Jill Storstein Acupuncture& Nutrition Aberfeldy

11/07/2025

I got this lovely message from a nutrition therapy client of mine. She was suffering from debilitating post-viral fatigue. She’d had to have periods of time off work and was so fatigued, even just short walks would leave her exhausted. We worked together over a few months, working on dietary changes to suit her individual needs, did some functional tests to look for underlying causes and worked on gut support. Just wonderful to hear that she’s getting back to doing the things she loves.

06/03/2025

✨ Endometriosis Awareness Week 2025

Endo affects 1 in 10 people, yet diagnosis can take years. There is more to it than painful periods —it’s a chronic inflammatory condition linked to immune dysfunction, gut health, and hormone imbalance. It can have a significant impact on people’s daily lives and can impact fertility.

It can manifest very differently from woman to woman… Some have severe pain, others may have only a little. Some have crippling fatigue, others may have bloating and random body pain.

The most common Signs & Symptoms:

👉Pelvic pain (can occur anytime, often worst during periods)
👉Heavy or irregular bleeding (not in all cases)
👉Severe bloating (“endo belly”)
👉Pain during s*x, bowel movements, or urination
👉Fatigue & digestive issues

The Inflammation & Immune Connection

👉Endometriosis is driven by viscous cycle of chronic inflammation, worsening pain & immune dysfunction and can be compounded by stress, hormonal dysregulation and toxic overload.
👉A dysregulated immune system may drive its growth & spread.
👉Gut health & the microbiome influence inflammation & hormone balance.

👩‍🔬Environmental Triggers & Endocrine Disruptors – commonly used chemicals including BPA, phthalates (found in plastics, cosmetics and hygiene products), Dioxins (industrial pollutants) and PFAS (found in household products) have been shown in research to be a significant driver of hormonal and immune dysregulation. 👍Using clean, environmentally friendly products & switching plastic for glass and stainless steel can help lower the toxic burden.

👍Supporting Gut & Vaginal Health helps too. Following the suggestions above can help but if you are struggling, seeking help from a registered nutritional therapist to guide you on your journey can make a difference.

✨ Early awareness = better management! If you suspect endo, seek medical advice early. You are not alone. 💛

📢 Spread the word! Tag a friend & share this post.

24/12/2024

This can be a tricky year for many with complicated and conflicting feelings. I do love Christmas but have had a few very difficult Christmasses as I’m sure most have. Our families shift and change over time which can bring up feelings of loss at family orientated times like Christmas. Not everyone has much family left, ever had family or has a poor relationship with theirs. Family isn’t just those we are born into but those we make through our lives in the form of friendships and support networks. It’s all part of being human, finding celebration where we can when we feel able, feel the sadness if we need to and embrace the darkness of mid-winter by bringing light and warmth into our homes - whatever that make look like.
Wishing you warmth, comfort and happy moments the festive season.

I’m taking some time off from work just - I’ll catch up with messages and responses in the new year - unless it’s a more time-sensitive message- I’ll get back to you after Christmas. Xx

22/11/2024

There has most definitely been a shift in the weather this week to let us know winter is here. I love these crisp frosty days, the winter light on sunny days and taking walks to look at the incredible ice formations. There are definitely down sides to winter too - by the time you read this, the weather could well have turned to that gloomy, damp type of winter weather which see so much of in the UK, and even more so up here in Highland Perthshire where I am. After a while that can really start to get you down, added to that we are so much more likely to catch colds and other bugs at this time of year…

I’ve prepared an article about vitamin D and looking after your health in winter. Vitamin D is essential for your immune system, bone health mental health and more. Deficiencies in it can lead to serious health issues too. So click on my bio above to read more. I’ve also got a wee freebie for you to help you keep yourself in tip top health.
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22/11/2024

Winter is definitely here which means we need to think about protecting our immunity and vitamin D levels. I've written a blog about why vitamin D is so important and have a free guide to keeping your self well in a downloadable eBook. Click on link below to read the article and scroll to the end to download your free guide.

