Kerri Nichols Naturopathic Clinic

21/08/2026

Herbal ‘Botox in a bottle’ 🌿

A recent randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group trial provides one of the stronger recent clinical evaluations of orally administered gotu kola (Centella asiatica) for skin ageing, although several limitations should be considered when interpreting its clinical significance. The study enrolled 112 Korean women aged 30 to 60 years with visible facial wrinkles and relatively dry skin. After exclusions, the per-protocol analysis included 53 participants receiving gotu kola and 52 receiving placebo. The intervention lasted 12 weeks and compliance exceeded 94%.

Participants received 200 mg daily of a spray-dried hydroethanolic extract of gotu kola leaves, taken as a single oral tablet 30 minutes after a meal. The extract was prepared using 70% ethanol and standardised to contain 7% asiaticoside (70 mg/g). Although the authors acknowledged the presence of other important triterpenes, including madecassoside, asiatic acid and madecassic acid, their concentrations were not reported. The publication did not provide the extraction yield or drug-to-extract ratio, so the equivalent amount of starting dried leaf material cannot be determined. However, typical hydroethanolic extraction results suggest that 200 mg of extract could correspond to approximately 0.8 to 1.3 g of starting leaf.

After 12 weeks, participants receiving the gotu kola experienced statistically significant improvements in several objective wrinkle parameters compared with placebo. Average wrinkle depth decreased by 11.1%, largest wrinkle depth by 14.4%, maximum wrinkle depth by 13.3%, total wrinkle volume by 13.7%, and surface roughness by 10.4%. Skin barrier function also improved, as demonstrated by a significant reduction in cheek transepidermal water loss, indicating enhanced barrier integrity. Cheek skin hydration increased significantly relative to placebo, although improvements at other body sites were smaller and inconsistent.

Statistically significant improvements were also observed in skin elasticity and skin brightness, but these changes were very small, approximately 0.7%, making their clinical relevance uncertain. The intervention was well tolerated, with no serious adverse events reported, and liver function, renal markers and haematological parameters remained within normal limits throughout the study.

The study has several notable strengths. It employed a rigorous randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled design, which was adequately powered for its primary endpoint, achieved high compliance with low dropout rates, and relied on objective instrumental assessments, rather than the subjective cosmetic evaluations that are mostly used in such trials.

However, important limitations temper confidence in the findings. The study was funded and conducted by the manufacturer of the commercial extract, introducing the possibility of sponsorship bias. The primary analysis was conducted on a per-protocol rather than an intention-to-treat basis, which may overestimate treatment effects. Apart from the wrinkle measurements, most statistically significant improvements were numerically small.

While no one should confuse an oral herbal extract with injectable cosmetic procedures, these findings do tempt one to describe gotu kola as "Botox in a bottle"—a tongue-in-cheek nickname from a colleague that is now reflected in its measurable ability to soften wrinkles naturally. The dose used in the trial was relatively low, implying that even better results might be obtained from prescribing normal doses of this herb.

For more information see: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42196964/

10/08/2026

What if the single most effective thing we can do to reduce the risk of dementia was not a drug, a supplement, a herb, or even a brain-training program, but instead was getting the right kind of sleep? A growing body of research suggests that during deep, uninterrupted non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep the brain performs one of its most important jobs: flushing away toxic waste products that accumulate during the day. A major new review argues that disruption of this nightly cleaning process may be the common pathway that links ageing, chronic stress, depression, cardiovascular disease, toxins and poor sleep to an increased risk of dementia.

The review proposes that while we sleep, the brain switches into a remarkable "housekeeping mode." During wakefulness, neuromodulators operate largely independently to support behavior and cognition. By contrast, sleep reorganises their activity into a coordinated brain rhythm. Every 50 seconds or so, key brain chemicals, including noradrenaline, serotonin, dopamine and acetylcholine, begin pulsing together in a perfectly coordinated rhythm. These waves gently expand and contract tiny blood vessels, creating a pumping action that flushes cerebrospinal fluid through the brain and removes toxic waste, including the Alzheimer proteins amyloid-beta and tau. In other words, these neuromodulators become vasoactive agents that drive a slow vasomotion, providing the mechanical force that supports glymphatic clearance of metabolic waste.

