Digestive Health
Why is the Digestive System so important ?
Over 2000 years ago Hippocrates stated ‘All diseases begin in the Gut’. Modern science through our improved understanding of the Gut Microbiome have finally understood the wisdom behind this ancient quote.
The digestive system is the gatekeeper to our bodies health. Our gut controls which nutrients are absorbed and which toxins are prevented from entering beyond the gut barrier. This regulation affects the nourishment and functioning of various organs and systems, including the hormonal, nervous, reproductive, skeletal, cardiovascular and immune systems. The weaker our digestive function, the weaker our over all immune system is to chronic infections, developing autoimmune and atopic illness, mental illness, heart disease and its contribution to Autism.
Consequently, there is plenty of medical truth to the age old adage, ‘You are what you eat’.
We have over decade of experience in resolving complex functional gut issues.
What we treat?
At our clinic, Dr Anjana approaches gut health from a traditional medical and a functional integrative approach.
From the traditional medical approach, she will address symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, burping, excess gas, mucous or blood in stools and reflux. However, she will also look beyond these as they may only be symptoms of a deeper underlying cause.
Recognizing that gut health is crucial to overall wellbeing, Dr Anjana addresses gut health from a Integrative functional approach understanding that gut imbalances result in a multitude of health ailments. Patients presenting with non-gut symptoms such as skin issues, Eczema, fatigue, brain fog or hormonal imbalances may actually have underlying gut related causes.
As Dr Anjana unpacks the health puzzle she may find digestive disruptions such as:
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome
- Small intestinal bowel overgrowth (SIBO)
- Large bowel dysbiosis
- Constipation and motility issues.
- Chronic Diarrhoea
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Crohn’s and Ulcerative colitis)
- Parasites
- Helicobacter Pylori
- Leaky Gut
- Acid reflux, Dyspepsia, Gastritis
- Food intolerances
She will aspire to understand your symptoms and search for potential underlying causes to ill-health. By addressing root causes, people can achieve more enduring positive effects, not only on gut health but also in other aspects of their lives.
What makes our Digestive team special?
Dr Anjana has been treating digestive dysfunction for over a decade. She combines the best of allopathic, herbal, functional and traditional medicine.
She possess a solid medical foundation to diagnose and rule out structural digestive problems through blood, stool and radiology testing. Additionally, she collaborates with her network of gastroenterologists for investigations such as colonoscopies and gastroscopies when needed.
As not all digestive issues are structural, Dr Anjana recognizes that symptoms may persist even with ‘normal’ results for gastroenterologist investigations. As a functional integrative medical doctor, she uses a secondary set of tools to further explore gut health including functional tests such as:
- Small intestinal bacteria overgrowth (SIBO) test
- Helicobacter breath test
- Nutrient testing
- HPA axis test
- Microbiome test
- Parasite PCR test
- Genetic test
Understanding the interplay of external factors on the microbiome, Dr Anjana investigates and may address underlying factors including stress, history of food poisoning, diet, environmental exposures (eg Mould), antibiotic use and genetics.
As part of our digestive health team, Dr Anjana has also fostered a collaborative relationship with her master Naturopath Adrian Harper to maximize optimal gut health through natural herbal approaches. Both Dr Anjana and Adrian have completed extensive training in Small intestinal bowel overgrowth ( SIBO) and are both listed certified practitioners under Dr Nirala Jacobi.
A diet that is personalised to you.
Dr Anjana takes the time to understand your individual situation, underlying causes and personal circumstances. She incorporates these insights into customized treatment protocols tailored to support and enhance your gut health.
As part of this approach, she may make dietary recommendations. This isn’t a one size fits all approach that involves eliminating all the fun things in our diet. Leveraging her extensive knowledge and experience, she will offer guidance on digestive health and dietary choices.
Dr Anjana’s goal isn’t to restrict your diet and remove the joys of food. Rather the aim is to nourish your body, reduce inflammation, help rebalance hormones, insulin levels and revitalise good bacteria. This approach is intended to expand your dietary options and make your diet more inclusive as your digestive and microbiome health improves.
We don’t put everyone on the same diet plans. We take a lot of time to understand the condition and the individual. Diet suggestions may include:
- Low histamine diet
- SIBO diet
- GAPS
- Carnivore
- Cleanse diets
- Paleo, Mediterranean and whole food
- Diets free of sugar, yeast and grains
- Gluten free
- Dairy or lactose free
- Low salicylate
- Low oxalate
- Low fodmap
- Vegan
- Specific carbohydrate diet
- Autoimmune diet
- Ketogenic diets
The above list may appear daunting, restrictive or confusing to the untrained eye. If dietary changes are recommended, Dr Anjana will help you navigate this process and find the right balance for your body. This will be a fluid process as your body improves and adapts.
Laura a trusted team member who has been specifically trained by Dr Anjana plays a valuable role in offering practical advice and assistance in creating simple meal plans to support patients through dietary adjustments. She has personal insight and experience through her own journey with multiple food intolerances in addition to further tertiary education which provides you with support to help your body.
While knowing what to eat can be challenging, learning how to incorporate these changes in your meal preparation is essential for enhancing your microbiome and Laura is here to help.
Our Network
You are not alone!
Through years of experience treating people, attending and presenting at conferences, additional training and through her own personal experience with gut infections Dr Anjana has grown a trusted network of specialist medical and allied health professionals to help support you for more complex conditions. Dr Anjana understands the gut-brain connection and the interconnectedness of the gut to all other facets of our beings.
That’s why part of her referral network may include:
- Gastroenterologists
- Dieticians and nutritionists
- Visceral therapists
- Gut based hypnotherapists
- Psychologists
- Tracking apps
