Dr Libby Weaver - Dr Libby

Why is my skin so dull?

December 13, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

You probably look in the mirror every day—but are you really seeing what’s going on?

Our outer reflection tells us a story about what is happening inside our body. This is because the quality of our skin, hair and nails, what I like to call our “beauty bits”, is related to the health and function of a number of body systems, including the digestive system, liver and the adrenal glands. Here are a few things dull skin could be trying to tell you about what’s happening on the inside.

A need for more nutrients

Nothing on this planet can replace a nourishing way of eating, one that focuses on providing our body with the nutrients it needs to thrive. If your skin is looking dull, tired or is ageing rapidly, try focusing on whole, real foods with an emphasis on colourful plants. Not only will this load your body full of antioxidants that the skin loves, it will also fuel the biochemical processes in your body that keep you alive and give you energy and vitality.

The vitamins that are particularly good for the skin are vitamins A, C and E. They all help improve the overall health of our skin, and they appear widely throughout real food. Vitamins C and E help to protect the skin against premature ageing by reducing the damage caused by free radicals, which are generated by many things, including pollutants from many sources – that might be in what we eat, drink, inhale and/or absorb. Vitamin C is also required for the production of collagen, a protein important for skin structure. Good food sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits, kiwifruit, capsicum and Brassica family vegetables, while vitamin E is found in nuts, seeds and eggs yolks.

When vitamin A intake is inadequate, you are likely to see some skin-related symptoms, such as a dry, flaky complexion and/or scalp, because vitamin A plays a key role in normal structure and turnover of our cells. Orange vegetables are rich in beta-carotene, which your body can convert to vitamin A, although consuming some vitamin A itself can a range of benefits, including some related to the skin. Zinc is a mineral your skin loves and needs. It is particularly important if you have acne or if you notice wounds are slow to heal or you scar easily. Eaten in food or taken as a supplement, zinc promotes clear skin by helping to regulate oil production, which may help to prevent acne. It is also important for healing the skin, including any existing acne lesions. Food sources of zinc include oysters (from clean, uncontaminated water), red meat (preferably grass-fed, organic), and there is a small amounts in eggs and seeds, particularly sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs)are also rock stars of the skin world. Fats from whole foods help to beautifully nourish your skin. If your skin is dry, and/or is often inflamed with white heads and black heads, you may be lacking EFAs, which are key for the skin’s natural oil barrier. Cracked heels are another sign of an EFA deficiency. EFAs of the omega 3 type are found in oily fish, flaxseeds and walnuts, while omega 6 EFAs are found in evening primrose oil, borage oil and whole blackcurrants.

Stress needs to be addressed

Stress can affect our appearance in a number of ways, whether through our facial expressions, a dull or tired look to the skin, breakouts, or an exacerbation of an inflammatory skin condition. Because stress hormones communicate to your body that your life is in danger, your body’s primary focus will be on the processes that are essential to your survival, rather than non-essential processes such as the ‘beauty bits’ –keeping your skin, hair and nails in top shape.

Dehydration

So much that is related to our health is truly dependent on the quality and quantity of the water we drink. Unintentional chronic dehydration can contribute to pain and inflammation in the body, and it can even be involved in the development of many degenerative diseases. Helping your body prevent such ills by ensuring great-quality water intake on a regular basis is a crucial step with any health and/or beauty focus. Water plays an enormous role in keeping the moisture content of our skin at a lovely high level. If you are not consuming around 2 litres of water per day, try increasing your intake of this essential hydrator and see if that makes a difference to the vibrancy of your skin.

Love your liver

Most people understand that smoking, tanning beds and excessive sun bathing all age the skin prematurely but have you also considered how your liver health impacts on your shine? When it comes to every aspect of our health, the liver packs a mighty punch. It is one of the big guns when it comes to your energy, vitality and hormonal balance, as well as to the clarity of your skin and eyes. In conjunction with the gallbladder, the liver works endlessly to help us excrete fatty substances that the body no longer needs, including old hormones, pesticides and other potentially problematic substances we are exposed to in our daily lives. For vibrant, radiant skin, we want a happy liver that is working efficiently. Any potentially harmful substance that we put on our skin (such as some of the synthetic substances in conventional skincare products), has to go via the liver to be detoxified before it can be excreted. There are also numerous substances we can consume that add to its load. I lovingly call these substances ‘liver loaders’ and they include alcohol, trans fats, refined sugars and synthetic substances such as those found in pesticides, herbicides and some ultra-processed foods. Depending on our lifestyle choices, our liver can have quite a busy job! Considering your current consumption of or exposure to those substances and reducing your intake of them is a wonderful step toward radiant skin.

