Origin Naturopathy, 5 Frye Crescent, Albert Town (2026)

20/09/2023

It’s astounding how many public institutions, i.e., schools, art exhibitions, small business ventures, social sporting events and high-calibre music functions are provided free of charge by the council of Ilhabela, Brazil.

After being away from “home” for 16 years, it’s been a mind-boggling blessing coming back to THIS. A safe haven in a largely ‘guarded’ nation.

The small coastline of Ilhabela is dotted with beach jungle-gyms, masseurs, fresh seafood, art installations and coconut trees by the water side.

What a fabulous way to keep fit and feed the heart!

If you ever think to visit this tropical jewel, you’d do well in staying at chales in Perequê. It’s a slice of paradise.

19/03/2022

After this past week, I can say firsthand that COVID symptoms can be quite the kick in the b-hind.

I can also say with utmost certainty that natural medicine, good food and good habits most certainly have their part to play in COVID symptom management, recovery, and repair.

Without further ado, here is a list of evidence-based supplements, nutrients and prescriptions proven to boost our immune system, and to manage COVID19 symptoms.

Let’s keep mindful and do our part.
Kia kaha

05/02/2022

Clinical nutrition – what is it, and what role does it play in conventional medicine?

Put simply, clinical nutrition is a basic and applied science concerned with the relationship between food intake, biochemistry and wellbeing.

A comprehensive nutritional plan would, therefore, account for your weekly patisserie treats, your mental state, specific biochemistry, familial and medical health histories, current eating habits, lifestyle and laboratory tests, providing you with specified, informed and evidence-based counsel.

Quite honestly, however (and fair enough to say), the fact that this process is not a mandatory part of physiological and psychological rehabilitation in traditional healthcare protocols, seems somewhat unethical – particularly given how far we’ve come in understanding the conditional relationship between nutrition, longevity, and recovery.

Clinical nutritionists are essentially concerned with how nutrients in food are processed, stored, and discarded by the body. We aim to maintain long-term and optimal health through individualized dietary strategies – it is really quite simple – and proven, time-and-time-again, that a healthy gut is a healthy brain.

So isn’t it just bizarre, that although the therapeutic efficacy of clinical nutrition is widely substantiated throughout its entire academic landscape, nutritional care is still scarce among public mental healthcare facilities, hospitals and ambulatory patients?

While there is no denying that nutritional care has gained broad clinical and scientific interest during the past decades, there still seems to be a clear lack of emphasis on the connection between food, mood and mental health, within conventional [medical] fields.

Now whinging aside – is there a simple solution?

I do believe so – to a large extent.

My personal answer, today – as I’m allowed to change my mind tomorrow if I’m proven wrong – is: education, specificity, and accessibility with flexible, long-term support.

And again, yes – this can, absolutely, be achieved at low cost.

First and foremost, I think that we should all know our needs: what our body and mind need to heal, operate and perform, optimally. The amount of free, peer-reviewed, and evidence-based nutritional studies that we have access to today is astonishing. It’ll only cost you time.
Say, google scholar is a good start.

Secondly, every dietary plan is specific – be that on account of hormonal care, dysbiosis, gut inflammation, surgical recovery, poor mental health or chronic illness – your plan should tailor your needs.

And lastly, long-term care does not mean long-term costs, but it does require discipline.

Origin Naturopathy is one of many practices with a one-off cost for long-term dietary support, offering medical-grade herbal extracts, prescriptions and clinical supplements.
If there’s one thing that High School Musical got right aside from Zac Efron’s shampoo, is that we’re all in this together [dad Joke #132].

Really, truly really really, let’s network – there are always people around us who can, most often, help if we only ask.

03/02/2022

I try to adjust my lifestyle, my diet and habits to pursuits that I feel are worth living for.

Climbing demands a high level of focus and health, to which naturopathy, herbalism and nutrition are a perfect tool.

What is it that drives you?

02/02/2022

Let’s talk hormonal balance, chaste tree and science-backed facts!

🌱 Chaste tree is a popular herb used to treat a wide variety of female hormonal issues – symptoms of PMS, PCOS, the regulation of menstrual cycles, infertility and menopause.

While menopause is a natural stage of transition for every woman, its symptoms may have significant adverse effects on physical, mental, social and psychological wellbeing.

So, what DOES the research say about chaste tree extract and hormonal balance?

🌱 Chaste Tree reduces symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

Double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised studies, the ‘gold standard’ in clinical research, have shown that chaste tree extracts provide a significant reduction in premenstrual syndrome symptoms – irritability, stress-induced mood swings, anxiety, headaches, breast fullness, and bloating.

