the table.

Buckwheat is naturally gluten free on its own, and rich in resistant starch, the kind of fibre that feeds the beneficial bacteria in your gut. It also adds a beautiful nutty depth to the bread.

Important note: Spelt DOES contain gluten. If you have Coeliac disease, this recipe isn't suitable for you. But if you're someone who's noticed you're sensitive to regular bread without having Coeliac, this might be worth a try.

Save this one for your next baking day. 🍞

02/12/2025

Last post we talked about the connection between low iron and mental health. But here's where it gets more nuanced:
Your iron levels can look completely "normal" on paper while your body is struggling to actually USE that iron.

In this post, I'm breaking down the three hidden factors that distort your iron picture:
1. Inflammation artificially elevates ferritin.
2. Chronic conditions lower transferrin.
3. Taking iron too often (Your body produces a hormone called hepcidin that regulates iron absorption. Take iron daily, and hepcidin stays elevated, blocking most of what you're taking).

Here's what you need to know to really understand your iron status:
→ Serum iron
→ Ferritin
→ Transferrin
→ Transferrin saturation
→ Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC)
→ CRP or hsCRP (inflammation marker)

Context matters. Numbers without interpretation mean nothing. If your symptoms don't match your "normal" results, trust your body because there's always a reason.

Remember: If inflammation is driving your ferritin up and blocking absorption, no amount of supplementation will fix the problem until you address the root cause.

Save this. Share it. And if you've been dismissed with "normal" results while feeling anything but, know that there are answers. 🧡

01/12/2025

Shockingly, many women are prescribed antidepressants when replenishing iron could resolve symptoms entirely.

Always push for a ferritin test (your true iron storage marker) before any mental health diagnosis; levels below 30mcg/L mean your body is raiding brain tissue to survive, worsening mood and cognition.

To supercharge iron uptake:

👉🏽 Pair your iron with vitamin C (like orange juice or strawberries) to boost absorption
👉🏽 Skip coffee, tea, or dairy within 2 hours, they block iron uptake
👉🏽 Opt for gentler forms like ferrous bisglycinate if standard types irritate your gut
👉🏽 Track progress: Retest ferritin after 3 months; if no rise, chat with your doc about IV infusions

Next week we're going deeper - what can artificially elevate your ferritin (hint: it's not always iron), what causes low transferrin, and how to actually help your body absorb more iron. Because the numbers only tell half the story.

25/11/2025

Seasonal allergies affect millions every year, and the conventional approach is straightforward: take antihistamines, maybe add a nasal spray, and wait for the season to pass. But if you're increasingly miserable despite these medications, and this past season has got you wondering what you can do for next year, this post is for you.

Your immune system's reactivity to allergens is significantly influenced by your baseline inflammatory state, and for women in perimenopause/menopause, hormonal shifts to the gut can further impact histamine responses.

When your body is already dealing with chronic low-grade inflammation from poor sleep, stress, gut issues, or processed foods, your threshold for reacting to allergens drops:

👉🏽Emerging research reveals important connections between gut health & allergic responses. Studies show that people with more diverse gut microbiomes and healthy populations of beneficial bacteria tend to have less severe allergic reactions.

👉🏽Gut dysbiosis - often caused by antibiotics, chronic stress, or low fibre intake, is associated with increased allergic sensitivity. The gut bacteria produce metabolites that help regulate immune function throughout your body, including how aggressively you react to environmental triggers.

👉🏽Certain nutritional factors influence mast cell stability; the immune cells that release histamine during allergic reactions.

Constant release of inflammatory mediators disrupts sleep, impairs cognition, and increases fatigue. Poor sleep then makes your immune system more reactive the next day, creating a feedback loop where allergies disrupt sleep, and poor sleep worsens allergies... 🫣

The functional approach considers these interconnected factors:
👉🏽Support gut health through adequate fibre and probiotic foods.
👉🏽Ensure optimal vitamin D (and b vitamins if methylation is a priority) levels through testing.
👉🏽Include anti-inflammatory foods rich in omega-3s.
👉🏽Prioritise sleep and stress management.

When you address underlying drivers of immune hyperreactivity, allergies often become more manageable without increasingly aggressive medication.

PMID: 22266772
PMID: 35233003
PMID: 32971520

22/11/2025

We've been taught that lean protein is healthy (and yes it is), but nobody's talking about how agricultural practices over the past 50 years fundamentally changed the fatty acid profile of the meat we eat.

Grain-fed cattle contain dramatically higher levels of omega-6 fatty acids compared to grass-fed - and this matters more than most people realise, especially if you're eating it week by week and it's contributing to an imbalanced fatty acid profile (PMID: 35028571).

The omega-6 to omega-3 ratio in your diet directly influences your inflammatory state. When this ratio is skewed heavily toward omega-6 (which it is in most modern diets), your body produces more pro-inflammatory compounds that affect everything from insulin sensitivity to hormone receptor function to cellular aging

For women navigating perimenopause and menopause, this becomes even more critical because these inflammatory pathways directly interact with how your body manages the hormonal transition.

When you understand how sourcing affects nutrient density, you can make informed decisions that compound into meaningful health improvements over time.