7 reasons you are tired all the time

December 13, 2022December 12, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

Each of us comes into this world endowed with a fundamental ‘energy’. This energy operates as a kind of bank account and supplies us with the power to function, grow, heal and regenerate ourselves daily.

We are designed, however, to supplement this original endowment of energy with what we generate from eating, drinking, breathing, sleeping, working, playing, learning and interacting (relationships). Each day we make withdrawals and deposits; we invest or deplete. And when the balance of the scales tips in the direction of us using more than we put back in, we begin to live in the red, with the potential of falling further and further behind.

To keep the currency analogy going, we are then forced to dip into our savings. When we continuously withdraw from our savings account, alarm bells can begin to sound, telling us that our survival is being challenged. These alarms present to us as symptoms in the body, often of the type that don’t initially lead us to stay home from work … so we soldier on and often do nothing about them. Or the medicating—rather than the resolving—of these symptoms begins.

For example, if you get a headache every afternoon at 3pm, it is not a deficiency of painkillers that has led to the headache, yet many people treat the headache as if it is due to such a deficiency. Some of the symptoms of dipping into our energy savings accounts include fatigue, low mood, anxious feelings, apathy, unrefreshed sleep or insomnia, brain fog, lowered resistance to infections, stiffness, digestive system problems, “unexplained” changes in body fat levels, and signs of rapid ageing. These are just some of the ways our body might choose to let us know that we are physically, mentally and/or emotionally exhausted. So, what are some common factors that may lead us to live in the red when it comes to our energy and what can we do about them?

1. Stress hormones

Whether from the overconsumption of caffeine or living in a way that is perceived to be full of pressure and urgency, many people are churning out stress hormones on a daily basis. Adrenaline, our short term stress hormone, affects our blood sugar levels, which can cause spikes and drops in our energy and have us hunting for quick sources of energy such as more caffeine or ultra-processed carbohydrate-rich foods full of sugar (thus continuing the cycle of living off stimulants). If stress continues, the body may begin to produce more of your long term stress hormone cortisol and when cortisol levels fall outside their ideal range, it can wreak havoc on our energy. If you feel as though stress could be behind your fatigue, take steps towards calming down your nervous system. You may like to embrace a restorative practice, commit to regular diaphgramatic breathing, explore your emotional landscape and consider your perceptions of pressure and urgency.

2. “Leaky” gut

In a healthy gut, only the tiny nutrients (vitamins and minerals) diffuse (move) or are transported across the gut wall into the blood, and this is the remarkable process through which we are nourished and stay alive. However, the cells that line the gut can come apart, like a row of bricks with gaps between them. This is also how our gut is when we are born. When food travels through a gut with good cell-lining integrity, it can only go straight ahead and only the nutrients are absorbed. However, if it travels through a gut in which the cells have come apart, it may go straight ahead or it may move out of the gut and into the blood. Fragments of food are not intended to enter the blood. Nutrients — the vitamins and minerals from food — are. So, if fragments of food enter the bloodstream, the immune system, which protects you from infection, thinks that the food fragment is a germ and it mounts an immune response against it. This is one way adults develop food sensitivities, and is, I believe, a process that contributes to exhaustion in some people.

3. Insufficient nourishment

There is nothing in the world that can replace a nutritious way of eating. For some, food is either about losing or maintaining a preferred body weight, for others it’s about eating the most convenient thing to squeeze into a busy day. Yet, when we eat in a way that focuses on nourishment, our body thrives. Nourishment means whole, real foods as close as they come to nature. It means prioritising vegetables, particularly leafy greens and feeding our body with the nutrients it needs to drive the millions of biochemical processes in our body (many of which lead to energy).

4. Not enough rest

We can’t fight our biology–our body needs rest. If you’re on the go 24/7, you’re going to find yourself exhausted after a while. If you add to that poor quality sleep, either because you can’t seem to sleep very well or because you don’t prioritise the need for 7-9 hours sleep per night, it’s just going to compound the situation. You might feel like you don’t have enough time to slow down but actually, the act of slowing down helps you to feel as though you have more time – you create a sense of more spaciousness. You will notice a significant difference to your energy if you build sufficient rest time into your routine.

