Louisa Khoury Naturopath

23/11/2025

Could the answer to the current allergy epidemic in our children be as simple as feeding them blueberries? A rigorously run infant RCT suggests that adding blueberries as one of the first solids may nudge immune balance in an anti-allergic direction and help allergy-type symptoms settle during the first year—while also shifting the gut microbiome in potentially favourable ways.

The first year of life is a critical window for establishing immune competence and preventing allergic diseases. Dietary exposures during this period can influence the induction of immune tolerance, epigenetic programming, and gut microbial succession.

In a double blind, randomised, placebo-controlled feeding trial in Denver, USA, exclusively breast-fed infants (n=61, start age 5–6 months) received freeze-dried blueberry powder (10 g/day) or an isocaloric, colour/flavour-matched placebo until 12 months of age.

The blueberry group started out with more respiratory/allergy-like symptoms at baseline yet showed a greater resolution over time vs placebo (trajectory p=0.05). Immune biomarkers: IL-13 (pro-allergic/Th2 response) fell significantly with blueberries (p=0.035); IL-10 (anti-inflammatory/regulatory) trended up (p=0.052). However, the changes in these cytokines could not directly explain symptom changes. However, specific gut microbiome changes at 12 months correlated with the cytokine changes, hinting at gut-immune crosstalk.

In a companion paper in the same cohort, blueberry introduction altered gut microbiota composition/diversity (trends toward higher alpha diversity; increases in short-chain fatty acid-associated genera such as Subdoligranulum/Butyricicoccus and reductions in potentially unfavourable organisms such as Escherichia/Streptococcus).

The findings align with broader evidence showing that diverse, fibre- and polyphenol-rich complementary diets plus early allergen introduction help shape the gut-immune axis toward tolerance.

For more information see: https://bit.ly/4i7mr2M
and
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40944184/

21/11/2025

17/11/2025

A beautiful tree camellia blooming until the very end !!
What a joy ! 🌼

27/10/2025

NET SUCCESS :: Heal the Healer 🦋
Always such a joy coming together with the wonderful NET community!! We were also joined by some very special friends 🦘🦘🦘💫
‘The Deeper You’ was truly transformative with new techniques to take home to our patients.
It is such an honour to witness real time transformations within the community & deep within ourselves.
Until next year !! ☀️😎🥰🙏🦘🦋

15/10/2025

Hand osteoarthritis (HOA) is a degenerative joint disease that primarily affects the distal and proximal interphalangeal joints (DIP/PIP) and the first carpometacarpal joint at the base of the thumb, causing pain, stiffness, reduced grip/pinch strength, and characteristic bony nodules (Heberden’s and Bouchard’s nodes). Compared with knee or hip OA, HOA more often presents in mid-to-late life women, frequently involves multiple small joints symmetrically, and impairs fine motor tasks rather than weight-bearing function.

High-quality herbal trials in HOA are rare; most phytotherapy studies focus on knee OA. That’s why a recent Belgian multicentre, double-blind trial of standardised Curcuma longa (turmeric) and Boswellia serrata extracts is noteworthy: over 3 months, the combination achieved a statistically significant reduction in pain versus placebo and was generally well tolerated.

The double blind, randomised controlled trial included 162 adults with symptomatic hand OA (mean age, 63.1 years; 76.5% women) who reported hand pain on ≥ 50% of days in the prior month and ≥ 48 hours before baseline, with pain ranging from 40 to 80 mm on a 100-mm visual analogue scale (VAS) in at least one hand over the last 24 hours. The primary outcome was the mean change in finger pain on both hands during the past 24 hours on the VAS over 3 months.

At 3 months (intention-to-treat analysis), patients who received the plant extracts had a greater mean VAS pain reduction of 24.7 mm compared with 16.2 mm in those who received placebo (difference, -8.5 mm; P = 0.03); similar benefit was observed at month 1 (difference, -7.0 mm; P = 0.04). Patients receiving the plant extracts vs placebo also showed significant improvements in the patient global assessment (difference, -9.6 mm; P = 0.01) and quality of life score (P = 0.01) at month 3. There were no significant differences vs placebo for the number of painful/swollen joints, functional score, grip strength and analgesic consumption.
The number of adverse effects did not differ significantly between the two groups, and most of them were unrelated to the use of plant extracts. However, one patient taking the herbal combination developed acute hepatitis, judged as “probably related” (no further details provided).

The trial intervention was two tablets/day of a product containing Curcuma longa (turmeric) standardised dry extract: 237 mg, providing 200 mg curcumin and Boswellia serrata oleoresin: 51 mg, standardised to 65% boswellic acids and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol): 3.6 μg (144 IU). (Note there is an error in the paper that states each tablet contained 1.4 mg of vitamin D (56,000 IU). Whoops!) Higher doses of these herbs might well achieve a better result.

This was a robust, well-designed RCT with a clinically relevant primary endpoint and a statistically significant and moderate benefit vs placebo.

For more information see: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/combination-plant-extracts-shows-promise-hand-osteoarthritis-2025a1000h5o?ecd=mkm_ret_250830_mscpmrk-OUS_InFocus_etid7668522&uac=48709HJ&impID=7668522

and

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40554037/

09/10/2025

Beautiful supporting wound healing, skin issues & has an affinity for the uterus. She brings warmth to the area which is often used in mixes for the me**es 🌼

09/10/2025

Our human body’s are pure frequency. What we wear, eat, feel & think is also a vibrational frequency. 💫

This is why a allows for deeper insight into our health as it not only addressing the physical but the energetic & emotional body also.

Energy is life~

27/09/2025

Spring Salad :: 🥗

20/09/2025

My beautiful healing balm :: soothing burns, repairing skin & relieving itch. Perfect for the outside while we take care of the inside 🌿😉👌🏽

17/09/2025

Have courage, take Heart~

Sturt’s Desert Pea~

16/09/2025

As my beautiful 8 year old patient just told me, “we all need something different as our body’s are all different”. 💫
Couldn’t have said it better myself 😉