Jaclyn Cave Naturopath

05/11/2025

Do these symptoms resonate with you? If so, here’s what to do:

🩸 Test oestrogen:
→ On cycle day 2/3, and
→ 7 days post-ovulation alongside progesterone

If you have high oestrogen levels, or an inadequate progesterone to oestrogen ratio, my latest substack breaks down why this could be the case. It includes comprehensive dietary, nutritional, and herbal treatment strategies to support you ⚖️

https://jaclyncave.substack.com/p/high-oestrogen-causes-symptoms-and

02/11/2025

🩸 Pathology → Iron studies, folate, Vit D, B12, TSH, HbA1c, fasting insulin

🥬 Deficiencies → Have a practitioner check your results for you and create a personalised protocol

💊 Supplements → A high quality prenatal and fish oil to begin

🪱 Partner → Alcohol, smoking, lack of sleep, and a poor diet reduce s***m quality

❌ Toxins → Reduce exposure to these in your food, kitchen, laundry, and bathroom

💤 Sleep → Ideally 7 - 9 hours for for both partners as much as possible

⚖️ Weight → When too low or high can hinder ovulation and therefore your chance of conception

🫐 Antioxidants → Increase blueberries, cacao, pecans, purple grapes, walnuts, kidney beans, broccoli cinnamon, cloves

🗓️ Fertile window → Couples only have a 6 day window to conceive in each month! Track your cycle

If you are planning a pregnancy in 2026 and want to reduce your time to conception, decrease risk factors, and feel the best version of yourself, I am here to support you 🤍

https://jaclyncave.com/

22/10/2025

🥥 Homemade Crunchy Paleo Granola 🌰

This is the granola recipe I make on repeat week in week out! It is very inspired by a well known paleo granola I adore and was buying copious amounts. I knew I would be able to get my act together and make my own version, and here we are.

See the notes section at the bottom for guidance on substitutions, serving suggestions, and ways to share with your little ones.

💫 Ingredients 💫

* 1 cup sunflower seeds
* 1 cup pumpkin seeds
* 1/2 cup of almonds, roughly chopped
* 1/2 cup of pecans, roughly chopped
* 1 cup shredded coconut
* 2 tablespoons flaxseeds
* 2 tablespoons chia seeds
* 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
* 1/2 cup honey
* 4 tablespoons coconut oil

✨ Recipe ✨

1. Preheat your oven to 150 degrees and line 1 large baking tray with baking paper or a silicon mat
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a large bowl
3. Mix wet ingredients (honey and coconut oil) together in a smaller bowl. I like to heat these up on low heat on the stovetop
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix well
5. Bake for 30 minutes, tossing the granola half way through
6. This is the most important step! Once you take it out of the oven, let it cool completely to room temperature (see 3rd photo). This is how you form the clusters you can see in the video. Once cool, break it up the pieces and store in a container

Notes

- I blitz the nuts in my blender to make them quite fine so I can share this granola with my toddler. She looooves this granola. If I wasn’t, I personally would keep them larger for texture and crunch
- Any nuts should work well here. I’ve made this with cashews and Brazil nuts and both were delicious
- I haven’t tried with any other sweetener but I predict this would work well with rice malt syrup too, noting it will turn out less sweet
- I suggest storing your granola in the fridge to retain freshness. It does keep outside the fridge as well for a few weeks
- Delicious served over yoghurt, smoothie bowls, or as a snack with milk!

12/10/2025

29/07/2025

If you’re dealing with acne, eczema, psoriasis, or rosacea, here is where to start:

🐟 Fish oil�
• Fish oil contains essential fatty acids (EFAs) that play a key role in the structural integrity, barrier function, inflammatory response, and overall appearance of the skin
• To support a healthy skin barrier repair you need at least 2000mg of combined EPA & DHA daily. This is usually 2 capsule of a high quality practitioner-grade fish oil

🦪 Zinc

• Eat zinc-rich foods in abundance! Oysters, beef, pumpkin seeds, cashews
• Zinc is imperative for skin repair and wound healing. Inadequate zinc levels will exacerbate acne and inflammation and may lead to increased scarring on the surface of the skin
• Check your zinc status via a blood test

