Earth Sourced Naturopath & Medical Herbalist

28/10/2025

WHAT FATS ARE HEALTHY?
This is such a common question in clinic! Perhaps it will serve you too?

For heart health we all know polyunsaturated & monounsaturated are key. Which is why the Mediterranean diet is often cited & seafood or oils like extra virgin olive oil are mentioned. Omega 3 from seafood, lamb & wild meat and also seeds (linseed, chia, h**p hearts etc) can regulate hormones & reduces inflammation.

But we also need good quality saturated fats for hormonal health & vibrant skin. Did you know that coconut oil & tallow is known to be anti-aging to the skin?

Then comes the question of what oils we should cook with?!

Polyunsaturated oils (PUFAs) like canola, rice bran, & other seed oils are easily turned into toxic trans fats as they can only handle low heat. Olive oil (mix of monounsaturated & polyunsaturated) should only be used for dressings, marinades etc. PUFAs when cooked can increase oxidative stress & inflammation that adds to CVD risk. Overheating PUFAs can also cause the formation of unhealthy trans fats, which are known to increase harmful LDL cholesterol and raise the risk of heart disease. Mind blown?!

Monounsaturated oils like sesame, peanut, avocado oils have a slightly higher burning point which makes them better for cooking at low to moderate temperatures. They are better for the heart too! Avocados, nuts (almonds, cashews, pecans) seeds are some other sources to add to the diet.

But the best oils for cooking? The sadly, & incorrectly vilified saturated fats which have the highest smoking points so are better for stirfries & roasting or frying. Coconut oil (especially if not bleached in the oil refining process called copra), tallow, or non bleached lard, duck fat etc are some examples. These also lower stroke risk & while saturated fat can raise LDL cholesterol, it may raise a less harmful, larger type of LDL cholesterol, while also raising protective HDL ("good") cholesterol. It’s all about the type & the quality & quantity!!

Also deep frying using seed oils is really dangerous for our health & is a key reason why cardiovascular disease continues to sky rocket. If you must do this use a saturated fat like in the old days!

Finally the food most contributing to CVD & obesity? Refined carbohydrates. Mind blown again?

What I’ve learned to do is to keep a range of oils for different functions & flavours in my kitchen. This provides a variety of health benefits also!

I hope this serves you!
Shine bright!
Nic

08/10/2025

HEALING RECIPE - POULTICES FOR LUNG INFECTIONS & LIVER DETOX
I have used this onion & linseed poultice so many times! I've taught it in workshops and retreats, I've offered it to clients, and I've used the treatment personally and its very effective!

The great thing about it is that you can add other healing herbs, spices, essential oils to it, to add to its therapeutic benefits! For instance mustard for a lung infection, turmeric or chili for painful joints, kawakawa or dandelion for liver detoxification. See how easy it is?

You might enjoy this article I wrote for the recent Avena journal for the New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists.

I'm also the editor for this journal, so if you have any interest in sharing an article or advertising your products or services to naturopaths and medical herbalists, please message me!

05/10/2025

THE BENEFITS OF BITTERS - A RECIPE!
Have you heard people talking about the weight loss medication Wegovy? It is very effective for weight loss, but there are issues when you stop it. Good new herbal bitters come to the rescue!

Wegovy are hormone-like drugs that through the stimulation of GLP-1 will curb appetite and balance blood glucose. Only problem is that there are side effects to stopping them including muscle loss and rebound weight gain. Using bitters instead of this medication, or after its use are an option many herbalists are offering.

Bitter herbs also stimulate bitter receptors throughout the body and throughout the digestive system and thereby increase incretin hormone production such as GLP-1. Bitter herbs assist in the regulation of appetite and satiety (feeling full), to enhance the benefits from weight loss diets by boosting the metabolism, and are useful in stubborn lack of weight loss due to insulin issues by balancing blood glucose levels.

Bitters also treat fatty liver, clear cholesterol from the body, stimulate peristalsis in constipated bowels, assist digestion and assimilation of nutrients, boost immunity and MORE!!

When you consider that the modern Western diet is primarily focused on stimulating the taste buds for sweet and salty or fatty you can see how bitter, sour, astringent have been pushed to the wayside, to our great detriment. I've always found it fascinating to see how when people eat more of these flavours they start to enjoy them more too!

