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Health Perspective with Varsha

Hello! Thank you for stopping by. My name is Varsha and I am the founder of Illuminated Health. I am a qualified nutritionist and ayurveda consultant who specialises in women's health, type 2 diabetes and digestive wellbeing. I love what I do so much that I am currently a PhD student in Food Innovation and Sustainable Nutrition. In my newsletters, I like to keep it real and practical. I love to share my knowledge and experience with all things related to holistic health. You will also hear about my student journey and my family. I love hearing from my readers, so please do say hi once you have subscribed! Wishing you health and happiness, Varsha

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Gut-Brain-Ovary Axis

Hello Reader If you have ever noticed that your digestion goes completely out of sync when you are stressed, or that a stressful month leads to a painful, highly emotional period, then this newsletter is definitely for you. The Nervous System of Your Cycle We often think that ovaries are independent organs that simply follow a monthly clock. In reality, your ovaries take their signals from your hypothalamus which is the command centre of your brain. The hypothalamus is constantly scanning...

Hello Reader Detox is a word that often gets thrown around on social media and although it is an "actual" thing, it is not as straightforward as it seems. Your liver is in charge of detoxifying your body, but the reason that it is not a simple process is because detoxification is a three phased process. Phase I and II happen in the liver, where hormones are neutralised and packaged into a water-soluble form. Phase III is the actual physical transport of that package out of your body via the...

Hello Reader Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting the the lead nutritionist at Brentford Football Club. He was a guest speaker for one of the classes within the Master's course in which I am a lecturer. Anyhow, he stated that they do not "count calories" or "weigh food" when it comes to the nutrition for the footballers. He basically follows a very similar approach that I do - educate, work within behaviour change, and personalises the nutrition plans without all the need to count and...

Hello Reader Since I last wrote to you, I have completed a course about evidence based health care for research. I often see people say that they are an evidence based nutritionist or evidence based health care practitioner. But what does that really mean? Anyone can look up articles online and find a research paper that serves a specific message. You can almost always find an article that will support your viewpoint. But the problem lies where you are not willing to acknowledge the other...

Hello Reader Last week, I was with some family when our conversation turned toward Ayurvedic practices for wellbeing. One of them asked me a question I hear often: "Is it realistic to make these changes, like having the largest meal at lunchtime, when you are working or have other priorities?" The simple answer is, yes, of course. But I did not stop there. I went on to explain that Ayurveda is personalised because it recognises that each body is unique. For example, while one person might...

Hello Reader When it came to choosing a research topic, everyone assumed that I would have chosen something to do with digestive health. It made sense as it is a core part of my clinical practice. However, PhD-level research requires you to identify a genuine gap in science, a place where the current understanding is failing people. I knew I wanted to bridge the gap between Modern Nutrition and Ayurveda, which has been a focus of mine for nearly two decades. So, I started thinking about my...

Hello Reader My kids sometimes say to me, mummy you have so many "jobs." It is not that they think I do too much, but it is the fact that they know that I wear multiple hats. If anything, it shows them that I do not have to follow the "norm" with one title and that I can do multiple things all at once. At the end of the day, I follow my passion and purpose in life. Many people cannot even keep up with "what I am up to these days." Therefore, I have spent a lot of time recently thinking about...

Nutrition Consultation Free Resources Buy My Book Join Membership Hello Reader Have you seen the advert about how Nurofen is committed to "closing the gender pain gap by making women's pain more visible in healthcare"? Have you heard about the case of the unfair dismissal of a woman who was suffering through endometriosis? Did you also know that until the 1990s, women were largely excluded from clinical trials in the United States? And even today, much of the "standard" nutritional advice we...

Hello Reader Within my clinical work as a nutritionist and diabetes coach as well as my research and academia life, I see a recurring pattern that actually breaks my heart. It often starts with a scroll through social media. You see the posts: "Do these 10 things daily to be unrecognisable in a month." "Eat these 12 'superfoods' to fix your PCOS in 10 days." "The 7-step morning routine for perfect metabolic health." This is what I call the "Optimisation Trap." Don’t get me wrong. As a...

Hello Reader Question for you. What place or room in your home is your favourite spot? Or where do you tend to gravitate towards? In my home, we all gravitate towards the kitchen. We hang out in the kitchen, do homework in there, have conversations, cook together, have family meal times and so forth. The kitchen is a place where we all come together. The kitchen holds so much healing and therapeutic energy. Think about it: Your spice rack is essentially a cabinet of home remedies The meals...