Recently, you may have heard about something called the gut-brain axis. “What is it?” you might be wondering. Well, it is exactly what it sounds like! It is the bidirectional relationship that exists between your gut and your brain – more specifically, the central nervous system and the enteric nervous system (1). This relationship links emotional and cognitive centers of the brain with the function of your gastro-intestinal tract by means of neural, endocrine and immune links (1).
 
            This means that the integrity of our gut and microbiome has a huge influence on our mental health – this means motivation, anxiety, depression, ruminating thoughts, mood swings and so much more (1). The integrity of our gut and microbiome is maintained through a healthy diet and appropriate supplements.
 
In clinical practice, evidence of the brain-gut axis comes from the association of gut dysbiosis with central nervous disorders (i.e. autism, anxiety-depressive behaviors) and functional gastrointestinal disorders (1). What this means is that so many behavioural problems that we see in clinic in both children and adults alike, could be stemming from a problem existing within our gut microbiome (1). For example, patients who have high anxiety, may also be presenting with symptoms of IBS.
 
This bidirectional communication network of the gut-brain axis includes:
 

• The central nervous system (CNS)
• The brain and spinal
• The autonomic nervous system (ANS)
• The enteric nervous system (ENS)
• The hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis (1).

 
Here at Sprouting Health, we often look at the balance between these systems. While adrenal dysfunction, viruses and bacteria could be disrupting your HPA axis, it is important to understand that your gut could be having the same effect!
 
The HPA axis is considered the core axis of your body that coordinates responses to stressors in your life, whether they be chemical, physical or emotional (1).  When we have increased stressors in our lives, hormonal dysregulation is common and therefore creates a cascading effect of imbalances in our body extending into the gut and the enteric nervous system (1). When these changes happen, our cellular makeup is altered and important cells in our microbiota are compromised, thus having a major effect on mental health and cognitive function (1).
 
Research has shown that many of the cognitive dysfunction or mental health symptoms that present in people appear to be strain-specific (1). This suggests that a potential role of certain supplementing with certain probiotic strains could be an accessory in managing certain neurologic disorders (1). To summarize, a healthier gut can give us a healthier brain, and thus a healthier body!
 
Here at Sprouting Health, we value the importance of holistic health and want to help you balance your nervous system through chiropractic adjustments, addressing chemical imbalances through applied kinesiology and emotional regulation through NET. We understand that a healthy gut is one of the most important steps in healing our bodies, and we are passionate about educating our patients around the issue!
 
References
 

1. Carabotti M, Scirocco A, Maselli MA, Severi C. The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems. Ann Gastroenterol. 2015;28(2):203-209.

Falls are a significant cause of death, injury, and loss of quality of life in older adults according to the American Geriatric Society.
Risk factors include (Grabowska et al, 2022):

• Musculoskeletal weakness
• Vestibular dysfunction
• Proprioceptive deficits
• Pain
• Polypharmacy
• Limited fall prevention education

Can Chiropractic care help in reducing fall risks in older adult population? YES!!! Of course we can!
In 2016, Holt et al conducted a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) and found significant improvements of participants (65yrs and above) who received Chiropractic care compared to those that did not.
They recorded improvements in:

• Postural stability
• Joint position sense
• Stepping reaction time
• Multisensory processing

Likely mechanisms of how Chiropractic can produce the results above:

• Influencing brain-body connection due to the alteration or improved spinal function
• Reduction of pain, thus allowing better focus, attention, and physical function
• Influencing muscle activation patterns and strength

Imagine living life to the fullest as you grow older and wiser, enjoying quality and precious time with your loved ones, doing what you love, spreading joy and positivity.
Chiropractic care is one of the things that may help you achieve that.
Book in a consultation with us and let us help you strive towards better health and optimal function!
References:

• Grabowska W, Burton W, Kowalski MH, Vining R, Long CR, Lisi A, Hausdorff JM, Manor B, Muñoz-Vergara D, Wayne PM. A systematic review of chiropractic care for fall prevention: rationale, state of the evidence, and recommendations for future research. BMC musculoskeletal disorders. 2022 Sep 5;23(1):844.
• Holt, K.R., Haavik, H., Lee, A.C.L., Murphy, B. and Elley, C.R., 2016. Effectiveness of chiropractic care to improve sensorimotor function associated with falls risk in older people: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, 39(4), pp.267-278.

​As parents, it can be so mundane organizing and packing lunch boxes each school day. Worse than this, most of us who are making so much effort, are doing a really poor job at fueling our precious children’s bodies. Let’s look at why…
It truly breaks my heart when we see many of the children's lunchboxes at school or kindy. Because usually there's:

• So much sugar
• So much refined junk
• Not enough fiber
• Not enough fat

Every single mum we know, of course, has the best intentions. But we don't know what we don't know. Between the often conflicting nutritional advice available, and the (very convincing) irresponsible marketing by money guzzling refined food industry. Many of us don't even realize that the healthy food we think we're packing in our kids bags day after day are setting them up for poor concentration, low energy, crazy sugar highs - and crash and burn lows!
And so we've put together some guidelines below (and heaps of ideas) so that you can be confident that you're filling your kids' lunchboxes to fuel them...day after day.