The dual roles of neuromodulators—as regulators of behavior and mental state during wakefulness and as organisers of sleep architecture and glymphatic clearance during sleep—define a vulnerable system in which imbalance may impair both sleep and brain clearance. This framework may provide a unifying explanation for several long-standing observations. For example, psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression, are characterised by disruptions in neuromodulator signaling and sleep architecture, which are predicted to alter slow vasomotion during sleep. Such changes may impair glymphatic clearance, thereby promoting the accumulation of pathological proteins and thus contributing to the increased risk of neurodegenerative disease that has been observed with these conditions.

As noted above, a key point of the article is that many of the things already known to increase dementia risk disrupt this nightly cleaning cycle. This could explain why so many seemingly unrelated conditions end up increasing the risk of Alzheimer disease. Moreover, an extensive body of literature has implicated age-related decline in glymphatic clearance as a driver of proteinopathies and dementia.

Sleep architecture is the carefully organised cycling between different sleep stages that allows the brain to carry out its essential maintenance functions. Healthy sleep architecture ensures repeated episodes of deep NREM sleep, allowing the cleansing cycles to occur throughout the night. Fragmented sleep, reduced deep sleep, frequent arousals or disrupted transitions between sleep stages may all compromise this process.

So perhaps the most exciting implication is that sleep architecture might become an important target for protecting long-term brain health. Instead of simply asking whether people sleep enough, researchers are now investigating whether they are getting the right kind of sleep, including the deep, rhythmic sleep that allows the brain's cleaning system to work at full capacity.

This intriguing idea remains an emerging hypothesis. The review pulls together a large body of animal and human research, but there is not enough evidence yet to prove the mechanism directly in people. Even so, it offers one of the most compelling explanations yet for why protecting healthy sleep may become the best investments we can make for future brain health.

Another fascinating observation by the authors is that heart rate variability (HRV) may provide a simple, non-invasive window into the brain's nightly cleaning system, because the same neuromodulator oscillations that drive glymphatic clearance during deep NREM sleep also regulate heart rate. Reduced HRV is already associated with ageing, chronic stress, depression, cardiovascular disease and an increased risk of dementia, suggesting it may reflect the disruption of this fundamental sleep rhythm. If confirmed, HRV could become a practical biomarker for identifying individuals at increased dementia risk and for monitoring whether interventions restore healthy sleep physiology and brain clearance.

What about the role of herbs? Very few herbs have been investigated in clinical trials in terms of a specific increase in NREM (especially N3 slow-wave sleep), as measured by polysomnography (EEG). Most herbal sleep studies have instead measured subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, total sleep time or actigraphy, rather than sleep architecture itself.

One of the most fascinating findings in herbal sleep research comes from a small double blind polysomnography study comparing European valerian (Valeriana officinalis) with Mexican valerian (Valeriana edulis) in patients with insomnia. This study measured sleep architecture directly using overnight EEG recordings. Both herbs increased delta (slow-wave, N3) sleep, the deepest and most restorative stage of NREM sleep, while reducing lighter stages of NREM sleep. Mexican valerian also reduced the number of nocturnal awakenings, whereas European valerian produced a somewhat greater increase in REM sleep.

Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) has probably the best clinical evidence overall for insomnia. Repeated RCTs and a meta-analysis show improvements in sleep efficiency, sleep duration, wake after sleep onset and sleep quality. However, there is no evidence yet that it specifically increases N3 sleep. Its benefits may result from reducing hyperarousal and stress, allowing more normal sleep architecture to emerge, but this remains to be proven in clinical trials.

For more information see: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42166599/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11731907/

02/08/2026

The Australian investigative TV show, 4 Corners, has released a new episode called “Duped: Food Exposed” on the topic of truth in the production, supply chains, marketing, labelling, selling, safety, and eating of our foods.

In short, they found a huge amount of food fraud, which is costing Australians $3 BILLION per year.

