Alison Mitchell Naturopath

12/08/2026

Part two of my book update - how I’m publishing it and what’s left to do

12/08/2026

It’s a work in progress, here’s where I’m up to.
I had to split the video in two because I talked too much. A bit like I do in my book perhaps?

30/07/2026

I've written a new blog post, this one is about perimenopause, menopause and sleep issues.

17/07/2026

Come with me to the Melbourne International flower and garden show!
In March I headed down to gather inspiration for my own garden, and to bring some ideas back for you, in regards to being water wise but also including medicinal herbs in a small garden and making your garden work for your mood, boosting that dopamine.
The biggest takeaway? You don’t need a big garden, or a separate “herb patch” to make this happen. Even a balcony or a single pot counts

Ways to be water wise in your garden:
• mulch generously to hold moisture in soil
• water deeply and less often, rather than a little every day.
• Choose plants suited to your climate and create microclimates within your garden
• Shape your garden so water flows to where it’s actually needed.
• Try wicking beds which water plants from below

Medicinal and culinary herbs worth weaving in:
• lemon balm for calm and digestion support
• Calendula for lymphatic support, skin health and vulnerary use
• Echinacea is typically used for immune health but you use the root, so it’s good mostly to look at unless you want to dig it all up
• globe artichoke for liver and gallbladder support, plus it’s stunning to look at in bloom
• turmeric and ginger for inflammation and digestion
• borage - generally calming and a the pollinators will thank you

And a bonus to gardening: getting your hands in healthy soil exposes you to microbes that can stimulate serotonin levels, improving your mood.

I came home with a lot of inspiration and ideas, I’ve already included some of these plants into my garden and my next project is underway, building some wicking beds which I will share with you soon.

10/07/2026

I’ve got a new tool in clinic - a pneumatic compression suit.

Compression therapy is something you can use for supporting lymphatic drainage, muscle recovery, circulation support and it is generally lovely for nervous system health (apparently it mimics the feeling of compression from being in the womb, also why weighted blankets feel so nice).

I’ve made the investment to get a pneumatic compression device to enhance the effects of lymphatic massage, something I do quite a bit of in clinic, and for my patients who have used it so far in clinic they’re loving it.

You can use this by itself but ideally it’s an add on for manual lymphatic drainage massage.
It’s like a suit that you put on, it gets plugged in and then air pressure applies segmental pressure along the area we’re targeting (legs /hips/ waist / arms) for about 20-30 minutes

If you’re interested in booking in you can book in directly for this on my page
https://alison-mitchell-naturopath.simplecliniconline.com/diary

20/06/2026

Yesterday I attended the Paediatrics in Practice Summit put together by Sonya Reynolds . Nutritionist . Epilepsy . Keto
It was a great day filled with learning and catching up with friends
As I work with a lot of family’s I was excited to fine tune my skills in working with children, especially some of the more gnarly issues like PANS and ARFID

The sessions included functional assessments, allergies, PANS, ADHD, babies microbiome and ARFID. Check out my Facebook posts for more in depth highlights of what was discussed during the day

20/06/2026

Fifth session is all about microbiome impacts. If you know me you’d appreciate how much I enjoyed this session.
Interesting tidbits:
• There is a respiratory microbiome but there isn’t much known about it yet
• If you could weight all your microbes it would be 1-2kg
• The balance of your immune system – the interplay of your Th1, Th2 and Th17 cells are developed by exposure to microbes in the environment. When a baby is born they are predominately Th2 dominant which is mostly allergy dominant and balance is shaped by response to bacteria and fungi. This allows the babies immune system to grow and develop so they are less dependant on the immune factors and defence proteins within breastmilk.
• The diversity of the babies microbiome is initially very small, and with breastfeeding and the babies exploration of a microbial rich world this develops the microbial diversity.
• There is a significant reduction in hospitalisation of babies who are breastfed for gastrointestinal infections.
• Babies born via c-section show a different microbiome to those born vaginally without antibiotics during labour, however there are various things that can influence the microbiome to ‘catch up’ with those babies born vaginally. Some of those things included having an older sibling, having cats at home, or being born in a rural area.
• In children whose microbiome did not ‘restore’ there is a strong association with increased rates of food allergies, asthma and atopic dermatitis.

20/06/2026

Kid’s can’t behave well if they don’t feel well. And there can be a myriad of reasons why this is the case. While I believe that neurodivergence is a brain type, there are so many things that make symptoms worse, also you can have symptoms of ADHD appear only at some times, so finding out what is out of balance is so important.
The fourth session discussed functional and conventional testing.

Testing in babies and children is not the same as adults and needs to be interpreted appropriately.

Some interesting facts :
- In breastfed babies there are some nutrients that are reflective of the mothers stores so we can test the mother to get an indication of the babies status.
- Iron level issues can contribute towards issues such as concentration, sleep difficulty, tics/tourettes but if you are not interpreting it correctly it can show up as fine, because inflammation can cause ferritin to look higher than it is
- Paediatric thyroid issues are on the rise
- Coeliac disease can present with no gut symptoms

The different type of testing options that were discussed included blood tests, HTMA, methylation testing, microbiome testing and organic acid testing.

20/06/2026

The third session of the day discussed ADHD. I’ve written a lot of content about ADHD before so don’t have much new to add, so will share some of my recent posts about ADHD if you would like to learn more about a naturopathic approach to ADHD.

If you’ve ever felt like the conventional way ADHD is talked about doesn’t quite sit right with you—you’re not alone. At my clinic, we take a neurodivergent-affirming approach, which means we don’t view ADHD as something “wrong” that needs to...

20/06/2026

Second session of the day is about PANS (paediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome) with Lisa Moane The Paediatric Naturopath.
It's not a well known issue but it's sadly too common.

Imagine that your child is completely fine one day, and then all of a sudden there's an extreme shift - there's an abrupt and dramatic onset of anxiety / separation anxiety, OCD, aggression, tics or other gait issues, sleep problems, bladder problems, food restriction (ARFID-like) and issues with cognition and ability to function at school. Not a conclusive list, and it doesn't always present with all the symptoms.

This conditions is largely driven by infections of various origin e.g Step, Mycoplasma, Lyme or mould toxicity and there is a strong inflammatory response in the brain.

How does a naturopath support it?
- Identify the trigger and treat accordingly
- Address gut health, of course
- Look at diet - keep blood sugar levels stabilised to prevent neurological flare, add in foods rich with healing compounds, feed gut microbiome, limit triggering foods
- Support methylation
- Reduce inflammation