Numerous literary reviews also note that chaste tree can lower levels of prolactin in the blood. Elevated levels of this hormone are often associated with PMS.

🌱 It helps relieve menstrual breast pain.

Gold-standard studies have also shown that chaste tree extract can significantly benefit women experiencing acute mastalgia – a type of breast pain linked to menstruation, and one of the most common PMS symptoms.

In fact, research suggests that chaste tree can be as effective as common drug treatments in reducing breast pain – but with far fewer adverse side effects.

🌱It moderates symptoms of Menopause.

Phytoestrogens are plant-based compounds, that mimic oestrogens in the body.

As a phytoestrogenic remedy, chaste tree extract can alleviate menopausal symptoms of anxiety, somatic complications, hot flushes, progesterone dysregulation, fatigue, and sexual dysfunction.

🌱 It enhances fertility

Chaste tree extract has also been proven to benefit post-menstrual cases, contributing to the treatment of infertility in both men and women, and significantly improving quality of life.

What herbs have you found helpful for balancing your hormones?

28/01/2022

If you haven’t yet made a mullein infusion this summer, here’s your ‘how to’:

Mullein oil can be made with either fresh or dried plant parts, by hot or cold processes.

For a quick and easy asthma relief infusion, and a little something potent to fend off incoming colds, we’ll use fresh flowers, and the ‘double boiler’ method.

🌱 Why its flowers?

Mullein flowers have better bronchodilator and respiratory relaxant effects when compared to its leaves – soothing the muscles in the lungs, and widening the airways for easier breathing.

🌱 Infusion

1) Following the old folk ‘eyeballing’ method – fill the smaller of two pots halfway with fresh mullein flowers, and pour-in room-temperature carrier oil (i.e. organic extra virgin olive) until the flowers are covered by about 1 inch.
Eyeball it.

2) Fill a quarter of the larger pot with water, and bring it to boil. Place the smaller pot inside the larger, allowing the oil and herb to heat up gradually. Make sure the water from the larger pot does not overflow.

3) Gently mix the infusion as it simmers, getting rid of any air bubbles. This process usually takes me an hour, mixing every 10 or 15 minutes. If you have a thermometer, keep the oil temperature around 120°F or 50°C.

🌱 Extraction & storage:

Line a wire strainer with a couple layers of cheese cloth, or place the cloth in a funnel, over a sterilized glass jar. With clean hands, squeeze out as much of the oil as possible, compost the flowers, and place your jar in a cool, dark spot overnight.

On the following morning, use a finer filter (i.e. unbleached coffee filter) to remove any herb sediment which may have settled on the bottom of the jar, and store the oil back in a cool, dark spot – this time in a dark-coloured glass jar.

Adding a couple drops of vitamin E oil to your infusion will slow down the oxidation process, giving it a longer shelf-life.

🌱 Why mullein?

Because of its remarkable respiratory tract benefits as an anti-microbial and mucus membrane tonic — an especially useful herb for dry, hoarse, hacking coughs.

18/01/2022

We all know the saying ‘make sure to eat a rainbow’ — but do we know why?

As a rule of thumb, eat:

Reds for inflammation.
Orange for hormonal health.
Yellows for digestion.
Blues and purples for your brain.
Greens for your heart.

And yes! You’d be right in saying that most colours share their benefits.

Reds also help with immunity, blues and purples have potent antioxidants, yellow fosters a healthy gut, and green helps your circulation.

Nature’s fabulous like that.
So, make sure to eat a rainbow!

Here’s what our garden shared with us :).

16/01/2022

What does current research say about Ginkgo Biloba?

Well, for one, it argues that ginkgo has multiple applications within our nervous, cognitive and cardiovascular systems.

Let’s take a look at how:

Most people familiar with ginkgo know of its benefit in the treatment of anxiety, poor concentration and mental performance; PMS, impaired memory, symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease, and even cognitive decline associated with aging.

While ginkgo is (rightly) advertised as a potent nootropic (brain boost), adaptogen (stress resistance), anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) and neuroprotective herb – all of which are phenomenal actions for cognitive and nervous health – we don’t hear too much of its circulatory (blood circulation), anti-inflammatory or antioxidant benefits.

Here’s where it gets interesting – as a circulatory stimulant, ginkgo promotes the dilation of our blood vessels – they get a little wider.

‘So what?’

Weeelll, wider blood vessels mean more blood flow, both to peripheral areas (i.e. arms, hands, legs, feet), and the brain. More blood means more oxygen, more oxygen means better performance.