I love this new supplement from Mediherb called Digest Forte. Its packed with bitter herbs and coated with the flavours of mandarin and gentian. You suck on the tablet for a minute or less and then swallow it, to wake up the bitter receptors in the mouth that send direct messages to the brain. $56.20 + courier for 60 tablets, let me know if you'd like to order this practitioner only product?

Alternatively make your own Bitter Drops!

Chop up some bitter herbs such as dandelion leaves (Taraxacum officinale), koromiko (H**e stricta), yarrow (Achillea millefolium) and globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus). Allow these to wilt overnight.
Add to a jar then cover with sufficient of either vodka or apple cider vinegar (with the mother ferment).
Additionally you can also add some goodies from your kitchen! For instance add in some coriander seeds crushed, cumin seeds crushed, fennel seeds crushed, dried orange or mandarin skin, roughly chopped up star anise and fenugreek seeds. Its all very rootsy in the approach to this Wild Woman Tincture, and can be adjusted to taste.
You need to make sure that all the ingredients are fully covered with either the vodka or the ACV.
Then simply infuse for 1-2 weeks, strain and add to dropper bottles. Take 10 drops ideally around 10 minutes before meals. But you can also take them afterwards, especially if you have overeaten!

Shine bright!
Nic

04/10/2025

Imagine that the timeline of humanity is 9 inches long. But the last 1.2 inches has included pharmaceuticals. The rest of the timeline of 8.8 inches, included plant medicine.

Yet we’ve been taught & convinced that the 8.8 inches of history was merely witchcraft, dirty, placebo & ineffective, unscientific & unsafe.

We’ve been taught that humanity had medicine wrong for most of our existence.

That’s why my bumper sticker says Plant Medicine - Medicines Longest Running Clinical Trial.

Plants are our allies, we have co-evolved alongside them, they are sentient & aware, they our one of our greatest teachers & healing aids. That’s why I’m proud to be a & here serving my community since ages ago (2006)!

Shine bright, Nic

03/10/2025

My central passion in my clinic is helping women on all levels, & reminding them of their strength, value & gifts. Also giving them tools to build their self-love & ability to prioritise their own needs in the face of messaging from family & culture that tells them otherwise.

So when i recently did a photo shoot with Emma https://www.facebook.com/share/17MAfayDCG/?mibextid=wwXIfr and I noticed myself feeling anxious from old patriarchal programming I knew what I needed to do. To stop & connect back into my heart space to allow this & my soul to shine through into these photos. To remind myself that I was enough. That I was powerful. Emma was so brilliant at holding space, encouraging me, & guiding me too.

I feel we wahine are at another point in history where we can allow ourselves to continue being influenced to stay small, in servitude, exhausted beyond our capacity, or we can claim our power back. Femininity can demonstrate resilience, courage, power & sisterhood or not.

These photos are not photoshopped. So you are seeing a woman & naturopath at 50, with all the shifts that come with time. Through Emma’s skill you are seeing my soul, my empathetic heart, my questioning mind, my deep well of power. I highly recommend Emma!

Shine bright!
Nic 💜

08/09/2025

I was really delighted & proud to be asked to speak at the New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists conference last weekend as part of an expert panel on resilience & mood dysfunction & the tools we naturopaths & herbalists have available.

When I saw who was on the panel with me I felt my inner child become intimidated. I saw old imposter syndrome come up. I know with fear, much like shame, you don’t sit alone in the dark with it. So I messaged my closest girlfriends & asked them to share some tools for what they’ve used when this happens to them, & to shine a light to help me remember who I am. Boy did they come through!

My sisterhood raised me up, reminded me of all my gifts & the practical tools I mostly already knew. But the key was to of course to be loving with my inner child & to visualise the outcome I wanted & see it into fruition. To remember I already knew everything I needed to know. That I had a gift of sharing info in a relevant & warm way. That my goodness would ripple out to the conference and that was possibly the most important thing I could share.

And guess what? It went amazing! Just as I’d intended, and alongside a panel of diverse & heart based expert speakers 💜 Sometimes you just have to get out of your own way, to feel the fear & do it anyway as my mother would say!

What have you done lately that was scary but so worth it? What tool helped your imposter syndrome?

