Wellness with Jacqui

Wellness with Jacqui I help ladies struggling with hormone health issues get to the root cause of their symptoms.

Motherhood has been the most rewarding and most demanding time of my life. It has stretched to my limits – physically, m...
08/07/2024

Motherhood has been the most rewarding and most demanding time of my life. It has stretched to my limits – physically, mentally, emotionally. I think all moms know that feeling when it all feels too much. Like you can’t possibly cope. How are you supposed to keep it all together?

The one thing I know I can always rely on to help keep me grounded, to centre me, to bring back a sense of calm steadiness: is my nutrition.

In all the advice out there to help mom’s cope, I rarely hear nutrition being spoken about in terms of its ability to gather and stabilize you. And when the craziness of motherhood overwhelms you, prioritising nutrition often takes a back seat.

For us to stay calm, organise our thoughts and gather ourselves in the face of challenges, we need sufficient cellular energy, or ATP. A lack of sufficient ATP causes the body to compensate by producing more adrenal hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. This makes it difficult for us to focus and remain calm. For the body to create ATP it needs nutrients! Lots of them. Undereating is a sure-fire way to have you living on-edge, unregulated and overwhelmed.

Dysregulated blood sugar amplifies every stressor. Every mom knows that her baby feeds off her energy. A frantic mom leads to an agitated baby. Eating a well-balanced meal on a regular, consistent basis leads to a grounded presence where challenges aren’t so overwhelming.

That overstimulated feeling mom’s get when the slightest noise triggers them – my guess is nutrient deficiencies are a major contributor. Having a magnesium deficiency exasperates your reaction to stressors. We need adequate vitamin B6 to create GABA (calming neurotransmitter). Zinc acts to normalise cortisol levels and helps neurotransmitters to work effectively. I could go on. Point is if we are feeling on-edge and on the verge of rage/tears all the time – it’s worth looking into your nutritional status.

So, fuelling your body well during motherhood not only helps you replenish your own body, but will also have an effect on your children. A well-fed mum is the backbone of the family – a source of strength and stability in their life. Prioritise your nourishment mammas!

Does this sound familiar⤵️? You read on an online health forum that milk thistle cured someone’s eczema in 3 days so you...
02/07/2024

Does this sound familiar⤵️?

You read on an online health forum that milk thistle cured someone’s eczema in 3 days so you head out to buy some. A week later no changes and the milk thistle is now another causality in your supplement graveyard.

You read an IG post about how Chasteberry can regulate your period. You hop on the bandwagon but 5 months later you’re clearing out your supplement box wondering what on earth Chasteberry is.

Most people have a supplement graveyard (I’m guilty too!) because they are grasping at straws when it comes to their health. I’m all for doing research on your symptoms and I’m not opposed to supplements when used strategically.

The problem comes when you don’t take the time to actually tune into your body and get curious about how your health is affected by your environment and habits. Most symptoms go through cycles of flairing up and taming down. Journalling about your health is going to provide much more valuable information about what is contributing than any online forum can.

And then when you do decide to add in some supportive supplements, journalling on any changes you notice will help you actually understand if it’s helping.

In our course, Coming Home To Yourself, gives an amazing lesson on the benefits of journalling about your health and some helpful prompts to help you get started. Our course is designed to help you understand your body better and really tune into its needs. Head over to the link in my bio to learn more.

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I’ve been intrigued with medicinal mushrooms for a while and after having experimented with various kinds, the benefit I...
18/06/2024

I’ve been intrigued with medicinal mushrooms for a while and after having experimented with various kinds, the benefit I find most helpful for myself is the anti-histamine (or rather mast-cell stabilising) effect of chaga and reishi mushrooms.

I, like many women, tend to experience high histamine symptoms when estrogen peaks in my cycle. It’s important to investigate potential underlying factors contributing to excess estrogen and histamine.

But I do think it’s helpful to also make use of some natural antihistamines so that we can help tame the vicious cycle of high histamine triggering a release of more estrogen which in turn leads to more histamine release, and so on.

Chaga and reishi have both been shown to stabilise mast cells which prevents release of more histamine. I like chaga in the mornings since it’s more energising and reishi in the afternoons since it’s more calming.

I love the mushroom tinctures that I order from .

Have you used medicinal mushrooms? What benefits have you seen? Let me know in the comments

There is a large body of research showing that not only does lactoferrin perform better than iron supplements in terms o...
11/03/2024

There is a large body of research showing that not only does lactoferrin perform better than iron supplements in terms of regulating iron values during pregnancy, but has fewer side effects and can help prevent other pregnancy-related conditions (PMID: 36929803)

Lactoferrin is an iron-binding protein found in human and cows milk (especially high in colostrum) that plays a major role in maintaining iron homeostasis throughout the body. It acts more like a regulator of iron, as opposed to a direct iron supplement.

Pregnant women are often recommend an iron supplement and while iron plays an important role during pregnancy, supplementing iron comes with potential negative consequences.

“Gastrointestinal distress is due to unabsorbed iron from the supplements that may promote oxidative stress, subclinical inflammation and undesirable shift in gut microbiome profile. Exacerbation of oxidative stress and inflammatory states in pregnancy, due to application of elemental iron, especially when given in high doses (orally or parenterally), may also increase risk of serious systemic events such as premature delivery, preeclampsia, glucose intolerance/gestational diabetes, low birth weight and cognitive defects in newborns” - PMID: 34440102

With lactoferrin, the iron is bound directly to the protein which helps regulate its passage from the GI system to the blood. This helps prevent unabsorbed iron in the gut leading to to GI issues and side effects like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation.