Why is vitamin D so important and why is it low in so many people? Plus get a free eBook

06/10/2024

Another of the very many reasons why I love Aberfeldy, we have a fantastic Farmer’s Market. The local farms have such great fresh produce. Kale, purple cauliflower, red cabbage, colourful beetroot and rare breed pork from happy pigs. Wonderful. Xx

24/09/2024

Every Woman Cafe is a monthly gathering designed to provide information, hope and an opportunity to share experiences with like minded individuals. They arrange a speaker/presenter for each one. I’ll be speaking at the next one Friday 4th October. I’ll cover:
👩‍🎤 What our hormones are and what they do;
👩‍🎤 How they should be when they are in balance and what can be the root causes when they’re not;
👩‍🎤 How things change as we approach perimenopause and what happens as we go through our second puberty (and why);
👩‍🎤 How our gut health, environment, diet and lifestyle can influence our hormones;
👩‍🎤I’ll give you an outline of nutritional needs and lifestyle changes to help support yourself and a bit of information about acupuncture and how it can help to support wonky periods; mood; energy and other menstrual and perimenopausal symptoms.
👩‍🎤 I’ll give you practical tips to help you support yourself as you navigate your hormones;
👩‍🎤 Handouts and links to freebies.

This talk is aimed at women of all ages all who are interested in understanding more about their own health and how to support their own hormonal balance. We will focus mainly on perimenopause but it will be relevant for all. We’ll have plenty of time for Q & A where you can ask me anything.

If you have a question you’d like to ask or there is something you’d like me to cover, drop me a comment below or send me a DM if it’s a private matter.

07/09/2024

Women’s health and fertility journeys can be complex and multi-layered. Working with integrated therapies such as acupuncture and functional nutritional therapy can help improve outcomes.

I work in collaboration with other practitioners across the UK to help support our clients on their health and fertility journeys. Working together give that additional layer of support that is sometimes needed to help improve outcomes. Including a functional nutritional therapy approach can allow us to dig deeper to understand underlying causes and offer compassionate, practical support and tools to implement change to help our clients nourish and rebalance themselves.

I am delighted to have partnered with the wonderful .haigh.acupuncture and her team. I have known Caroline for several years since meeting her on an Advanced Fertility Training course with mastermind Naava Carman. She is a wonderful person and an incredibly experienced practitioner. We keep in contact and along with our other friends and colleagues pictured in the last picture.

If you are a practitioner or a potential client and would be interested in working with me, you can read more about me in the link in bio or you can arrange a call with the same link.

30/08/2024

Balanced blood sugar can make such a difference to how we feel through the day and how we can cope with the things life throws at us. It not only helps to stabilise our hormones and energy but our mood and resilience to stress too. It can also help to reduce those sugar and carb cravings too. There are lots of things we can do to help balance our blood sugar, but starting with a good breakfast that contains protein is a great start. And remember to sit down to eat it in a relaxed way so we can get the goodness out of it…

What about you, do you make time for breakfast? What’s your favourite thing to have? Comment below 👇

30/08/2024

If you’ve been struggling with a health issue or need some fertility support and are curious about how nutritional therapy or acupuncture could help you then get in touch and book a free discovery call with me. It’s a relaxed chat where we can get to know each other a bit. You can share a bit about what you’re seeking support with and I’ll let you know how I can help. I’ll even give you a couple of tips to help you get started while you decide if you’d like to work with me. My main areas of expertise and experience lie with women’s health, thyroid health, digestive issues and fertility support. A discovery call is a chance for you to ask questions, and together we can explore the best path forward to help you feel better. Link to book in bio👆👆

27/03/2024

March has been endometriosis awareness month. I’m a bit late to the party because it has been such a busy month in clinic for me. I did want to just chip in on the subject because it is can be so difficult to get a diagnosis - some women take upto 11 years to get a diagnosis. The lack of training, diversity of symptoms and normalisation of period pain have been cited as barriers to prompt diagnosis. (Davenport, Smith & Green, 2023)

The symptoms are many and it can be utterly debilitating causing girls to miss school and exams, women to miss days of work and suffering economic and career consequences (Endometriosis APPG Report, 2020). In addition to affecting quality of life and opportunities, it can significantly impact fertility and increase miscarriage risk. It increases risk of autoimmune diseases, some research show association of endometriosis with some cancers and cardiovascular disease ( Kvaskoff, 2016).

Other than surgery conventional treatment options involve hormone suppression and heavy duty pain killers that can have undesirable side effects. On the positive side however, Acupuncture has been shown in studies to lower inflammation and pain in endometriosis (Yang et al., 2017) and a lot that can be done with diet and lifestyle to help manage the condition - this is the functional nutrition approach…

Endometriosis is a highly inflammatory condition with an immunological aspect made worse hormonal fluctuations of the menstrual cycle. Identifying sources of inflammation, genetic tendencies, immune and hormone disruptors and correcting these with appropriate diet and lifestyle adjustments can bring significant improvements. For example, there is a growing body of research into the gut and vaginal microbiome in endometriosis. Endocrine and immune disrupting chemicals that are ever present in our modern world also play a role, as does chronic stress.