5. Movement

Some people don’t get enough movement in their days while others overdo it. Either scenario can lead to sluggish energy. Our body needs movement or we start to lose our muscles and joints can become stiff and sore. Yet exercise is actually a stress on the body (some of which is eustress) but we can do too much of it. Be guided by how your body feels during and after exercise –if you come away feeling absolutely exhausted, you’ve gone too far. You want to feel energised afterwards. And don’t discount incidental exercise –parking a little further away so you have further to walk, carrying your groceries in a basket rather than a trolley, taking the stairs instead of the lift. It all adds up. Remember also to get up from your desk and walk around at least once an hour for a few minutes. Sitting for long periods of time can also drain our energy.

6. Low iron

Iron deficiency is still the most common nutritional deficiency in the Western world. In Australia and New Zealand, 20 to 30 per cent of women of child-bearing age are iron deficient. There are so many consequences to this and fatigue is just the beginning. Low iron levels can be caused by multiple factors. Poor dietary iron intake, poor absorption due to digestive insufficiencies or too many competing factors blocking the absorption of iron. For example, calcium and iron compete for absorption and calcium always wins, as it is a bigger structure. So if you only eat iron-rich foods at the same meal as calcium-rich foods, then you will absorb very little iron from that meal. Another reason for low iron levels can be blood loss; most commonly from long-term, heavy menstruation. The flipside of this however, is that some people accumulate iron and store too much of it so it is wise to see your GP and have an ‘iron studies’ blood test to know if you are deficient or not.

7. Busy mind

Having too many tabs open in our brain can put a drain on our energy. As can having a perception that everything is urgent and putting immense pressure on ourselves to do it all to the highest standard. If your mind is running at a million miles an hour, your body is likely struggling to keep up. Try to close tabs regularly –this means completing those little tasks that sit in the back of your mind and nag at you. Also explore your perception of pressure and urgency. An inbox overflowing with emails might feel urgent, but in reality, there will be many correspondences in it that don’t require your immediate attention. Look at what you expect yourself to do within a day and ask for support. There are often people just waiting on the sidelines to help us out if we only ask them! Or we can remind ourselves that others won’t think badly of us if we don’t get it all done.

The numerous benefits of slowing down and taking a break

November 29, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

The pace of the modern world seems to demand that we move at a million miles an hour from the moment we crack our eyes open in the morning to the moment we slide into bed at the end of our day. If we look at what life was like even just 75 years ago, we can consider how much the world has changed—and we have attempted to adapt. The trouble is that human evolution cannot keep up with the pace of change and our bodies and brains are still running on ancient wiring.

We cannot fight our biology. The human body is not designed to go at such an intense pace day in day out. If we do not factor in adequate rest and down time—if we do not allow ourselves to stop and take a quality break from it all along the way—the wheels can begin to fall off when it comes to our health at some point in the future. While we are vastly capable, this pace—the unrelenting to-do lists and our perceptions of pressure and urgency—drives troubling biochemical processes in our bodies.

Too many people have lost touch with just how good they’re supposed to feel. They have accepted things like persistent fatigue, digestive challenges, IBS, poor sleep, unexplained weight gain, thyroid challenges, anxiousness, recurring headaches and regular colds and flus as “normal”. For women, you can add monthly menstrual PMS and pain along with debilitating peri-menopausal and menopausal symptoms to the long list as well. All of these symptoms have become common, yet they’re not normal. The constant and relentless production of stress hormones stemming from the pace we push ourselves to live at, is at the heart of so many of these health challenges.

Yet it is not just our health that benefits from slowing down the pace or pausing every so often to take stock of where we are and how we are feeling. It is so easy to get caught up in the day-to-day and find ourselves years down the track feeling unhappy and unfulfilled by life. In The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, the iconic book by palliative carer and inspiring author Bronnie Ware (highly recommend reading it if you haven’t already), the most common regrets are not accumulating more wealth, things or status. They are:

I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life people expected of me.
I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
I wish that I had let myself be happier.

Often it is not until we slow down or take a break that we allow ourselves the opportunity to reflect on what is most important to us. It might be useful to ask yourself: are you really happy to give up your health for your lifestyle? To be so caught up in getting everyone out the door on time that you miss your child’s pure delight from playing with the dog? To be so preoccupied with your work that you don’t make time for things that bring you joy?