Researchers speculate that lactoferrin can help reduce the negative effects of excess iron by binding to iron, balancing the iron concentrations in its surroundings, modulating the immune system, and exerting antibacterial properties to inhibit overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria.

If you are recommended an iron supplement during pregnancy, consider taking to your healthcare provider about a lactoferrin supplement (or bovine colostrum) instead. Aim to get iron through wholefood sources which come with iron’s cofactor nutrients - necessary for the absorption and utilisation of iron.

I’ve worked with many breastfeeding mums before and my main goal has always been to make sure they are eating enough to ...
31/01/2024

I’ve worked with many breastfeeding mums before and my main goal has always been to make sure they are eating enough to meet the high caloric requirements of breastfeeding.

But sheesh until I became a mom I definitely underestimated how hard this can be when all of your time and energy goes towards taking care of your little one.

So these are things I’m doing to meet my nutritional demands while breastfeeding that are super easy and most can be eaten with one hand😋

* Milk. Lots of it. Milk is a perfect food. It has all three macronutrients, high in micronutrients and is just easy to consume.
* Adrenal cocktails. 2 daily. I order various juices from for these. This keeps me well hydrated with adequate electrolytes.
* Boiled eggs. 3 daily. Eggs are a nutritional powerhouse and boiling allows me to make enough for a few days in advance.
* Gelatin gummies. So easy to make and snack on. Providing that much needed glycine.
* Dinner is almost always grilled meat and roasted root veg. Easy and minimal clean up. We just cycle through different types of meat and veg. And always make enough for lunch leftovers.
* Canned mussels. Don’t love them but they are very nutrient dense and high in taurine (breastmilk is very high in taurine)
* Snacks are usually fruit with cheese or yoghurt. And honey. Or banana oat muffins with lots of butter (I make a double batch of these at a time and freeze them)

Some wholefood supplements I use to make sure I’m meeting my micronutrient requirements:

* Dessicated beef organs. I don’t actually mind eating organ meat so would normally cook it. But if there’s no time and I feel like I need it I’ll take this.
* Bovine colostrum powder. I started taking this in pregnancy (for the high lactoferrin content to regulate my iron levels) and felt so good on it so have continued to take it.

Breastfeeding mamas, share your tips for eating enough🙏🏼⬇️

The luteal phase is often synonymous with women getting snappy, irritable and anxious. But these symptoms may be because...
25/01/2024

The luteal phase is often synonymous with women getting snappy, irritable and anxious. But these symptoms may be because you don’t make enough progesterone.

Progesterone has amazing calming and soothing effects on the body. Because with higher progesterone levels, GABA function increases.

When progesterone levels are good, the luteal phase can be a pretty blissful place. A great opportunity to take some time out for yourself, relax, and reflect. It’s a natural winding time down.

However when we don’t make enough progesterone, estrogen is unopposed which can lead to excitatory effects on the nervous system. When in excess, this can leave us feeling irritable and anxious.

Although these symptoms are common, they aren’t a given and you shouldn’t have to suffer with them. It’s a sign to get those progesterone levels up so that you can experience the calm of the luteal phase.

We cover holistic ways to restore your progesterone levels in our course: Coming home to yourself, created by , and myself.


The Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) so often gets disregarded by healthcare professionals because there’s an assumption...
15/01/2024

The Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) so often gets disregarded by healthcare professionals because there’s an assumption that it’s too complicated, or ineffective, or that women won’t practice it properly.

While using FAM certainly does involve taking dedicated responsibility, in my experience women ARE willing to put in that effort to learn and practice the method properly. And once the method is learned, most women find that it is not at all complicated or time consuming.

If a healthcare professional is pooh-pooh’ing the method and not discussing it as a viable option when explaining different methods of birth control for their clients, this does women a huge disservice.

I understand that different forms of birth control may be more appropriate than others for a particular women in her particular scenario. And I’m not saying FAM is necessarily the better option. But I would like to see more proper education about it at least being offered to women.

There is no one better I know who can explain understanding your cycle and fertile window better than . Check out our course that we created together with (link in bio) that is launching soon which covers cycle tracking in depth!


Symptoms are an incredibly important way of our body telling us that something is not right. Hormonal symptoms like acne...
08/01/2024

Symptoms are an incredibly important way of our body telling us that something is not right. Hormonal symptoms like acne, irregular periods, painful periods and PMS are not random! Your body is trying to communicate a deeper issue with you. This is your opportunity to ask ‘What does my body need from me?’ and ‘How can I give my body the support it needs?’.

Healthy hormone levels require enough energy and certain key nutrients to occur. This won’t happen if your body is depleted due to excessive exercise, calorie restriction, or nutrient deficiencies. Constant exposure to environmental toxins can also be a major stressor for the body and has been shown to influence reproductive health.

Ladies are often prescribed the pill to ‘fix’ these symptoms and ‘regulate’ the cycle. Not only does this prevent us from figuring out the root causes, it also comes with many known side effects, such as increased risk of breast cancer, pill induced nutrient deficiencies, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and increased risk of depression.

It may seem tempting to go for quick-fixes as they often provide immediate relief. But this relief is usually temporary and can make things worse over time. Let’s start changing our mindset from short-term fixes to long term investment in health. Focus on daily habits to improve your nutrition, stress, environment and relationships.

Confused about how to implement these root cause approaches? That’s exactly why , and I developed our course: ‘Coming home to yourself’. See the link in my bio to find out more!

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