Vitawell Wellness

30/12/2025

24/12/2025

Wishing you a wonderful holiday season filled with peace, rest and happiness. May you stay well and be well, embracing hope and joy as you move into the New Year. Take good care of yourself—you deserve every bit of peace and happiness.

22/12/2025

I got over 50 reactions on my posts last week! Thanks everyone for your support! 🎉

14/12/2025

🚨 It's not just about the scale: That "beer belly" is more dangerous to your heart than general weight gain! 🚨

New research shows that visceral fat (the fat around your organs, often measured by waist-to-hip ratio) hurts the heart differently than high BMI does.

While high BMI makes the heart "larger," visceral fat is linked to concentric remodeling, a dangerous stiffening/thickening of the heart walls.

The takeaway: Don't just rely on BMI. Measure your waist-to-hip ratio—it's a critical metric for assessing your true cardiovascular risk, especially in men.

14/12/2025

Soybean Oil (SO) is everywhere—your pantry, and almost every processed food.

Recent research found that high amounts of SO (rich in linoleic acid, an Omega-6 PUFA) were associated with weight gain and insulin resistance. Soybean oil trigger a 'master regulator' protein in the liver (HNF4-alpha) that regulates the expression of numerous genes that play a role in fat metabolism. https://www.jlr.org/article/S0022-2275(25)00195-6/fulltext

The takeaway? Switch to extra virgin olive oil. Olive oil is primarily an omega-9 fatty acid, specifically oleic acid, which is highly regarded for its heart health benefits. As a staple of the Mediterranean diet, its consumption is strongly associated with cardiovascular wellness and reduced risk of chronic disease.

30/11/2025

Recent research has shown that elevated exposure to toxic environmental substances and increased oral toxicity may lead to a disrupted oral microbiome, increased inflammation and oxidative stress, and tissue damage in the mouth and may also contribute to an increased risk of oral and systemic diseases.

Dysbiosis of the oral microbiome may lead to local inflammation, dysregulation of the immune system, translocation of pathogenic bacteria into the bloodstream, and initiation of systemic inflammation.The associated inflammation may promote the development of periodontal disease that has been further associated with other inflammatory conditions as well as neuroinflammation.

Periodontal disease and periodontitis are reported risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and have established connections to other chronic conditions such as metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

A 2025 meta-analysis of 14 observational studies (n=72,467) found that participants with reported cadmium and lead exposures had significantly higher odds of a periodontitis diagnosis compared to controls.

Further, results from a national oral health survey conducted in China found that patients with periodontitis had been exposed to higher concentrations of trace heavy metals (i.e., iron, manganese, and copper) in drinking water from the tap compared to healthy participants.

Read more here:

Periodontitis, a prevalent inflammatory oral disease, is intricately linked to disruptions in the oral microbiome, a state known as microbial dysbiosis. This...

08/11/2025

Did you know if you eat your foods in the right order, you can significantly reduce your blood sugar spike by as much as 75%?

Eating vegetables first, then protein and fat, and starches or sugars last slows glucose absorption, leading to steadier energy and fewer cravings.

23/10/2025

This is a reminder that our online course starts on the 1st of November! This is a self-paced course consisting of 4 modules titled "A Patient’s Guide to Evidence, Supplements, and Survivorship" So incredibly excited!!! Enrolments accepted until the end of this month. Curious? Take a look here:
https://www.manuelaboyle.com.au/courses-for-non.../

21/10/2025

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes play an important role in the biotransformation of drugs and endogenous substances.

Clinical medications and herbal remedies can either enhance or inhibit the activity of CYP enzymes, leading to potential drug interactions between herbal supplements and prescribed medications. Such interactions can lead to serious consequences, especially for drugs with a narrow therapeutic index, such as digoxin, warfarin, and cyclosporine A.

