Thank you so much to everyone who has supported Vibrant Lives Podcast...I've had a blast speaking with amazing guests from all over the world and creating a platform where health promoting advice is delivered to you in a friendly and easy to understand format. It's time for me to take a six month break from podcasting and reassess where I'm heading with my podcast, and with my life generally. You can still listen to all my episodes on your favourite podcasting platform or find them on my...

I feel lucky to be able to share Zane Landin’s story with you on Vibrant Lives Podcast. Zane has many strings to his (young) bow but the message that came through very clearly in our discussion was the importance of empathy, storytelling and positivism.  For me, this episode was insightful because inclusion, acceptance and understanding are at the forefront of the minds of Zane and his peers.   Zane is a mental health and disability advocate, a queer rights activist, entrepreneur and founder...

I am pretty excited about this episode with Sarah Rusbatch. Sarah is a Health and Wellbeing Coach, Sobriety and Grey Area Drinking Coach, Motivational Speaker and all round inspiring person!   Sarah was the consummate party girl - always ready for a drink and a big night out with friends. Gradually, Sarah found her drinking, and efforts to moderate it, were consuming her mental space, causing her some regrets and that alcohol was ultimately taking more from her than it was giving. Sarah had...

This week I have a fascinating and informative discussion with Sports and Orthopaedic Physical Therapist, Rick Olderman. Rick has dedicated his career to solving the puzzle of chronic musculoskeletal pain and has developed a unique approach to eliminating pain without medication.  In Rick’s experience, the medical and allied health professions are excellent at identifying  and isolating damaged tissue and treating it. However, they are not necessarily excellent and understanding why the...

Adaptogens are herbal supplements that can help the body adapt to stress and maintain balance. Adaptogens have an impressive array of health benefits from helping us conserve vitality as we age, enhancing mental performance and improving physical endurance. Adaptogens have been used for centuries in traditional medicine and scientists are starting to understand how these precious little gems work. Some of the most well known ones are - Ashwagandha, Panax ginseng, Rhodiola rosea, Schisandra...

A warm welcome to the first Vibrant Lives Podcast episode of 2023 and it is a wonderful one, both touching and informative. My guest this week is Karena Kilcoyne, a defence lawyer turned author and spiritual teacher. Karena helps people process trauma and shame. Often the experience of trauma leads us to tell ourselves stories about ourselves that can profoundly affect how we are in the world. For example, if we felt abandoned as a child, we might believe that we are unworthy of love and that...

Amanda reflects on 2022 a year that was underwhelming and tinged with sadness but punctuated with some bright spots. She gives a run-down of the five most popular episodes and shares some of her learnings. Vibrant lives Podcast wishes you a happy, healthy fun and safe festive season. TOP 5 EPISODES OF 2022  1st - Treating teen acne and nurturing mature skin with skin expert, dermatologist Dr Emma Ryan: https://vibrantlivespodcast.com/podcasts/emma-ryan/ 2nd - Getting around men's mental...

This week I have a wide-ranging conversation with Marie Rowland, Psychotherapist and Director of Talking Matters, a private therapy practice where she helps clients work through matters from relationship conflicts, managing stress and anxiety to notions of success including self-image and social relevance.   Marie and I discuss what she refers to as the “other pandemic" of stress, sadness and loneliness and how COVID both contributed to and brought that into focus. We also discuss emotional...

I simply adored my discussion with yoga instructor, Veronique Ory of Yoga with Veronique. If you need some prompting to show up in your life with love and compassion, to remember self-love, please listen to my chat with Veronique because it will make you feel really good.   Veronique’s journey towards yoga is an interesting one. She studied Theatre at Russell Sage College in New York and worked in that space for years, including 17 years at the helm of her own theatre company, Athena Theatre...

The Blue Zones are communities around the world where people live to a ripe old age and in relatively good heath. In the Blue Zones, the proportion of 90 to 100-year-olds to the overall population is unusually high. The concept and classification of the BZ came about through a National Geographic expedition led by Dan Beuttner to investigate communities around the world that live longer and better and understand what common factors enhanced longevity in those populations. The BZ researchers...

Over the course of a lifetime, a menstruating women will use between 5 and 15 thousand tampons and pads. Most of those will end up in landfill as plastic waste - standard tampons take about 500 years to break down. That means, the world's first ever tampon is still on this planet. What if we could do period care differently?  Enter Hello Period, the world's first sustainable period company that offers reusable products - cups, discs, pads and period underpants. Hello Period was co-founded by...

Do you ever feel defeated by the clutter in your life? Where do you even start the decluttering process?   The good news is that this week’s guest, Sandra Lane, is a Professional Organiser and Productivity Specialist and she shares with us some useful, practical tips to tackle that clutter - both physical and mental.   Our discussion ranges from why we accumulate so much stuff and the negative impact all that stuff can have on our physical and mental wellbeing to the liberating and empowering...