It’s important to be honest with yourself about the habits you’ve adopted to help you keep pace with your lifestyle and how they may be impacting on your health and your enjoyment of life. Life, after all, is so much richer when we have energy, good health and more time to enjoy the things that we love—and no one but you can give you these things.

10 ways to incorporate more movement into your day

November 16, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

It’s too easy to spend most waking hours sitting, with studies showing that some people spend an enormous 11 hours per day on their bottoms. Those hours tend to be clocked up working at a desk job, commuting to and from work, watching television, or at the computer. Whatever the reason, research shows that too much sitting isn’t good for health or energy.

Even if you are in the small proportion of people who do the recommended amount of at least 150 minutes of exercise per week (preferably a combination of walking —just being mobile —muscle-building resistance training, stretching and breath-focused restorative practices), you still need to move more regularly throughout the day. In other words, it is the sitting itself —not necessarily a lack of exercise —that adds to the undesirable impact on energy and specific health parameters. We also feel much better when we spend less time sitting. With this in mind, here are 10 suggestions for how you can incorporate more movement into your day.

1. Take the stairs

How often do you take the elevator or the escalator instead of the stairs? While they do get us there faster, elevators and escalators rob us of the opportunity for a little extra movement. Where possible, take the stairs and relish the burn in your thighs knowing it’s helping you to maintain or build vital muscle.

2. Stand at your desk

Set your work desk up as a standing station or invest in a desk that goes between the two so you can do both. If this isn’t an option for you, aim to get up and walk around for a few minutes every hour so you’re not sitting for such long stretches at a time.

3. Park further away

Do you try to get as close to the entry of the shops as possible? Parking further way is a great opportunity to add more incidental movement into your day. Plus, you’ve often got your pick of the parks!

4. Include more stretch

Use your chill out or waiting time to incorporate some stretching into your day. You could stretch while watching television or while waiting for the kettle to boil. It will increase your flexibility while also helping your body to relax – the perfect preparation for bed.

5. Take walking meetings

If you need access to a whiteboard or PowerPoint presentation, meetings are best suited to an office. Yet consider whether you could take others outdoors. Recent research suggests that walking may enhance creative thinking so you may find them more productive than their traditional counterparts.

6. Walk or cycle short distances

Try to avoid driving where you could easily walk or cycle. If you catch the bus or train, consider jumping off one or two stops early and walking home from there.

7. Use a shopping basket instead of a trolley

If you’re going into the shops for a few items, use a basket instead of a trolley. The extra weight will help you to build and maintain muscle mass.

8. Find a type of exercise that you enjoy

Could you take up rollerskating, cycling or surfing? Exercise doesn’t have to mean going to the gym if that doesn’t interest you. Think about other ways you can move that you will want to keep doing. You might also like to think of any gardening, farm work and household chores you do as contributing to your movement. Did you know that how you think about exercise (not just the exercise it itself) also impacts on how it affects you?

9. Meet friends for a walk

Instead of going to the local coffee shop, meet a friend for a walk so that the time spent chatting is also time spent moving.

10. Walk to your colleague’s office

Instead of emailing or calling a colleague, take a quick walk to their office. You will most likely enjoy the short break from your desk and it will often get your query answered much faster.

Does eating organic really make a difference?

November 16, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

I’m often asked whether it is really necessary to choose organic produce. Particularly right now, with the cost of living soaring, it is understandable that many are trying to keep their grocery bills down. It’s true that these kinds of products are more expensive — because the costs of production are so much greater. It stuns and saddens me that we live in a world where the true cost of food and products is not affordable for all. When we choose organic, we not only look after the health of our body systems, biochemical pathways and immune system, but also the health of our family, the health of the soil, and endless ecosystems. Everyone benefits. Let’s explore this further.

Soil quality

In conventional farming practices, soils are used over and over and over again, usually without nutrient-dense replenishment. Every time a crop is grown, it draws the nutrients out of the soil and into itself. The plant uses the nutrients to grow. Then we get the benefits of those nutrients when we eat that food. But if the nutrients in the soil aren’t replaced, or there is no crop rotation, the soils are stripped of their minerals.

From the soil, health and energy are born. The soil contains minerals which we need to live, such as calcium and magnesium. But we can’t eat the soil, so we need a medium that is able to supply us with the Earth’s nutrients. The middlemen are plants – they absorb the nutrients from the soil and make them available to us as food. However, if the soil is deficient in nutrients, then those nutrients are not in the food. So, the quality of the soil where our food is grown plays an enormous role in how we feel, function and look each day.