Shine bright, Nic

02/09/2025

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW WHICH NEUROTRANSMITTERS FOR MOOD ARE OUT OF BALANCE IN YOUR BRAIN?
Various forms of emotional imbalance or dysregulation such as anxiety, depression, stress, overwhelm and more are linked to imbalances of neurotransmitters in your brain (many of which are also linked to gut-brain axis imbalances too, but that's another story).

From looking at the symptoms you are experiencing, we can often get an indication of neurotransmitters are out of balance. And from this, we naturopaths and Herbalists know which herbs or lifestyle suggestions to make.

Serotonin (calm and happy neurotransmitter)
Low mood, feelings of sadness or irritability for no clear reason, craving carbs and sweets, difficulty falling or staying asleep. Herbs that increase serotonin: St. John’s wort, kava, rhodiola, albizia, lavender, saffron.

Dopamine (pleasure and reward neurotransmitter)
Feel unmotivated, pleasureless, struggling with focus, seeking out stimulating activities, feeling flat or bored easily, need caffeine or stimulants to feel normal. Herbs that increase dopamine: pukatea, rhodiola, albizia, St John wort, saffron.

GABA (calming neurotransmitter)
Chronically tense, anxious or hard to relax, struggle with physical signs of anxiety such as racing heart, tight chest, muscle tension, suffering from insomnia or finding it hard to wind down, feeling wired but tired. Herbs that increase GABA: albizia, St. John’s wort, kava, skullcap, passionflower, lemon balm, saffron, Californian poppy, lavender, zizyphus.

Glutamate excess (excitory neurotransmitter)
Migraines, brain fog, mentally overwhelmed or scattered, prone to panic attacks or feeling buzzed in the brain, chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia symptoms. Herbs to calm glutamate: kava, lavender, zizyphus.

Acetylcholine deficiency (plays a role in memory, learning, attention, motivation and arousal)
Word recall, brain fog, forgetfulness, dry eyes and mouth, lowered digestive function. Herb to increase acetylcholine: albizia.

Norepinephrine dysregulation (adrenalin, fight & flight neurotransmitter)
Easily startled, on high alert, racing thoughts, trouble calming your system, crashing hard after stress, emotional volatility, mood instability. Herbs to calm norepinephrine: lavender, saffron.

Which of these neurotransmitter/s are you showing signs of dysregulation?

Comment below which neurotransmitter imbalances you have and I'll share a supplement recommendation you might want to consider!

Shine bright!
Nic

Image: Albizia leebeck (wikipedia). ntonrbs ndeLrbs ia

18/08/2025

Simon Mills is a famous herbalist & a wealth of knowledge. This has some fascinating information within & is well worth the watch!

Shine bright, Nic

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jk5XCLAr6w&fbclid=IwQ0xDSwMPvyBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmhQLhAovtn0dcv8glpF1azL2sb04dawzL-nDUsUI5KET5BOTt83b43dwwuP_aem_oy1-My3479dXwNY-_O_xgA

Is the root of every illness your gut? Could 5 simple herbs replace your medicine cabinet? Natural remedy expert Simon Mills reveals the herbal medicines tha...

17/08/2025

CORTISOL REDUCING HERB
Have you been struggling to lose weight as you approach menopause? Or perhaps you have been burning the candle at both ends & can't seem to lose those extra kilograms like you normally could? Maybe you feel like you are repeatedly each day feeling anxious, overwhelmed, panicky, rushed? Its likely that your nervous system is dysregulated and in need of support.

I'm always on the look out for cortisol reducing herbs, because they can help you get a new or returned sense of normal. Of who you are without the anxiety or fearfulness.

On ceasing the herbs this gives you a new baseline which you can more easily return to and maintain with lifestyle techniques like deep breathing or meditation or grounding in nature.

Research has found that Tulsi can offer these benefits of nervous system support and reduces cortisol by 36% on average in just 40 minutes. Consider this herbal ally to reduce stress, inflammation, insomnia, cortisol induced weight gain and more....

() Originally published on www.linkedin.com Lanson Burrows Jones Jr.

27/07/2025

HERBALIST CONFERENCE! Open to everyone 💜
The speaker line up this year is next level. Every year I look forward to this conference for the learning but most of all spending time with such an amazing group of people. It’s special. Come along!

You're still in time for the early bird pricing. Special pricing ends in just 3 days so grab your spot today by visiting https://nzamh.org.nz/conference-2025/

Everybody is welcome, including non-members of the NZAMH. If you're not a member, grab your spot by visiting our shop - https://nzamh.org.nz/shop/

We'd love to see you at the conference!

