Jasmin Sturm - naturopath & herbalist

20/08/2025

Hey kiwi ladies are you getting out in the sun while it is shining? Sunshine is the best (easiest) was to get your Vitamin D. This nutrient (hormone) is essential for various bodily functions, particularly in maintaining bone health and supporting the immune systems:

Immune System Support
•Immune Function: Vitamin D plays a vital role in enhancing the immune response, helping the body fight off infections and diseases.
•Disease Resistance: Some studies suggest that sufficient vitamin D levels may reduce the risk of respiratory infections and other illnesses.

Bone Health
•Calcium Absorption: Vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium, which is crucial for building and maintaining strong bones.
•Prevention of Osteoporosis: Adequate vitamin D levels can help prevent osteoporosis, a condition that weakens bones and increases fracture risk.

Other Health Benefits
•Mood Regulation: Vitamin D may help regulate mood and reduce the risk of depression.
•Chronic Disease Prevention: Research indicates a potential link between vitamin D levels and a lower risk of certain chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers.
Natural Sources
•Sunlight: The body produces vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight.
•Food: Natural sources include fatty fish (like salmon and mackerel), egg yolks, and fortified foods (such as milk and cereals).
Supplements
•Vitamin D2 and D3: Available in supplement form, with D3 generally recommended for better absorption and effectiveness.

Maintaining adequate vitamin D levels is crucial for overall health, and a simple blood test can determine if supplementation is necessary. If you ask your doctor and they don’t wish to prescribe a test for you then you can go online in NZ and order it through https://www.mytests.co.nz/

18/08/2025

If you can’t access insulin-specific tests like the HOMA-IR index, you need look no further than the ALT and AST readings on your standard liver enzyme panel.

New research shows that a higher ALT-to-AST ratio is a strong indicator of insulin resistance, especially in women.

And the best part? It’s such an easy test. You don’t even need to fast.

Other clues to insulin resistance include high triglycerides (>150 mg/dL or 1.7 mmol/L), low HDL, constant hunger, reactive hypoglycemia, and weight gain around the middle.

Insulin resistance is the most common hormonal condition and a driver of many downstream problems. So it’s worth knowing if you have it, not guessing.

Links to:
- the research paper: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38758828/
- and my metabolism book: https://www.larabriden.com/metabolism-book/

17/08/2025

Gratitude is an easy and effective way to retrain your brain. Have you noticed that when YOU focus on the good things in life YOU see them more.

🌸 Gratitude also lessens anxiety and depression as it helps to calm the nerves and boost the mood.

🌸 Gratitude increases resilience and helps you bounce back from stressful events with adversity by acting as a buffer from internalising symptoms.

🌸 Gratitude increases empathy and compassion - the more thankful we feel the more likely we are to act socially with others, causing them to feel grateful and setting up a positive cycle.

🌸Thinking with gratitude about other people doing positive things floods the brain with positive chemicals.

🌸 Gratitude also makes us feel less bothered by aches and pains.

12/08/2025

💤😴You’re not imagining it - poor sleep changes everything!

🧠That brain fog at 2pm isn’t just ‘getting older’ - it’s your body asking for help 🧠

➡️More than 33% of us struggle with sleep, and for women over 50 dealing with burnout, the effects go deeper than just feeling tired.

When sleep quality suffers, everything shifts:
•Your patience feels paper-thin
•Aches and pains seem to multiply
•That sharp mind you relied on feels clouded
•Even small tasks feel overwhelming

Here’s what I want you to know: This isn’t your new normal. Your body has an incredible capacity for restoration when given what it needs.

Quality sleep isn’t a luxury - it’s the foundation your vitality is built on. ✨

Have you noticed how one poor night affects your entire next day? Tell me in the comments 👇

07/08/2025

I just noticed I have a new google review!

05/08/2025

Get results by just sitting and relaxing....

Are you ready for a gentle detox?
​
Benefits of the BioPulse may include:
- detoxification & rejuvenation at the cellular level
- clear skin and sparkling eyes
- increased energy levels
- stress reduction
- better quality sleep
- pain (muscle and joint) relief
- stronger immune system
- a reduction in systemic inflammation
- kills excess candida and other pathogenic (bacterial, fungal, viral) strains (which can affect other body systems)

https://www.warkworthnaturopath.co.nz/biopulse-ionic-footspa

04/08/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19PKu1oY2L/?mibextid=wwXIfr

03/08/2025

Sunday in Matakana… loving this weather!!

30/07/2025

Green Tea helps protect the brain 🧠

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/

29/07/2025

The Government will spend two months consulting with farmers to clarify whether children are safe doing “light chores”, including collecting eggs, feeding animals and watering plants.

29/07/2025

🤔 Why would you get a Hair Test …
why not just avoid sugar, wheat and/or dairy products?

🥛🌾🍦🍩
It is a great start to cut gluten, dairy, sugar, coffee, alcohol and processed foods out of your diet. This is an often recommended protocol (or part of it), by naturopaths and nutritionists. Avoiding the above mentioned foods often gives great results for many people, however, the specific food/substance that you are reacting to may not be one of those mentioned above.

🧪The test may show you have an out of balance gut microbiome, candida, liver detoxification issues, or food additives that come up in the test as being reactive substances.

🍶 An example - a client had stevia come up in the results, and after a while she realised that stevia was in a number of packaged herbal teas that she was drinking. She switched to drinking tea without stevia and the burning she was having in her mouth decreased.

➡️Some people find it easiest to manage a list of which foods to eat when changing their eating regime.

➡️ We don’t recommend that you avoid the foods long term (unless the come up super high), we suggest avoiding them for a set time while the inflammation settles down, (and your symptoms will clear up) then gradually re-introduce them.

Check my bio for more information of to book.

28/07/2025

https://jasminsturm.com/blog/thetransformativepowerofqualitysleepyourfoundation