This is becoming more and more challenging with increasing numbers of blood tests being taken off District Health Board subsidised testing lists.  This not only applies to essential nutrients such as vitamin D but also to basic markers of health such as some thyroid function tests. There are many essential elements that GP’s cannot test…

If you are healthy, on no medications, eat really well, and live an optimal life with no stressors (including environmental stressors) you might achieve government RDI’s (recommended daily intakes) for nutrients.  However, RDI’s are only designed to prevent nutritional deficiencies, not to ensure optimal health.  What’s more, with many studies showing that many people don’t…

  Last week I discussed why I believe nutritional supplements can be helpful in certain patients.  Almost as important as the actual supplement taken is the quality and storage of  supplements and is the topic of todays opinion piece. I can’t recommend any specific brands, for a variety of reasons but none more important than…

  One of the most common questions I am asked is-are supplements useful?  Reflecting on last weeks’ column, provides us with one of the reasons why I and my Integrative Medicine colleagues feel they are often helpful.  The wild foods we were evolutionarily designed to eat, contained more ‘good’ fats, vitamins, and minerals.  The pre-industrial…

As mentioned last week the ingredients label of most processed foods reveals a Frankenstein-like ‘chemistry experiment’.  Whilst emulsifiers are my least favourite ‘ingredient’ aka chemical ‘food-like substance’ there are plenty of strong contenders for this dubious position.  Most are deficient in nutritional value and the ones that do add very little with their risks outweighing…