Some examples of food fraud and other issues in the investigation includes:

• 25% of processed tomato products, such as tomato paste or puree, passata etc were found to have not been grown in the locations claimed on the label. Leggo’s tomato paste had a big problem, with 80% showing they were produced in China, despite the company’s labelling and marketing suggesting they were “Australian grown”. Being from China is a concern because of their apparent unregulated use of agricultural chemicals on crops, as well as from forced labour on tomato farms. Other brands and products also failed forensic testing of their location of origin compared to their marketing or labelling.
• Even Italian branded tomato products being sold in Australian supermarkets (Coles, Woolies, Aldi) use slave labour in their farming, harvesting or production.
• 27% of brands of turmeric were found to have been diluted or adulterated, or contaminated by iron oxide in a major spice brand (Hoyt’s), or lead in some brands and products. Hoyt’s had also previously been fined by the ACCC after their oregano herb products were found to be bulked up with olive leaves! Other turmeric brands were bulked up with other materials.
• Many “honey” products in Australia is adulterated with sugar syrups.
• Many egg brands were found to be labelled as from “cage free” chicken farms, when they were not, especially some Woolworths products.
• 33% of prawns failed country of origin testing. Origin testing of fish products was even worse.
• On average, one packaged food product per week is pulled off supermarket shelves in Australia, due to an undeclared allergen, which was almost always found from a customer with the allergy and not from the food regulators.
• Some “dairy-free” labelled products were found to contain dairy, such as Cocobella and RawC coconut products.
• Food scientists are paid to develop processed foods which taste, smell, and feel good using chemicals and additives which can be harmful to your health.
• Marketing terms such as “100% natural” and others have no regulation and are not accurate or even true.
• Highly processed and packaged foods that can be 60% sugar or higher, are specifically marketed as healthy foods for kids.
• Various food rating systems such as the Health Star Rating is flawed as they are based on a ridiculous formula calculation which is influenced by the food industry companies to hide issues in processed and packaged foods, and to pretend that foods are healthy so people buy them, when they are not healthy at all.
• The food regulators are almost useless, and the penalties for breaches are not much more than a slap on the wrist, and don’t stop the same companies doing the same things again.
• Foods are not the only substances which can be contaminated or affected, but alcoholic drinks too. Every sample of alcoholic spirits exceeded their methanol alcohol content, some by over 9x times more than the allowed limit of methanol. Some people have died from too-high methanol content in alcoholic drinks.

Other countries have food fraud organisations and investigations, but Australia does not.

I highly recommend that you watch this Part 1 of the Duped show on ABC iView for free! The link to this show can be found here:

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2026/video/NC2603H024S00

Sadly, we tend to believe the labelling on foods products, or the ingredients lists on these products. Two million Australians have food allergies, which makes accurate food labelling critical. When 66% of foods and drinks in Australian supermarkets are “ultra-processed” it’s a big concern, as you can’t really trust the labelling, marketing, or ingredients.

Better to reduce or avoid such processed and packaged products and only buy FRESH foods as meats and vegetables, and make your own meals instead!

Stay healthy!

References:

ABC. (2026). Duped: Food Exposed (Part 1). Retrieved 29th July 2026 from https://iview.abc.net.au/show/four-corners/series/2026/video/NC2603H024S00

01/08/2026

17/07/2026

16/07/2026

Our skin really dries out in winter ❄️ this Aspect Skincare product is AMAZING! Available from my clinic 😊

A little marine magic ✨

Enriched with a triple algae complex, Marine Youth Renewal Oil helps deeply nourish and replenish the skin, supporting softness, elasticity, and a healthy glow.

07/07/2026

01/07/2026

HHS Ends COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorizations

RFK Jr. has signed terminations ending the COVID-19 emergency use authorizations for drugs, biologics, and medical devices.

"Americans deserve a regulatory system that is transparent, accountable, and rooted in the rule of law."

"By ending these COVID-19 emergency use authorization declarations, we're reinforcing public confidence that emergency authorities are temporary and targeted."

Drug & biologic EUAs end in 12 months. Device EUAs end in 180 days.