💩 Bowels

• Ensure daily bowel motions!
• Constipation alters the gut microbiome, reducing beneficial bacteria and increasing pro-inflammatory compounds (eg lipopolysaccharides). This can trigger or worsen conditions like eczema, psoriasis, and acne

😩 Stress

• Reduce and manage stress
• High cortisol leads to increased sebum production, increases inflammation, and can drive up androgens that lead to acne. Properly addressing stress is a game changer when looking to improve your skin health!

🩸 Hormones

• If you experience skin symptoms cyclically, it is very possible that your hormones are linked. Test them!
• Day 2 - oestrogen, FSH, LH, a full androgen panel (testosterone, DHEAS, androstenedione, SHBG, FAI)
• 7 days post ovulation - progesterone

09/07/2025

Are you struggling with ongoing acne and breakouts? Finding the root cause is the the best way to support and correct your skin, for good.

🧬 Hormonal

High male hormones - testosterone, DHEAS, androstenedione
Low SHBG
Low progesterone
High oestrogen

This is a common presentation post-pill, in PCOS, endometriosis, hypothalamic amenorrhoea, and those with high stress levels

→ Test androgens and oestrogen on cycle day 2
→ Test progesterone 7 days post-ovulation

🌞 Nutritional

Healthy skin function requires optimal levels of omega 3s, zinc, vitamin A, vitamin D, and protein

→ Have your diet reviewed and analysed, do a blood test for nutrient levels

🌿 Digestive

Conditions like dysbiosis, constipation, hyperintestinal permeability, and SIBO can disrupt optimal gut function and cause inflammation

→ Review symptoms and order a microbiome test

07/07/2025

By addressing inflammation, pain, and oestrogen metabolism holistically, it is so possible to live well with endometriosis 🤍 Here are some of the strategies discussed in my blog (linked below):

🥦 Cruciferous vegetables - Contain indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and diindolylmethane (DIM) which support liver detoxification of excess oestrogen. These include broccoli sprouts, Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, bok choy, arugula, collard greens, kohlrabi, radish, watercress.

🔥 NAC - N-Acetylcysteine is the precursor to glutathione, a potent antioxidant that reduces oxidative stress, pain, and can improve fertility outcomes. Highly recommended if you’re in a preconception or TTC life phase.

🙋🏻‍♀️ Pelvic physiotherapy - Working with a pelvic floor physiotherapist can alleviate pelvic pain, support mobility, and improve your quality of life.

🫚 Curcumin - One of my key go-to supplements for endometriosis support. It can reduce endometrial cell proliferation, thereby reducing levels of pain and inflammation.

Read more at https://www.jaclyncave.com/journal-2/a-comprehensive-approach-to-supporting-endometriosis.

16/06/2025

The top causes of low progesterone levels are:

😰 Stress - Prolonged elevated cortisol levels disrupt progesterone production

🙋🏻‍♀️ PCOS - Due to anovulation or erratic ovulation. Elevated androgens or insulin (or both) can hinder ovulation

🥙 Undereating - Your body needs enough food to ovulate! Undereating, overtraining, or the condition hypothalamic amenhorrea are a common cause

⚖️ Perimenopause - Declining ovarian function before menopause reduces progesterone levels, while oestrogen levels fluctuate

🦋 Hypothyroidism - Low thyroid hormone disrupts the release of LH, reducing corpus luteum function and progesterone synthesis

Ovulation is the main event of the menstrual cycle! And your period is your report card. Supporting ovulation supports optimal progesterone levels. This is crucial for a healthy menstrual cycle 🫶🏻

19/05/2025

🔎 Did you know? 🔍

You can only get pregnant for around 6 days a cycle - that’s your entire fertile window. Once ovulation has occurred, the egg lives from 12 - 24 hours. That’s it! S***m can live in the uterus and fallopian tubes for 5 days once ej*******on has occurred. If we combine these, this means that a woman is fertile for only around 6 days of her cycle. It’s not a very long period of time!

