Kathryn Messenger – Whole Naturopathy

Top 10 Foods to Calm Digestion

May 19, 2026

If bloating, discomfort, or sluggish digestion is a regular concern, what you eat can make a big difference. Some foods actively soothe the gut, support liver function, stabilise blood sugar, and even help regulate hormones, all of which play a role in digestion. Here are my top 10 foods to calm digestion and support overall gut health: 1. Oats Oats are a gentle, soluble-fibre-rich food that feeds good gut bacteria and helps maintain smooth bowel movements. They also help stabilise blood sugar, which reduces digestive stress after meals. Overnight oats or porridge with chia seeds and almond butter is a simple, nourishing option. 2. Ginger Ginger has natural anti-inflammatory properties and stimulates digestion. It can help to relieve bloating, nausea, and sluggish motility. Freshly grated in teas, broths, or lightly sautéed in vegetables is...

Why Am I Bloated? Common Causes and Solutions

March 26, 2026

Digestion, Nutrition

Bloating is something I often see in clinic. It is uncomfortable and can make you feel sluggish or heavy after every meal. Many people assume it’s just “normal”, but frequent bloating is oftentimes your body sending a message - and there are many practical ways to reduce it. Understanding Bloating Bloating occurs when your gut is retaining gas or fluid, or when food isn’t moving efficiently through your digestive system. It can be triggered by many factors: what you eat, how you eat, how your gut works, your hormones, your blood sugar, and even how your liver functions. Occasional bloating after a large meal is normal. Persistent bloating, however, is worth looking at more closely. Common Causes of Bloating Poor Digestion of Fats and ProteinsFat and protein digestion rely on...

signs of poor gut health and healthy bowel movements

What Your Poo Says About Gut Health

February 24, 2026

Digestion, Health, Nutrition

As a naturopath, I find myself very comfortable taking about bowel motions, as it gives me vital information about both digestion and elimination of toxins. Observing what lands in the toilet helps me to understand so much more about digestion, and as a result, how to improve it. Your bowel motions can tell you a lot about what’s happening inside your digestive system. In clinic, I often ask detailed questions about frequency, consistency, colour, and even flatulence, and how bad it smells! It’s not glamorous, but it is incredibly useful information. Many people assume that as long as they are going regularly, everything must be fine. But there are some simple signs that can indicate whether your digestion is working well — or whether it might need...

Vitamin D – The nutrient your body makes in the sun

November 29, 2025

Lifestyle, Nutrition, Vitamins

It’s probably the first time in history, other than perhaps for people who worked in the mines, when people work, travel, and spend leisure time without any exposure to the sun. In the past, even those who worked indoors would often walk to work, and most people would have a veggie garden that they spent time working in. In this current era when we have awareness of skin cancer, it seems we might have gone a bit too far. The main role of Vitamin D is to put calcium into bones. It does this by promoting the absorption of calcium, then helping to regulate calcium levels in the blood. It also works to repair and remodel bones, by stimulating the absorption and growth of new bone...

Vanuatu – the happiest people on earth

October 23, 2025

Adaptogens, Lifestyle, Mental health

12 years ago, when I heard that the people in Vanuatu are the happiest on earth, I was intrigued, and, as a result it went onto my very small bucket list. But since then, my view on happiness has changed. I had originally thought that being happy was something to attain to, I now see life as something that contains both joy and sorrow, and we need both. How could I know joy if I have nothing but joy to compare it to? So, this year when I went to Vanuatu, I found the people that were very friendly, polite and content. Most of the islanders grow their own food, enjoying spending time in their communities, and live a simple life. It is vastly different from...

Is vitamin B6 toxic?

September 3, 2025

Nutrition, Vitamins

You may have heard of vitamin B6 being in the spotlight lately, as an overdose can cause peripheral neuropathy. The symptoms of this include numbness and pain in the limbs and healing can be slow. An overdose usually occurs when someone is taking multiple supplements, or food products that have added B6. But the answer is not as simple as limiting B6, let me explain. Different forms of vitamin B6 There are different forms of B6, just like there are different types of dwellings: caravans, bungalows and houses. Imagine you live in a caravan and a storm causes it to roll down the road and hit a tree, causing the rain water to come pouring through the roof. There, in the middle of the night, in rain and...

How much difference does a naturopath make?

August 5, 2025

Herbal Medicine, Homeopathy, Lifestyle, Nutrition

I thought I’d share 2 examples of how working with a naturopath can make a difference in your health. I have chosen two very different examples from my clinic in the last 12 months. Sometimes the journey is very straightforward, other times, there can be a few bumps in the road (names have been changed). Case 1 - stress and fatigue Emma, late 30’s, works, school aged kids. She presented with anxiety (with panic attacks), fatigue, insomnia, and frequent colds. Upon questioning: Energy 2/10 Stress 7/10 Too tired to exercise Daily nausea and bloating Poor concentration and memory Sleep waking 3x/night I first prescribed an individual herbal medicine formula, a specific homeopathic, a mineral supplement, and a few foods to add to her diet. 2nd appointment (2 weeks later) Anxiety has...

How to lower your blood pressure

June 26, 2025

Cardiovascular, Nutrition

Hypertension (high blood pressure) is defined as consistently high arterial blood pressure: a systolic pressure of over 130mmHg or diastolic pressure of more than 90mmHg. It is a major risk for cardiovascular disease and is present in over one third of Australians. How does the pressure increase? Like water in a pipe, blood flows through your blood vessels: arteries and veins. When the blood vessels are narrow more pressure is required, and when the walls of the of the blood vessels are stiff, they don’t increase in diameter to allow for more pressure. This causes blood pressure to increase, rather than adjusting to these changes. What causes high blood pressure? Atherosclerosis (arterial plaque build-up) is the main cause of hypertension, but it is also caused by other factors such...

Breathing to move from 'fight or flight' to 'rest and digest'

Breathing to calm the mind

May 29, 2025

Lifestyle, Mental health

When you’re feeling stressed or anxious and especially if you’re feeling stuck in that state, it can be really helpful to have some tools that you can use, to move out of it, into your calm, rational mind. Autonomic nervous system Your autonomic nervous system has 2 modes: sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight), and parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Don’t worry too much about the names of these 2 modes, they were given hundreds of years ago and the original theories around what they did, turned out to be untrue. Long term balance To balance your autonomic nervous system in the long term, you want to make sure your life includes activities that you find fun or relaxing: exercise, time in nature, and time with friends (especially...

If you had a day to yourself, would you spend it in bed?

April 15, 2025

Herbal Medicine, Lifestyle, Nutrition

People often come into my clinic for fatigue, and this is one of the questions I ask, as it tells me some important information: if you had a day to yourself, would you spend it in bed? Fatigue can present in so many different ways, and understanding the nature of it is the start of understanding exactly what is going on in your body. Some people start their day with fatigue, and it improves as the day goes on. Others start fine, but can hardly stay awake after lunch, and others get progressively more exhausted as the day goes on. For these people, when It’s bad enough, their ideal day is a day in bed, as they are just too tired to enjoy other activities. Adrenal fatigue If...

Author: Kathryn Messenger