If I had to pick ONE thing that improved my personal gut health the most, I would say it was my gut microbiome map results and the recommended treatment and lifestyle changes that followed. Dr Paul Froomes is a leading gastroenterologist in the field of gut microbiome map testing, and is the founder of Australia's first ever medical microbiome clinic. Today Paul explains what on earth a gut microbiome map is, what a microbiome map can teach us about our gut (and broader) health, and why this map is so important in treating not only our current symptoms of concern but also in preventing future health issues for us!

Ever wondered what is the point of going to therapy? If it actually even works? What to expect if you do go? How therapy can improve gut health? And how on earth to find the right therapist?! 

Well, today I’m joined by PACFA-registered counsellour and psychotherapist Anastasia Auld, who passionately and articulately answers these questions. Anastasia offers thoughtful insight into how therapy can change your relationship with yourself and those around you, how to navigate fears around attending therapy and how to trust your instincts in the process of finding the right therapist.

Wait, so if I just lay down, with tiny needles stuck in me, my stomach will feel better? Surely it can’t be that easy?!

Clearly acupuncture has been around for a long time, but the benefits of acupuncture for stress and gut pain are new to me. Today I was lucky enough to speak with Dr Mathew Young who articulately answers all my questions about how acupuncture works, why it works and what it can help with, including gut issues of course!

A patient on life support…all life saving options exhausted…a fecal transplant is trialed….he wakes up! The power of the gut microbiome is like magic, but it is real.

Today gastroenterologist Dr Froomes talks us through how he first discovered the gut microbiome, how it impacts other parts of our body, and why he has devoted his life to it.

Perhaps you’re noticing the way your mind impacts your body (particularly your gut!) and you’re wanting to get some more help with your state of mind.

In Australia, it can be really confusing to know where to start when it comes to trying to improve your mental health - do you get a mental health diagnosis? Do you take medication or try psychotherapy? If medication (such as an SSRI) helps, does that mean you had a chemical imbalance in your brain? What if medication doesn’t work, what does that mean about your brain?

Dr Paul Denborough is here to shed light on these kinds of questions today. He is a psychiatrist with over 20 years of clinical experience and is co-founder of the exciting new mental health awareness campaign titled the ‘Not Broken Project’ with the University of Adelaide.

Have you ever wanted to really understand meditation? From someone who actually gets it? Christian O’Toole is a very experienced and skilled meditation teacher, and it was a joy to interview him today. He is here to answer most (if not all) of the questions you’ve probably had about meditation, like what’s the point? How do I start? What’s important to keep in mind when I am meditating? What should I avoid? And amongst all this, both Christian and I share a bit about our journey to meditation too. 

Today we welcome back special guest Ash Bott, who is a clinical nutritionist specialising in gut and hormonal health. Ash is here today to help us understand what on earth actually happens in our body when we notice that ‘butterflies in the tummy’ feeling? In other words, what goes on physically in our gut when we feel stress? 

I had so many questions for Paul, we had to do a Part 2!

Today we dive further into understanding how our modern Western lives impact our gut health. We touch on the way that our food and our stress levels can create what’s called ‘gut dysbiosis’, leading to tummy symptoms and even other health conditions you wouldn’t expect!  No need to panic though, there's plenty we can do to overcome gut dysbiosis and prevent it happening to us again in the future.

Spoiler…our everyday Western diets are messing with our gut health, but why!? How?! In today’s episode Dr Paul Froomes breaks this down for us, makes it make sense and offers some helpful advice as to our next steps in taking better care of our gut health.

In today’s episode I am so excited to be interviewing Ash Bott from Girl Gut Nutrition. Ash is a clinical nutritionist specialising in gut and hormonal health, and she is here to help us start to understand what the *&%! is the gut microbiome?!

Drawing on beautiful imagery and analogies, Ash opens our minds to the wild world of the gut microbiome, what it is and how it links to the state of our gut health as well as our broader whole body health.