More nutrients

Farmers periodically saturate their crops with unnatural chemical fertilisers. I refer to them as “unnatural” for many reasons, one of which is that they don’t contain the range of nutrients essential for life. They are primarily made up of three nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. This means that there are more than 10 nutrients missing from any produce grown with these kinds of fertilisers.

Additionally, plants have innate mechanisms designed to help protect themselves from pests. When a plant is left to grow of its own accord and is not sprayed with pesticides, the plant creates substances within itself to help ward off pests. These substances don’t just have the ability to help protect the plant, they also often behave as antioxidants when humans consume them. If the plants are sprayed with pesticides or herbicides, they no longer have to (and don’t) produce these substances that enhance human health and help slow down ageing and degeneration. So, eating organic food is not just about what you miss out on — pesticides — but also what you get — more antioxidants and a greater diversity of nutrients.

Ecosystem health

The industrialisation of food has had a significant impact on both the environment and animal welfare. Conventional farming practices are impacting on soil fertility, certain pesticides have been linked to masses of bee colonies dying out and it’s hard to go a month without hearing about the devastating effects of monoculture crops on all sorts of ecosystems. When you choose organic produce, you are voting with your wallet. You’re communicating to the producers and manufacturers that you want more nutritious, sustainable and ethical products on offer.

Decreasing your synthetic load

Decreasing the synthetic chemical load on your body is another important benefit. Choosing to eat less processed food goes some way toward this, as you start to ingest fewer artificial substances, such as artificial sweeteners, preservatives and other additives. Eating more organically or biodynamically grown food, or simply choosing spray-free options, can play a major role in achieving this.

Maybe cost prohibits you from switching to organic or sustainable products. If this is the case, here are some suggestions for increasing the nutrition in your food.

Mix and match

Any effort to choose organic produce has an impact and sometimes the cost difference is not all that much. Take the time to compare prices and opt for organic when it feels affordable. Another thing to consider is how you eat the food. When you eat a banana, for example, you peel the skin and eat the fruit from inside. An apple, on the other hand, is usually consumed skin and all. So, you may like to use this as a guide to choosing between organic and conventionally farmed produce.

Buy from local farmers markets

Supermarkets have created a vast chasm between us and the food chain. When you cannot speak directly to the farmers, you have no idea how they grew your food. By shopping at farmers markets, not only are you directly supporting the farming industry by cutting out the middle man (who takes a significant cut of the profit), you also have the opportunity to ask them how they grow their food and make informed decisions about what you buy. Plus you get to thank them for their care.

Farmers markets usually have certified organic, organically grown and spray-free produce available too. The certification process contributes to certified organic produce often being more expensive and you may find that the produce grown by farmers who employ organic principles or omit pesticides is more affordable.

Grow your own

Home-grown produce is generally more nutritious, because the time from picking to consumption is significantly reduced, meaning there is minimal nutrient degradation. It also tastes better. How good does a cherry tomato taste picked straight from the vine, compared to one that has been sitting in cold storage for weeks? What about a strawberry? There’s no comparison when it comes to fragrance and flavour.

Plus, gardening is a great way to get outside and include more movement in your day. If you think about the movements you make when you garden, it often includes squatting, walking and pulling which are all functional movement patterns that we need to maintain for great mobility throughout our lives. A little bit of sunshine on the skin is also the best way to get vitamin D which is essential for maintaining bone health and a robust immune system.

Soak produce in water and vinegar

To clean food of both dirt and pesticides at the same time, fill your sink with three parts water to one part vinegar, wash your fruits and vegetables, then rinse them in fresh water, pat them dry and store them for use. Pesticides tend to be fat-soluble, and so general washing to get rid of dirt and germs does not remove them. A little vinegar may help.

The importance of restorative sleep

October 18, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

Sleep is a biological human need—like it or not, we cannot function without it. Studies indicate that even moderate sleep deprivation has a similar impact to being under the influence of alcohol, highlighting the danger of driving while tired. Yet it is more than just our speed and accuracy that diminishes.

Sleep, and the rest and repair it offers the body, is critical to a healthy and energy-infused life. With great sleep, we have improved memory, cognition and better immune function. Sometimes when I talk about immune function, I sense that the importance of this system doesn’t fully register. Yes, this means minimising colds and flus. Yet, your immune function is critical in the prevention of cancer, as well as in the prevention of autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, Graves’ disease, and coeliac disease—all of which are on the rise. Taking great care of your immune system is of immense importance to your long-term health and quality of life, and sleep plays an enormous role in whether or not your immune system is able to function appropriately.