I have been looking forward to my discussion with Celeste Ferraris OLY for a while now and it did not disappoint!   Celeste is a Clinical Nutritionist with a special interest in the gut microbiome and how food affects mood. Celeste gives us a really good overview of the gut microbiome, what our gut bacteria do for us and what can happen when our bacteria is out of balance.   Celeste’s current research for her PhD is about the association between a liking for salty foods and depression, stress...

How do we know what matters in our lives and how do we achieve what matters?   This week’s guest, Dr Tabitha Healey, helps people identify what matters to them and sets them on a path to achieving it. After 20 years as a medical oncologist, for reasons you’ll learn in our discussion, Tabitha switched careers and became an Executive, Leadership and Wellbeing Coach and a Clinical Hypnotherapist.   Tabitha has looked after people at their most vulnerable, she’s tended to people near death and...

Eating insects is not new; in many cultures insects have traditionally made up an important component of people's diets supplying protein and good fats. What is an emerging area of scientific research though, is using insects as fodder for production animals.   My guest this week, Senior Research Scientist Dr Kristy Digiacomo, is very well acquainted with her research subjects, black soldier flies. Kristy entertainingly talks us through how the larvae of these flies, fed on food waste, can be...

The term “fitspo” refers to “fitness inspiration” but is it really inspiring to see fitspos?   I delve into the question with Dr Ivanka Prichard, Associate Professor and health psychologist at Flinders University, South Australia. Ivanka ’s interests include the interaction between body image, exercise and eating behaviour. We discuss factors influencing body image and the ramifications of having a positive or negative body image.   Ivanka’s recent research examines the impact of different...

Plant based dairy milk alternatives have exploded in popularity which is great news for people with allergies to dairy or lactose intolerance. For many of us, we choose them because they taste good and some of them, like oat milk, have better environmental credentials than cow's milk. Alternative milks have quite different nutrition profiles so it is helpful to know how your favourite milk stacks up when it comes to protein, energy or carbohydrate content. In this Five Minute Food Facts...

When we think of cancer research we often conjure images of test tubes, microscopes and lab coats. What are they doing, those brainy scientific researchers, and what are they finding out?   Today, I take you behind the scenes with biomedical scientist, Associate Professor Dr Susan Woods, who shares with us some of the ground-breaking and truly inspiring research taking place in her lab at Adelaide University Medical School. Susi specialises in gut (including bowel) cancer research. Her focus...

As we know, staying active is so important for physical and mental health. Unfortunately though, women are much less likely to play team sport than men and by the age of 15, nearly one-third of girls will stop playing club sport.   There are numerous reasons for this, such as inappropriate (or non-existent) women’s changing facilities and fewer female role models. Yet many of the reasons like wearing the right sports bra and understanding your menstrual cycle, can be addressed with some basic...

Bowel cancer is also known as the "silent killer” because sometimes it can be asymptomatic, particularly in the early stages of the disease. After lung cancer, bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in Australia. But, it shouldn’t be. If caught early, 99% of treatments are successful.Nick Lee OAM, my guest this week, is on a mission to empower Australians to prevent bowl cancer through the Jodi Lee Foundation, which he set up after the death of his wife, Jodi,...

Did you know that your skin is the largest organ in your body?Our skin is a complex organ with multiple important roles. When something goes wrong with our skin, as opposed to say plaque building up in our arteries, often we can’t hide it and that can cause not only discomfort but also embarrassment. The health of our skin can play an enormous role in how we feel about ourselves and has the potential to impact our mood.That is why I am honoured to speak with skin expert, dermatologist, Dr...

Are you confused about eating eggs? Nutrition powerhouse or cholesterol punch? It is true that eggs are high in cholesterol but we now know that, for most people, dietary cholesterol only has a small impact on blood cholesterol. Recent scientific studies show that egg consumption is not associated with overall heart disease risk factors. There are, in fact, many benefits to eating eggs. Find out more in my Five Minute Food Facts podcast. LINKS MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE Choice article about ...

TRIGGER WARNING: In this podcast episode we discuss suicide and suicidal ideation. Did you know that in Australia, in any one year, around 1 million adults have depression? In this episode I put a voice to Australia's mental health crisis with civil engineer, Gerry Doyle. For all appearances, Gerry is the embodiment of success - he is CEO at Tonkin Consulting, a leading provider of engineering and environmental services, he is happily married and father to five boys. Gerry is a competitive...

When you hear artificial intelligence (AI) and big data it may be robots, smart homes and self-driving cars that you think of, not necessarily your health. AI and data have a powerful role to play in our health with potential applications that will change the face of health care. This week's guest, Harry Glorikian, AI expert, healthcare entrepreneur and author enlightens us about the fascinating technological innovations taking place in the health care space. Harry is the author of, The...