Martin Harris: Nutrition Medicine

Winter veg… cabbage! It doesn’t have to be boiled, bland and boring!
What are your favourite cabbage recipes?

Hormone Replacement Therapy for Men

I’m nearly 60 years old. So the subject of topping up your hormones is dear to my heart (literally because good hormones are good for heart health).

Men’s HTT is a little less common than womens’. However, there is a condition called “Grumpy Old Man Syndrome” that is related to declining hormone levels in men. The low hormone levels can cause men to become grumpy, impotent, and to sweat a lot (not the kind of thing I aspire too!). Testosterone supplementation is either via oral capsules, creams to apply to the skin, or more commonly IM injections every 1 to 3 months.
Like women, men should take an aromatase inhibitor to stop their body turning testosterone into estrogen.

Lifestyle:
Hormones are very powerful and can mask all sorts of problems. A healthy lifestyle (diet, exercise and stress) should be optimized before stampeding to the hormones. Supplemental magnesium, fish oils and DIM would be on my list of healthy hormone recommendations. Pop in and chat to our team about healthy hormones.

nutritionmedicine

Hormone Replacement Therapy for Women

Women’s Hormone Top-up Therapy (HTT) has really come out from behind the curtains in the last few years. While previously it was thought that the risks (such as cancer) far outweigh the benefits, nowadays most doctors would say the opposite. Plus, there are strategies to reduce the risk of hormone-dependent cancers including taking aromatase inhibitors like DIM which comes from broccoli.

The risks are lowest if body-identical hormones are used. In the past, we had to get these specially made and they were expensive. Nowadays, estrogen patches and Utrogestan (progesterone) capsules that are available at pharmacies are body-identical, and they are fully funded.

The benefits of topping up your hormones through the menopause include reduced menopausal symptoms like hot flushes, but also higher bone density, better heart health, clearer thinking and mood, and improved libido.

I have had some women who have asked me if progesterone causes weight gain. The answer seems to be no. A systematic literature review has shown estrogens combined with micronized progesterone (which is the most common form of HTT for women in NZ) either has no effect on weight or causes a slight reduction in weight.

Come and have a chat with us at Massey or Torbay Unichem pharmacy about your blood test results.

Frozen prawns are one of the best tips for adding yummy protein to your meals. They may seem expensive but a 1kg bag can make 4-5 meals. Go for the good quality uncooked ones with all of the shell removed. Add them to stir fries, salad, pizzas, pasta, curries… yum!

The last month of winter is here, the mornings are lighter, the sun is shining (at this moment anyway!). Time to break out of that winter hibernation and get out in the crisp fresh air!

It’s never too late to start enjoying green juices and smoothies!

Did you know that we train pharmacists across NZ in the art and science of Nutrition Medicine?

Broccoli is once again readily available in the shops, which is great news as it’s one of our favourite vegetables here at Nutrition Medicine. Broccoli is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Antioxidants can help prevent the development of various conditions.

Some scientists have suggested that cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli may play a role in “green chemoprevention,” in which people use either the whole plant or extracts from it to help prevent cancer.

Eat it raw, in a stir fry, or lightly steamed in a salad.

Stir-fries are a wonderful way to prepare winter veges. Use good fats like mild taste olive oil or coconut oil and organic soya sauce. Make sure you add protein - prawns, tofu, or nuts are great. Yum!

nutritionmedicine

It’s hard to get outside in this winter weather, but another way to get the kids off the screens is to invite them into the kitchen with you! Prepare a meal together, bake a favourite treat, or just learn about (and have some fun with) the amazing properties of vegetables :)

Come in and talk to us about what’s going on in your health and your life!

What are you making for dinner tonight?

Why not try a new recipe - and feel free to take a photo of your creation and inspire us with your home-cooked deliciousness!

Lunch idea! Cook some pasta made from pulses (chickpeas/lentils/beans etc - available in supermarkets). Stir through some of your favourite seasonal veg, nuts, tuna, cheese etc, and sone olive oil. Easy and yummy!

Happy winter solstice - and here’s to brighter days ahead! Go gently with yourself as the year turns toward the light…

Vegetables are scarce and expensive at the moment, but silverbeet and rainbow chard are plentiful and available. This wonderful leafy green is packed full of goodness and can be eaten raw in salads or added to just about any cooked dish. We like to chop up a bed of it raw in a bowl and serve it with something hot on top - like curry, pasta, dhal or fish. Yum!

Calm the Kids… Calm the whole Family (part two)

Continuing from our story last Friday… Mum asked us for alternatives. We recommended she talk to the doctor about a switch to melatonin, the natural sleep hormone, which the doctor happily prescribed. It worked fine to get him to sleep, but he still woke up in the middle of the night, usually because of nightmares. Because he was so scared from the nightmares, he took a long time to settle.

After a little more investigation, we discovered he was an anxious child even during the day. So we recommended Chamomile in the form of Kiwiherb Kids Calm. The trick with chamomile is that it must be used 4 times a day to help with sleep. This is because it works by calming the mind throughout the day so that by night time, the calm child can easily sleep.

After 3 days, Mum reported that the child was going to sleep easily, staying asleep all night, and was much less anxious during the day. BOOM! Family stress gone. Chamomile works very well to calm babies and children. It can also calm the tummy, so is great for colicky babies. It can be safely used from birth too. I also recommend it for teething.

Calm the Kids … Calm the Whole Family (Part 1)

Let me paint you a picture of a stressed family we helped recently. Their two year-old was not sleeping well at night. They were sitting with him for hours to get him off to sleep, which was tiring. But then he was waking in the early hours of the morning. To complicate matters, Mum was pregnant with their second child. You can imagine how stressed this made her feel. She wanted to get up to the child so her husband could get a good night sleep for work. But being pregnant she was very tired. It often seems to be more stressful with the first child. With the first child you are extra anxious to do things right. Plus you don’t have the perspective of hindsight that these phases pass.
To help them through this tricky situation, the doctor kindly prescribed some promethazine (which is an antihistamine that causes sleepiness as a side effect). This worked well to get the child off to sleep. However, because of possible long term side effects they didn’t want to keep him on this for long. But whenever they didn’t use promethazine, the family had a sleepless night. They felt trapped.

Stay tuned next week for Part 2 :)

Come in to Torbay or Massey Unichem and talk to us about Martin’s designer health packs.

Need we say more? :)

Yes, the cost of vegetables has gone up, a LOT. But don’t eat less of them!
Time to start growing more of your own…?

He’s not just about health and nutrition medicine. Martin also loves to talk about surfing…

We believe that all Health practitioners need to care this much about their customers.

What else could you add to this...?

Have you ever tried yoga? If not, grab a buddy and get along to a class. There’s a reason why millions of people practice yoga! It might just change your life.

Autumn is definitely in the air! The evenings are darker but there’s still plenty of opportunity to get into nature. Now is a great time for morning walks or weekend afternoon adventures, without having to worry about the heat of summer. Enjoy!

Eggs don’t have to be boring! There are so many ways you can enjoy them. Eggs are a complete protein source, one of the only non-meat complete proteins. They also contain good fats and other nutrients, and virtually no carbohydrates - perfect if you want to feel satisfied without carb-loading. Feel free to share your fave ways to eat eggs with us too :)

Come in and talk to our teams at Massey and Torbay Unichem Pharmacies.
They’re wonderful listeners :)

How’s this for sensational toast?

Share your crazy and wonderful toast topping faves here!