Everything works better with restorative sleep: your digestive system, sex hormone balance, your mood, your skin, and even your thyroid function. Plus, you have improved mood, enhanced physical and emotional resilience, better energy and increased physical endurance. A recent clinical trial found that sleep quality impacts skin function and ageing. If you have poor sleep quality or do not get enough sleep, your skin finds it harder to recover from free radical damage, such as sun exposure and environmental toxins.

Restorative sleep has such a far-reaching impact. You may just think “Oh, I wake up tired most of the time, but isn’t that normal?” No: it is common, but it is not normal. Many people blame age for why they start to feel more and more tired as the years go by, but it doesn’t have to be this way. If low energy truly was down to age, then every 82-year-old I know would be exhausted, and they’re not! You can make a really big difference to how you feel and function, on both the inside and the outside, through good-quality sleep.

If you are currently caring for young children, it might be that restorative sleep is less available to you right now. In circumstances like this, where your sleep is beyond your control, try not to dwell on it. Embrace the saying “the days are long but the years are short” and remember that your little humans will not need you this way forever. Also lean on your support networks or put measures in place to catch up on sleep when you get the opportunity to. Every little bit counts. And as your little humans grow up, prioritise restorative sleep for yourself. Many women say their sleep never returns to their pre-child days, yet it absolutely can. Your nervous system may just need some additional help to relax.

We may also experience sleep challenges around big changes in our lives, through periods of grief or in response to certain experiences that trigger our stress response. This is a common symptom of ‘stress’—our body is trying to protect us from falling into a deep sleep when it believes it is not physically safe to do so. It can be helpful to know this so that we don’t add stress about not sleeping to our load. Yet, if sleep challenges go beyond a few days, you may benefit from giving your nervous system some additional support.

Medicinal herbs such as ziziphus, withania, chamomile, lemon balm and magnolia can all help to relieve the impact of short and long term stress on the nervous system to foster more restorative sleep. Acupuncture can also be beneficial as can implementing these sleep hygiene habits.

Easily irritated? Here’s what could be causing it

October 27, 2022October 18, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

When we get irritated, we tend to look externally for answers. We blame our particularly challenging day, the extra hour we spent stuck in traffic or our partner or children leaving their belongings all over the floor for us to pick up. Yet, the truth is, if it were these things that were irritating, everyone would react exactly the same way and that is just not the case. We are all irritated by different things and have an individual level of tolerance before irritation kicks in. This is, in part, due to our natural temperament, yet there are biochemical, emotional and nutritional factors that may influence it.

If you’re finding yourself snapping at loved ones more often than usual or have noticed your patience is wearing thinner than it used to, here are five things that may be playing a part.

1. Sex Hormonal Imbalance

If your crabbiness coincides with the lead up to your period, your sex hormone balance could be the culprit. Irritability is a well-known symptom associated with our menstrual cycle. It can follow us into our perimenopausal and menopausal years too as low progesterone levels (which are common across all life stages once menstruation has commenced) are often at the heart of it. Sex hormone imbalances are usually fairly easy to rectify through nutritional and lifestyle changes alone.

If you suspect your sex hormones may be out of balance (and if you regularly experience menstrual or menopausal symptoms that’s an indication they are), start by reflecting on your stress levels. If you identify as ‘stressed’ or ‘anxious’ adopt lifestyle changes that help to support your nervous system. This may look like making more space in your schedule for rest or relaxation time, saving your perception of pressure and urgency for when you really need it, considering whether your meaning maker is running rampant or adding in a daily breathwork or meditation practice. Some women may also benefit from additional medicinal herbal support while others will need to significantly reduce stress levels before they will see any results.

2. A Sluggish Liver

An overwhelmed liver is generally the result of consuming too many “liver loaders” (alcohol, trans fats, refined sugars and synthetic substances) and a lack of nutrients to keep up with the load. I have also met countless people who have not consumed much in the way of liver loaders yet have diabolical menstrual cycles/menopausal symptoms or an ongoing challenge with irritable bowel syndrome or constipation, and often exhibit what I consider to be distinct signs that their liver needs support. Passing clots while menstruating is a classic sign of liver congestion, as are many skin conditions, elevated cholesterol, poor sleep, easily bloating or overheating, a short fuse, bad temper and gritty, impatient behaviour.