Yes, we do need more studies into this. But here's what you can do now:

What you can do:

- Prioritise grass-fed or pasture-raised for fatty cuts if you do choose to eat them.
- Choose leaner cuts when buying conventional.
- Balance with wild-caught fatty fish 2-3 times weekly or an omega-3 supplement
- Add plant-based omega-3s (walnuts, chia, flax, h**p)
- Eliminate seed oils from your kitchen (these vegetable oils are the largest omega-6 source in modern diets)

13/11/2025

Research across 60 studies shows that moderate-intensity aerobic exercise and yoga aren't just helpful for migraine reduction, they're transformative. But the key is understanding how and why exercise works.

Exercise regulates your autonomic nervous system, the control center for blood vessel tone and stress response. When dysregulated, your brain becomes hyperexcitable and oversensitive to triggers.

Regular movement recalibrates this system at a fundamental level.

👏🏼Exercise improves sleep quality and reduces stress; two of the most consistent migraine triggers. Better sleep means more restorative rest, while increased endorphins and lower cortisol reduce your stress response. This creates a positive cycle: better sleep leads to fewer migraines, which reduces stress, which improves sleep.
👏🏼Cardiovascular health matters more than most realise. Migraines are strongly linked to obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. Aerobic exercise improves blood flow regulation, reduces systemic inflammation, and supports metabolic health; all directly impacting migraine frequency.
👏🏼Regular physical activity may enhance medication effectiveness. Patients active before starting treatment showed better responses to migraine-specific medications. Exercise primes your body to respond better to all interventions.

But not all exercise helps. High-intensity workouts or heavy weightlifting can trigger attacks by creating rapid blood pressure changes. The therapeutic zone is moderate-intensity aerobic activity; walking, cycling, swimming at a conversational pace. Plus mind-body practices like yoga and Tai Chi.

Start below your current capacity and build gradually. You're looking for reduced frequency over weeks and months, not immediate changes that might trigger attacks.

11/11/2025

The rise in colorectal cancer among people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s is not just due to genetics.

Colorectal cancer rates are plummeting in those over 60 while simultaneously skyrocketing in younger adults.

The youngest groups face the steepest increases, with rates rising nearly 8% annually in 20-29 year olds. This isn't about better screening or family history; 75% of these cases occur in people with no genetic predisposition.

So what's changed?

Our food environment has fundamentally shifted. Ultra-processed foods now make up more than half the average diet in developed countries, and the evidence connecting them to cancer risk is becoming impossible to ignore.

What makes this particularly alarming is that this cancer risk appears independent of body weight. Even those maintaining a healthy BMI and active lifestyle face elevated risk when consuming high amounts of ultra-processed foods. The issue isn't just calories or weight gain, it's what these foods do at a cellular level.

Ultra-processed foods disrupt insulin signaling, create chronic low-grade inflammation, and fundamentally alter your gut microbiome. The emulsifiers, additives, and artificial sweeteners in these foods promote intestinal inflammation and create an environment where abnormal cell growth can flourish.

Meanwhile, the absence of protective fibre and phytochemicals strips away your body's natural defense mechanisms.

Your gut microbiome is your frontline defense against cancer development. It regulates inflammation, supports immune function, and maintains the integrity of your intestinal lining. But ultra-processed foods starve beneficial bacteria while feeding harmful ones, creating the perfect storm for disease.

Every meal is a choice between feeding disease or building resilience.

Read full article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/01/colon-cancer-young-people-smoking-ultra-processed-foods?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

06/11/2025

Twenty years from now, you'll either thank yourself or wish you'd started today.
The body that carries you through decades of travel, family moments, and adventures isn't built by wishing, it's built by moving & taking action. By challenging yourself. By refusing to accept that "slowing down" is inevitable.

Every step I take up this mountain is an investment in the woman I'm becoming. The one who refuses to watch life from the sidelines. The one who has the energy, strength, and vitality to fully engage.

What steps are you taking today? 💙

04/11/2025

If you're over 40 and not lifting weights, you're voluntarily surrendering your most powerful longevity tool.

Older muscle is less responsive but still highly adaptable. You can build significant strength at any age, contrary to popular belief!

Studies show dramatic improvements in adults aged 90 and above who resistance train.

A decade long study found it correlates with lower risk of death from all major causes.

Your muscles
- regulate blood sugar
- support immune function, and - maintain metabolic health.

👏🏼 Start with two full-body sessions weekly. If you can manage more, split by muscle groups to allow recovery.
👏🏼 Consistency over years matters more than intensity in any single session.
👏🏼 Focus on compound movements: squats, deadlifts, lunges, pull-ups, rows, presses. These work multiple muscle groups and translate to daily function.

The best time to train is whenever you can consistently train. Resistance training isn't optional after 40...it's essential!

PMID: 24561114

29/10/2025

Something close to my heart to share with you today.💙

My dear friend Aida Šehović is an artist whose work speaks to the deepest parts of the human experience; memory, loss, resilience, and healing. She's bringing her powerful storytelling to Sydney this November, and I wanted to invite you to be part of it.

As someone from Bosnia, these stories of collective trauma and the journey toward peace resonate deeply with me. Aida's film "Where Have You Been" traces the homecoming of survivors still searching for loved ones 30 years after genocide. It asks profound questions about memory, justice, and what "never again" truly means.

Her work reminds us that healing; whether from collective trauma or personal health challenges, is never linear. It requires acknowledgment, community, and the courage to confront what's difficult.

All three events are free, but registration is essential. 💙

Swipe for all event details. Link for registration in bio.

Address

Turramurra, NSW
2074

Website

http://www.lindenhealth.com.au/, https://v360.health/

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