Simple right?

If we do want to get a little technical, we can blame the high levels of flavonoids, terpenoids, quercetin, ginkgolides, proanthocyanidins, organic acids, and kaempferol for ginkgo’s brilliant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and circulatory benefits.

The next time a little brain fog kicks in, and you can’t find your keys or your darn face-mask (guilty, weekly) have a look at that little yellow note on your fridge that says “Ginkgo helps”.

And stare at it until it sinks in.

15/01/2022

We’re back! And 2022 brought with it a wonderful surprise!

After a well-needed break, Origin’s at full steam ahead! Now with a new family member, Moby 🥰.

Our stocks are again filled to the brim! With almost 100 different practitioner-grade herbal extracts, and dozens of prescriptions for cognitive, hormonal, digestive and musculoskeletal health!

This is going to be a phenomenal year! A lot of hard work to come, but a phenomenal year!

14/12/2021

Can you believe it?
The use of valerian as a medicinal extract was first recorded around 400 BC…

A little down the line, ‘Galen of Pergamon’, a Greek physician, surgeon and philosopher, documented the use of valerian for the treatment of insomnia, almost 2000 years ago!

Today, a large number of clinical studies support the claim that valerian is able to improve the quality of our sleep, while reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression without any significant adverse side-effects.

Yet, If you read through academic journals documenting the sleep-promoting and ‘anti-anxiety’ (anxiolytic) actions of valerian, you will find some inconsistencies.

🌱 And why is that?

Well, reviews conducted in the past 3 decades note that inconsistent results were not due to valerian’s lack of therapeutic strength, but rather, due to a lack in ‘standardised’ herbal samples across the board.

So the extracts tested were of different grades, with different methods of extraction, production and storage – which meant samples had different shelf-lives, different potencies and, surprise surprise, different test results.

🌱 What can you take from this?

While we know that sleep hygiene is incredibly multi-faceted – it’s impacted by stress, psychological health, our diet, our environment, lack of exercise and so on – you can at least rest assured that a practitioner-grade valerian extract will, IN FACT, benefit your ‘sleep hygiene’ and support your mental and physical well-being.

I love the combination of valerian, zizyphus, withania and St. John’s wort, it’s doing me wonders.

If you’d like to find out more about the practitioner-grade extracts we have in stock, including one’s listed above, feel free to get in touch, through here or our website ☺️.

Link in bio 👆.

11/12/2021

Doxycycline, tetracycline, erythromycin, azithromycin, benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid…

The list goes on.

Have you given practitioner-grade herbal treatments a try?

Here are 5 extensively researched options to consider:

🌱 Chamomile is one of the most ancient medicinal herbs known to mankind.

Clinical studies note that, when applied topically (i.e., creams or lotions) chamomile shows outstanding regenerative and skin-healing properties, and a much more soothing effect than traditional hydrocortisone creams.

🌱 While rosemary is traditionally used to alleviate muscle pain, boost the immune system and promote hair growth, studies have shown that it can significantly suppress the growth of acne-causing bacteria.

🌱 Horsetail is very high in ‘silica’ and other nutrients that encourage the production of collagen, which improves skin strength, regeneration and elasticity.

This herb also packs a potent anti-microbial and antioxidant punch, preventing the spread of acne bacteria, and reducing skin cell damage.

🌱 A simple but important fact: acne is caused by a bacterium called ‘P. acnes’.

Also a FACT: several clinical studies have confirmed that Echinacea extract was able to, quite simply, kill that bacterium.

Herbal medicine 4, acne 0.

🌱 When it comes to making herbal formulas, I gravitate towards the use of extracts with a good amount of clinical trials backing up their therapeutic claims (preferably double-blind, randomized, controlled trials).

Andrographis, “the king of bitters”, has proven to be quite the success, actively fighting off acne-causing bacteria and reducing skin inflammation. Not surprising really, given its powerful anti-oxidant, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial therapeutic actions.

And remember! Quality matters!

Origin sources its prescription-grade herbal extracts from the most trusted suppliers in the business.

Get in touch if you’d like to know more about our products & services ☺️.

Website in bio 👆.

Monday	09:00 - 18:00
Tuesday	09:00 - 18:00
Wednesday	09:00 - 18:00
Thursday	09:00 - 18:00
Friday	09:00 - 17:00

Origin Naturopathy

20/09/2023

19/03/2022

05/02/2022

03/02/2022

02/02/2022

28/01/2022

18/01/2022

16/01/2022

15/01/2022

14/12/2021

11/12/2021

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