Thankfully, the liver is a highly resilient organ that responds well to small adjustments. The best way to support your liver is to decrease your intake of liver loaders while increasing your intake of whole real foods, particularly bitter greens which the liver loves. For more, read this article on how to care for your liver.

3. Unspoken Needs

Bottled up or unexpressed emotions and needs can come out as snappy, irritable behaviour. Maybe you feel unappreciated or undervalued for all you do. Perhaps you feel as though you could use more support. Often we expect loved ones to know what our needs are without us having to communicate them. In some circumstances this may be true, yet expressing to those around us what we need is often the only way to ensure they understand what is important to us. Consider whether there is an unmet need within you that is contributing to your irritability and share it with whoever needs to hear it.

4. Too Flexible Boundaries

If you say yes when you really want to say no or just generally aren’t firm enough with your boundaries, it can lead to a resentment that can show up as irritation. Often, we are more irritated with ourselves for not being stronger with our boundaries, yet we project that anger at those around us. You will know in your heart whether you could benefit from strengthening your boundaries. This article may help.

5. Poor Sleep

Nothing tickles our irritation bone quite like fatigue. Sleep is a biological human need and without 7-8 hours of consistent, quality sleep, it will begin to take a toll on our health and energy. If you have been trying to squeeze too much into your day and cutting into your sleep time, or if your sleep is not restorative due to regular wake ups (for reasons other than small children which is something beyond our ability to change) or trouble falling asleep, it may be time to focus on improving your sleep. Start with these supportive sleep hygiene habits.

3 journaling prompts to ignite your practice

October 5, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know I’m a big fan of journaling. It’s something I have personally done since I was a little girl and found immense benefit from. Research indicates that journaling can help free up the brain from worrying thoughts and improve mental health so it’s a great tool for self-reflection and addressing your perception of stress.

Journaling can be as simple as taking shorthand notes of the happenings of your day or it can be an in-depth process of putting your thoughts and feelings on paper. As a private process that no one else will ever see, you can really make it what you like. If you’re not naturally drawn to writing, staring at a blank page can be a daunting prospect. Maybe just the idea of journaling gives you writers block. Or maybe you’re just looking for some new ideas to expand your practice. Regardless, here are three journaling prompts you may like to try.

1. Automatic writing

In her excellent book The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron recommends ‘Morning Pages’ – three pages of longhand stream of consciousness writing as a way to start every morning. Automatic writing is in much the same vein. A great tool for helping you to get into a creative flow state, it frees you from having to think about what to write. The idea is to set a time limit (say 15 minutes) or a number of pages to fill and write without stopping for the duration. You are free to write ungrammatically and illegibly, to be clumsy and cliched, to write absolute rubbish, go completely off topic and repeat or contradict yourself. The only rule is that you must continue writing without any pause for the set time. Simply let the words pour out of you without having to ‘get it right’ or follow any structured format.

2. Gratitude practice

If you know you’re someone who tends to focus on the negative or future goals, gratitude journaling is a wonderful way to remind yourself of all that you have in your life right now to be grateful for. It isn’t possible for our nervous system to feel HERE gratitude and stress at the same time so whenever you are feeling grateful, you cannot be feeling stressed. To foster a deeper sense of gratitude in your life, try writing down one thing a day that you are grateful for. Be as specific as possible and deeply connect to how whatever it is leads you to feel – writing it down without the connection is entirely missing the point. You may like to consider what your life would be like without that person or thing to give your gratitude three dimensions as you consider what you have gained or avoided by having whatever it is in your life.

3. “I’m feeling…”

To help unravel your emotional landscape, you may like to start to jot down how you’re feeling each day and what happened that lead you to feel that way. This is a great way to understand more about your ‘meaning maker’ which is your unconscious interpretation of what happens in your life that helps you make sense of the world and your place in it. All of us have a meaning maker, yet we have a choice about whether it rules the show or not. Journaling your day-to-day feelings gives you an immense insight into your perceptions and reflecting on how your emotional state is affected by external happenstance can help you to recognise where change may be of benefit to your health.

Do you avoid discomfort? Here’s a different approach.

