I got a call from a friend of my mum who was worried about some blood work she had done and the advice she had been given from her doctor and also her naturopath, she was very confused. She told me a few things about her tests results such as having low vitamin B12 and iron levels, how she was having a bit of heart burn at times, and also some issues with bloating. This had me thinking it was an issue with the gut (as most things are) but more of an issue with her absorption. She ate quite well and din't know what to do.
I asked her to try some HCL and to take a food diary. She called again in about 3-4 weeks time and said she was feeling much better, her B12 was up, her heartburn had gone away, and she had lost 6kg.
Now what's the point of the story? Her doctor had suggested taking an acid lowering drug for the heartburn and her naturopath some turmeric for inflammation. I know that low stomach acid can be a cause of low vitamin B12 levels as you need stomach acid to be able to absorb B12 along with many other nutrients. If she lowered her stomach acid levels further taking a medication she would still have low vitamin B12 and would be taking a drug that was unnecessary.
With the nutrition, simply writing down everything she ate and drank was enough to make her aware that she may not be eating as well as she thought she was. She said there were times she went to eat something but thought "I can't send this to Nath" so she made a better choice. I gave no advice about nutrition to her, I simply wanted to know what she ate and when so I could find any other underlying causes to some of her problems.
Simple works.
If you would like answers to questions that you are stuck on or confused about it may be worth a consult with either myself or Gemma Smith. If you are in the Macarthur area you can organise a time to see us at Ingleburn or Camden, if you live further away and don't want to travel we can organise a phone or Skype call.