Der Meluka Australia Blog

Have you ever noticed that your gut seems to change just before your period arrives?  One week, digestion feels steady and predictable. The next, you are bloated by lunchtime, craving something sweet, feeling unusually reactive, and wondering why your jeans suddenly feel tighter. Add a crowded commute, back-to-back meetings, too much coffee, and not enough time to cook, and your cycle can start to feel like something you simply manage rather than truly understand. If this sounds familiar, you are not imagining it. And you are far from alone. Many women notice clear shifts in digestion, mood, skin, and energy...

Iron plays an important role in how we feel each day. It supports energy levels, helps transport oxygen around the body, and contributes to immune health. But iron does not work in isolation. How well your body absorbs and uses iron is closely linked to the health of your gut.When digestion is working well, nutrients from food are more easily absorbed. When it is not, even a diet rich in iron may fall short. Understanding this relationship can help explain why gut health matters when supporting healthy iron levels.   How the Gut Influences Iron Absorption Iron is absorbed primarily...

For many of us, a diet soft drink feels like the perfect guilt-free indulgence, all the fizz and flavour without the calories. Yet emerging research on diet soft drinks and gut microbiome disruption paints a more concerning picture. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, and saccharin in these beverages can alter gut bacteria balance, potentially fostering dysbiosis, inflammation, and metabolic shifts. 1 2 Disrupting the Balance Studies show these non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) reduce beneficial bacteria such as Clostridiaceae, Ruminococcaceae, Lachnospiraceae, Bifidobacteria, and Lactobacillus acidophilus while boosting pro-inflammatory strains like Proteobacteria and E. coli. A 2025 human trial found aspartame and sucralose...

Maintaining a healthy weight can get increasingly challenging with age. Starting in the late 30s, the body undergoes changes such as a slower basal metabolic rate and hormonal shifts, which can make losing weight more difficult. While drugs such as Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro have dominated headlines with their dramatic results, there’s growing interest in gut-based solutions, like synbiotics, that may support weight management and overall metabolism with fewer side effects. ¹ Recent research suggests synbiotics, targeted combinations of prebiotics and probiotics, can positively influence body composition, metabolic markers and inflammatory processes linked to weight regulation and metabolic disease. ¹...