Health Insights & Articles
Evidence-based insights on nutritional medicine, functional health, and wellness strategies to support your health journey.
Why Your Metabolism Slows When You Diet (And Two Minerals That May Reverse It)
Why Your Metabolism Slows When You Diet (And Two Minerals That May Reverse It) By Rohan Smith · Functional & Nutritional Medicine, Adelaide · Published April 24, 2026 Quick Answer If you've ever lost weight, hit a plateau, and then watched it creep back on, you...
Is Your SIBO Breath Test Reliable? Why Standard Testing May Miss the Mark in IBS
Is Your SIBO Breath Test Really Reliable? Why Standard Testing May Miss the Mark in IBS By Rohan Smith · Functional & Nutritional Medicine, Adelaide · Published April 16, 2026 Quick Answer Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) breath testing — the hydrogen...
Tinnitus: Root Causes and What Functional Medicine Can Actually Do About It
Quick Answer: What Does Functional Medicine Say About Tinnitus? Tinnitus — that persistent ringing, buzzing, or hissing in the ears — affects roughly 15–20% of adults [13] and remains one of the most frustrating conditions in conventional medicine because there is no...
CoQ10 for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | Mitochondrial Support
CoQ10 for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome | Mitochondrial Support Quick Answer Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a fat-soluble compound that functions as an essential electron carrier in the mitochondrial electron transport chain — the process your cells use to produce adenosine...
Why Advanced Diagnostic Screening Is the New Normal for Midlife Health
Why Advanced Diagnostic Screening Is the New Normal for Midlife Health At a Glance What it is: A risk-stratified approach to preventive testing — matching diagnostics to your age, symptoms, and family history rather than running generic panels. This highlights the...
Why You Can’t “Hustle” Your Way Out of Stress (And What to Do Instead)
Author: Rohan Smith | Functional and Nutritional Medicine | Adelaide At a Glance: The High-Performer's Paradox Nervous system resilience is your body's capacity to activate for real demand — focus, urgency, performance — and then reliably downshift toward baseline...
The ‘Normal’ Lab Result Trap: Why One-Size-Fits-All Health Advice Is Dead
The ‘Normal’ Lab Result Trap: Why One-Size-Fits-All Health Advice Is Dead Practitioner: Rohan Smith, Functional Medicine Practitioner At a Glance — What is Personalised Prevention?Personalised prevention is a health strategy tailored to an individual’s unique risk...
Personalised Biomarker Tracking: A Safer Alternative to Symptom Googling (and Why It Matters)
Personalised Biomarker Tracking: A Safer Alternative to Symptom Googling (and Why It Matters) Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer Personalised biomarker tracking is defined as measuring a small set of objective health...
Why Diets Fail: The Biomarkers That Influence Your Metabolism
Metabolic Health & Biomarkers: Why Standard Diets Often Miss the Mark Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer Metabolic health describes how effectively the body regulates energy (glucose and fat) while maintaining key...
Is Your Anti-Ageing Stack Actually Working? (The 2026 Reality Check)
Is Your Anti-Ageing Stack Actually Working? (The 2026 Reality Check) Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer Longevity is defined as the length of life, but in healthcare, it usually refers to healthspan: the years you can...
ChatGPT Said My Labs Were ‘Normal’ — My Body Disagreed
Functional vs. Normal Blood Test Ranges Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer In standard clinical pathology, a “normal” blood test result means your value falls within a statistical reference interval—typically the...
Why Your Smartwatch Knows You’re Tired… but Not Why
Why Your Smartwatch Knows You’re Tired… but Not Why Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer Wearable devices (smartwatches and rings) estimate physiological strain using signals such as heart rate variability (HRV), sleep...
If Google Were Right, You’d Be Dead by Now
If Google Were Right, You’d Be Dead by Now Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer Searching symptoms online and matching them to diseases is an unreliable way to understand health. “Symptom-matching” is the process of using...
Can AI Really Fix Your Hormones — Or Just Tell You to Sleep More?
Can AI Really Fix Your Hormones… or Just Tell You to Sleep More? Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer Artificial intelligence is increasingly used to answer health questions, including those related to hormones. Population...
MTHFR – Do you even need Activated B’s?
MTHFR – Do You Even Need Activated B’s? Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) is an enzyme involved in converting folate into 5-MTHF, a form used in one-carbon metabolism and...
The Melatonin Light Connection
The Melatonin-Light Connection: Why Darkness is a Biological Necessity Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Our ancestors’ lives were shaped by natural light and darkness. Today, bright indoor lighting and screens extend “daytime...
Fasting vs Starvation: Therapeutic Fasting Safety & Science
Fasting vs Starvation: Therapeutic Fasting Safety & Science Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA Quick Answer Fasting and starvation are not the same physiological state. Starvation occurs when the body lacks sufficient energy...
Functional Medicine and Chronic Disease
Functional Medicine: Finding the “Why” Behind Chronic Illness Author: Rohan Smith | Functional Medicine Practitioner | Adelaide, SA In our Adelaide clinic at Elemental Health and Nutrition, many patients describe persistent fatigue, pain, or physiological imbalance...