October 6, 2022October 5, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

Nobody likes to feel uncomfortable. As humans we have a natural tendency to seek out pleasure and avoid pain. It’s a tendency that sees us living at full speed, rarely stopping or slowing down, consuming substances we know don’t serve us, spending beyond our means, running away, and avoiding difficult conversations or situations. Unless we learn to be okay with discomfort, to sit in our own pain, we will continue to numb out or distract ourselves from it. Over time this can have a significant impact on how we feel about ourselves and our lives.

Discomfort is a signpost. It is sensation that bubbles up from within us trying to tell us that something needs to change. It is often our innate voice trying to guide us and when we ignore it, or do our best to sidestep it, we usually end up causing ourselves more pain along the way. Either because that voice gets louder or because we judge ourselves harshly and feel lousy about the choices we have made.

When we sit in discomfort, we give ourselves time to understand what it we are actually uncomfortable about. Let’s say you have a challenging day at work and you tell yourself that when you get home you’re going to pour yourself a big glass of wine to help you forget about it. Or after an argument with a loved one you polish off a whole packet of biscuits. Or you just feel yucky – you’re not entirely sure why – so you go on a shopping spree. However you choose to avoid discomfort, what you’re really doing is preventing yourself from gleaning insight into what is going on for you – what you know in your heart to be true.

Maybe something needs to change or you need to have a conversation with a loved one that you are worried they won’t enjoy hearing. Maybe you need to reflect on the beliefs that are driving you to behave in ways that you know are harmful to your health. Maybe it’s an invitation to explore your perception of pressure and urgency and the ways in which you’re driving your own stress by adding unnecessary pressure. The more comfortable you get with discomfort, the better you’re going to understand your motivations and impulses and the less you’re going to yoyo between taking great care of yourself and ‘sabotaging’ yourself.

So if you know you are prone to avoidance, take a moment to reflect on whether what you’re doing to avoid discomfort is actually causing you more pain in the long run. You will likely find that it is so. As you start trying to sit with discomfort, remember it can take time and practise to sit with sensations that we don’t like to feel so be patient with yourself. Whether you do or do not engage in avoidant behaviours ever again isn’t important – what is important is working towards doing it less.

The true driver of your stress

October 5, 2022September 21, 2022 by Dr Libby Weaver

The true driver of your stress – Here’s a hint, it’s not your boss, your family, money or your relationships!

When you think about what stresses you out, what comes to mind? For most people it’s things that happen in their day-to-day lives. It’s the unexpected bill that comes in just before Christmas, the difficult meeting with their boss, the challenges in their relationships or just how much they have to try and squeeze in every single day. In other words, most people look at things outside themselves as being the source of their stress. If this were true, the same things would be stressful to everyone, and this is not the case. There are plenty of people who relish having full and busy lives and who just pivot when life throws them unexpected events, taking it all in their stride. This suggests that the true driver of (non-life threatening) stress is inside of you.

How we think has a far greater impact on our stress levels than the number of tasks we must manage each day—or any other challenge that may come our way. There will absolutely be some genuinely difficult situations that we will have to face in our lives (or might currently be facing). Yet, for far too many people, general day-to-day tasks have become overwhelming, often due to their sheer volume. Sure, the pace of life has sped up over the last few decades, but we still get to choose the pace at which we live. It’s just that it’s easy to forget this and as result, we tend to live each day with a level of pressure and urgency that is wreaking havoc on our nervous system.

If we peel back the layers of our stress, we start to see that nearly all of our stress comes down to our perception of pressure and urgency and worrying what others think of us. To put it another way, we care so deeply what others think of us that we place an immense amount of pressure on ourself to be seen or to perform in certain ways. If we’re not seen to be capable, responsible, efficient, kind, generous, caring, successful or hardworking—for example—it (often unconsciously) stresses us out.

And so you run yourself ragged trying to be all things to all people or to move up the ladder in your career because being perceived to be whatever words motivate you is a higher priority than your health. It’s not a conscious priority, of course. You don’t consciously think that what other people think is more important than your health. And yet, what you spend your day doing shows you what your priorities are. So if you tell yourself you don’t have time to make yourself a nourishing homecooked meal of an evening because you have to squeeze more work in, you’re telling yourself that your health is less important than your work.

But I need to pay my bills, you say, and provide for my family. It goes without saying that you have commitments and responsibilities—but I challenge you to be honest with yourself about how much more time and energy you invest in your job outside of what is expected of you or how much more you commit to do things you really don’t want to or probably don’t have enough time for. And if, in this self-enquiry, you realise you go above and beyond, I challenge you to bring curiosity without judgement and ask yourself why you do this.