Register before 30th July 2025 to take advantage of our Early Bird pricing. Pricing plans are available.

Grab your spot today by visiting https://nzamh.org.nz/conference-2025/

21/07/2025

CHAI TEA RECIPE!
It balances blood glucose, is a warming digestive & warms the peripherals (hands & feet) by boosting circulation, reduces pain, inflammation & histamine, & boosts immune response!
To get the recipe & discussion on its therapeutic benefits simply like my page & comment CHAI TEA and I’ll send it to you! 💜
Shine bright, Nic

10/07/2025

CANCER IS ON THE RISE...ARE MEDICAL TREATMENTS SUCH AS CHEMO OR SURGERY THE ANSWER?
Did you know research suggests chemotherapy may in some cases promote metastasis and aggressive tumors? There is also studies showing issues with surgery for cancer. For instance surgery for breast cancer induces stress and suppression of the immune system with a peak of metastasis in the months after surgery.

Mechanisms Explained:
1. Tumor Microenvironment of Metastasis (TMEM) Sites: Chemotherapy (e.g., paclitaxel) can increase TMEM structures, which act as gateways for cancer cells to enter the bloodstream, aiding metastasis.
2. Inflammation: Chemotherapy triggers inflammatory responses, recruiting immune cells like macrophages that may support cancer cell survival and spread.
3. Exosome Release: Tumors under chemotherapy release exosomes (tiny vesicles) with proteins that prepare distant organs for cancer cell colonization.
4. Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT): Chemotherapy can induce EMT, making cancer cells more invasive and metastatic.
5. Altered Tissue Environments: Chemotherapy modifies distant tissues, creating a "fertile soil" for metastatic cancer cells to grow.

Exercise also improves outcomes in patients with cancer, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Patients with cancer who participated in a structured exercise program in a randomized-controlled trial lived longer without cancer recurrence and had a lower risk of dying within the trial period compared with people in the control group.

I'm successfully treating more clients with cancer than ever before. For some clients its alongside conventional treatment to offset the side effects and damage from chemotherapy, radiation or surgery. If someone you love has cancer, or is making hard decisions about the treatment approach they choose to follow, perhaps share this post.

Please message me if you'd like to book an appointment. There are some incredible herb, supplement, nutritional tools (and more) that I can share with you..

Shine bright,
Nic

Supporting Studies:
1. Karagiannis et al. (2017), Science Translational Medicine: Chemotherapy increased TMEM sites and metastasis in breast cancer models. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28679654/

2. D’Alterio et al. (2020), Seminars in Cancer Biology: Chemotherapy enhances tumor relapse via the tumor microenvironment. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31454672/

3. Keklikoglou et al. (2018), Nature Cell Biology: Chemotherapy-induced exosomes promote lung metastasis. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31454672/

4. Middleton (2018), International Journal of Molecular Sciences: Chemotherapy supports breast cancer metastasis by altering tissue environments. https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/19/11/3333

5. Liu et al. (2018), Journal of Experimental Medicine: Chemotherapy-induced inflammation strengthens cancer cells.

6. Nakasone et al. (2012), Cancer Research: Chemotherapy recruits monocytes, aiding metastasis.

7. DeNardo et al. (2011), Cancer Discovery: Chemotherapy increases tumor-associated macrophages, promoting progression.

8. Shaked (2016), Nature Reviews Cancer: Chemotherapy triggers host responses facilitating metastasis. https://www.nature.com/articles/nrclinonc.2016.57

9. Gingis-Velitski et al. (2011), Cancer Research: Chemotherapy upregulates pro-metastatic factors. https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/71/22/6986/568157/Host-Response-to-Short-term-Single-Agent

10. Chang et al. (2017), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Chemotherapy induces EMT, increasing invasiveness

11. Courneya et al (2025) The New England Journal of Medicine. Structured exercise after adjuvant chemotherapy for colon cancer. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2502760

12. Tohme et al (2017) Pubmed. Surgery for Cancer: A Trigger for Metastases. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5380551/

Surgery is a crucial intervention and provides a chance of cure for patients with cancer. The perioperative period is characterized by an increased risk for accelerated growth of micrometastatic disease and increased formation of new metastatic ...