Here’s when you want to time s*x for your best chances of conceiving:

• The 4 days before ovulation
• The day of ovulation
• The day after ovulation

Ovulation can happen earlier or later than expected - every cycle is unique. Familiarise yourself with your individual menstrual cycle! Determining your pattern of ovulation so that you know your fertile window will enhance your chances of conception when TTC.

22/04/2025

PCOS affects hormonal, reproductive, metabolic, and mental health, and is one of the most common conditions I see in my clinic. It is often mistaken for hypothalamic amenorrhoea (HA) or post pill amenorrhoea, and I’m often untangling the details of someone’s diagnosis to make sure it is the correct one 🔍

Here are some of the the common evidence-based Naturopathic interventions (minerals, nutrients, herbals, dietary) I commonly prescribe and why:

🦪 Zinc reduces inflammation and hyperandrogenism, supports ovulation and progesterone production
🥬 Magnesium enhances glucose parameters, promotes insulin sensitivity, supports nervous system health, and supports optimal sleep
🍊 Inositol improves insulin signalling, decreases androgens, increases SHBG levels, and improves ovulatory function
🐓 N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) acts as an antioxidant, improves insulin sensitivity, improves metabolic markers, and enhances oocyte quality
🌞 Vitamin D supports ovarian function, reduces inflammation, improves glycemic control, and can reduce depressive symptoms
🍣 Omega 3s are anti-inflammatory, improve insulin sensitivity, cholesterol levels, liver parameters, blood pressure, and skin complaints
🪵 Peony and Licorice herbal combination reduces androgen levels and improves ovulation rates
🫐 Saw Palmetto inhibits 5-alpha-reductase, reducing hirsutism and acne
🌿 Spearmint Tea reduces free testosterone, thereby improving hirsutism and acne
🍵 Green Tea provides polyphenols that enhance antioxidant capacity, support metabolic health, and reduce sebum levels
🥩 A high protein diet - Increases satiety, reduces insulin levels, and supports weight management
🧀 A low to moderate carbohydrate diet - Relevant if there is insulin resistance and liver dysfunction present

An important caveat - this is by no means an exhaustive list! There are another 10 - 20 interventions I use for my patients pending on their individual needs 🤍

10/04/2025

Introducing in my latest obsession - a homemade version of Lindt 85% dark chocolate. Save yourself from spending $8.50 a bar and make this instead! I buy my ingredients in bulk (in rather large quantities) from Honest to Goodness and The Source Bulk Foods 🍫

This is packed with rich cacao powder which is a potent source of antioxidants and polyphenols that feed the good bugs living in your microbiome. The cacao butter brings that velvety melt-in-your-mouth texture while providing beeeeeautiful fats. I’ve used coconut sugar here for that caramel flavour (but way less than most store-bought chocolate), and a touch of vanilla and salt to round it the flavours ⚡️

It’s honestly a proud kitchen moment for me (after at least 2 recipe fails)!

🤎 Lindt 85% knock off recipe 🤎

Ingredients:
- ¼ cacao butter
- ½ cup cacao powder
- 2 tablespoons coconut or brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla essence
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt

Method:
1. Melt cacao butter on low heat
2. Add through sifted cacao powder, stirring to combine.
3. Then stir through sifted sugar. Once combined bring the heat up to medium to a few minutes, it should be glossy and homogeneous.
4. Take off the heat and add in vanilla and salt.
5. Pour into silicon moulds. I like to keep the chocolate thin like Lindt so I pour small amounts into large rectangle moulds.
6. Pop in the fridge for 4 hours to harden.

👉🏻 I use silicon bar moulds from Alyce Alexandra Cookbooks which work really well for this. You can also use any Tupperware or even a shallow plate lined with baking paper

👉🏻 For a salty dark chocolate sprinkle additional flaky salt on top

👉🏻 You can also stir through roasted nuts, I’ve made this with macadamias and it was divine

Let me know how you go if you make it!