1. Watch out for hidden sugar

The amount of sugar in their lunchbox is an absolute priority!!
If you give your child sugar fixes (usually unknowingly!) At morning tea and lunch, they will come tumbling down from this high - around about the time they are due home from school.
This is why kids are often grumpy and deflated in the afternoon. They generally won’t sleep as well either because their sugars are still cycling through the night, disturbing normal sleep patterns.
Kids can tolerate 5 tsp of sugar daily, maximum, according to W.H.O. This is often reached after breakfast alone, with the average breakfast cereal containing 5 tsp of sugar, and many as high as 9tsp! But let’s get back to lunch and break it down.

• Flavored yogurt – 3.5 tsp
• Muesli bar – 2 tsp
• 2 slices of bread – ½ tsp
• Banana – 3.5 tsp
• Apple – 2.5 tsp
• Carrot – 1 tsp

=13tsp!!!!!!!!!!
This is a pretty typical lunchbox, and not considered terribly unhealthy or unacceptable by teachers… true? It has 13 tsp total sugar in it!! Can you believe it? Almost 3 day’s worth of sugar for our kids.
But don't worry, we have plenty of easy-peasy ideas below for things to replace it with.

1. Choose wholefoods over refined foods

What is refined food? It is basically the opposite of “wholefood” as we term it today. It’s a food that isn’t recognizable as its original source any longer.
So things like chips, flavored (uncultured) yogurts, bread, muffins, cookies, biscuits, roll ups, most things in a packet. They have been processed and...in the process... have lost their nutritional value.
Yes they may still contain carbs, fats and proteins, but there are no micronutrients like vitamins, minerals and enzymes, which are what we need to repair, grow and function. And they're almost always loaded with refined sugar!

1. Add plenty of fiber

Fiber is something many don’t focus on in our meals. Fiber comes from wholegrains, nuts, seeds, legumes, fruits and vegetables.
Fiber is SO important as it creates:

• healthy detoxification (keeps bowel regular)
• gut health (feeds gut bacteria)
• healthy weight (feel full longer)
• healthy blood sugars (slows sugar absorption)
• heart health (essential for good cholesterol and blood vessel health)

Its a good idea to have at least half of the kid’s lunch boxes full of high fiber foods. Try these ideas:

• Veges/vege kebabs: A chunk of cucumber, cherry tomatoes, carrots, sliced capsicum, crispy lettuce, or leftover cooked veges … choose ones your child likes so they get eaten.
• Make bliss balls or other slices out of nuts and seeds, or just put a handful in a portion of their lunchbox.
• Happy Snacks Chic Peas or Fa’ava Beans, or hummus are great to get yummy legumes in.
• Leftover lentil hotpots, chickpea curries and other vegetarian based meals
• Fresh fruit / fruit kebabs (I usually have a daily limit of one piece as it is instant sugar intake that takes from your daily 5 tsp quota!)
• Sushi (homemade) - use quinoa, brown rice, cauliflower as alternative fillers (white rice has had the fibre coat taken from around it)
• Wraps filled with veges - use sliced meat, corn tortillas, lettuce or rice paper as outer layer to avoid gluten if need

1. Pack it with good fats

Most people are still pretty scared of fat. We usually love the concept of high protein, but forget about fat. Kids brains are constantly learning and developing… and what are they made of? FAT!
Fat is also great because it is a slow release form of fuel for our kid’s busy bodies; which means no sugar highs for the teachers or frustrating lows after school.
So how can you get more fat into the lunchbox?

• Nuts and seeds
• Hard boiled egg
• Plain cultured (sour) yogurt
• Cheeses
• Avocado
• High fat baking (recipes that include coconut oil, avocado, nuts and seeds)
• Leftover meats
• Peanut butter (we love Pic’s Peanut Butter Slugs! But only if your school allows peanuts obviously)
• Pate/hummus/aioli as condiments
• Bliss balls (homemade… look for recipes with less dried fruit and honey/maple syrup they're often way too sweet anyway!)
• Bone broth soups
• Leftover meat stews
• Chia seed pudding

Lunchboxes don’t need to become harder to make, more expensive or restricted. Make better choices at the grocery store, check the “sugar” nutritional value (4g = 1tsp) and stick to whole, real foods in your fridge.
Your child may resist for a week, wanting the sugar and easy food back but persist. High sugar diets change our taste-buds, and after a week our taste starts to return and real food tastes yummy again!! Just like breaking any addiction, consistency is key.
Your child won’t starve him/herself, and the reward in the long-run will be well worth it.
HAPPY LUNCH BOX MAKING!!