The available evidence indicates that high doses of saffron and its active constituents affect the expression or activity of some CYP isoforms, including the CYP1A1/2, CYP3A4, and CYP2E1 subfamily. Considering the important role of these CYPs in the biotransformation of frequently prescribed medications and the activation of procarcinogen into carcinogenic metabolites, it can be expected that the consumption of saffron and its active constituents may influence the pharmacokinetics and toxicity of several substances.

In particular, given the critical role of CYP3A4 in drug metabolism, and saffron's inhibitory impact on this CYP enzyme, it appears that saffron's most significant interaction is linked to its inhibition of CYP3A4. In addition, the inhibitory effect of saffron on CYP1A1/2, and CYP2E1 expression can play a role in the chemopreventive effect of this herbal medicine.

In summary, be aware of potentialinteractiobs between saffron and prescription medications.


Read more here: Bathaei P, Imenshahidi M, Vahdati-Mashhadian N, Hosseinzadeh H. Effects of Crocus sativus and its active constituents on cytochrome P450: a review. Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol. 2025 Sep;398(9):11407-11420. doi: 10.1007/s00210-024-03525-6. Epub 2025 Apr 1. PMID: 40167627.

19/10/2025

In a comprehensive analysis involving 700,000 patients with psoriasis across four countries, researchers found an increased risk for cancer overall and for multiple types of cancer.

Researchers conducted population-based cohort studies in four countries — Denmark, England, Israel, and Taiwan.

Psoriasis was associated with an overall 5% increased risk for cancer overall after adjustment for confounding factors. No association was observed between psoriasis and cancer in Denmark.

Significant associations were found for the following cancers: oral cavity (pHR, 1.29), pharynx (pHR, 1.30), oesophagus (pHR, 1.17), liver (pHR, 1.53), pancreas (pHR, 1.09), kidney (pHR, 1.19), Hodgkin lymphoma (pHR, 1.56), keratinocyte cancer (pHR, 1.37), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (pHR, 1.43), and leukemia (pHR, 1.61).

The researchers concluded that "these findings emphasize the need to reinforce cancer prevention strategies in the care of psoriasis patients so as to reduce the cancer burden.” (risk of cancer).
Cancer Thrivers


Read more here:

An increased risk of cancer in psoriasis has been postulated, but the association remains incompletely understood. This study sought to examine the risk of

17/10/2025

The timing of when you eat might be just as important as what you eat! 🤯

New research looked at how a dysregulated sleep-wake cycle (think night shift work or constant late nights) affects our eating habits and weight.

Researchers restricted access to a high-fat diet (HFD) in mice to either their active (dark) or inactive (light) period. The results were dramatic and mirror what we see in humans struggling with irregular schedules:

Consuming a HFD during an inactive period (eating unhealthy food late at night) resulted in gaining significantly more weight and fat mass, and eating larger, more frequent meals during the day.

Our metabolism is a complex process. You might think that your metabolism slows down drastically at the end of the day and, therefore, your body does not burn off the calories you consume at night. But in fact, even though your metabolism is slower at night when you are stationary than when you are active, your metabolism never stops working, even when you are sleeping. Calories consumed at night won’t change your metabolism or count more than calories consumed during the day.

The big takeaway? Restricting unhealthy food access to the wrong time of day—like when you are supposed to be resting—promotes behavioral changes that significantly increase the risk of obesity.
Read more here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/oby.70030

CCancer Thrivers

15/10/2025

How healthy are breakfast cereals?
Not so much. Many — perhaps, most — of the biggest names in the cereal world have a lot of sugar, minimal protein before adding milk, a bunch of additives, and not much else. Some don’t even have much fiber, a feature that is supposed to make breakfast cereal a healthy choice.

And, you know the 120 to 150 calorie count often listed on the side of the box? Turns out that the actual portions many people consume can easily soar past 300 calories at a time.

And what about eye-catching boasts like “heart healthy,” “high in vitamins,” “all natural,” or “part of a healthy breakfast"? Unfortunately, researchers have found little connection between health claims and overall nutritional content. In fact, for many cereals, the bulk of the nutritional value relies on something that’s not even in the box: milk.