Bicton’s Anna Nasuti crowned best integrative pharmacist

TREAT your stomach with the care and attention you would bestow on a veggie patch and your digestive tract will flourish.

That is the message of recently crowned BioCeuticals Best Integrative Pharmacist Anna Nasuti.

The honour recognises the contribution the Gerald Burns pharmacist has made to her patients by incorporating natural and conventional medicines along with diet and lifestyle.

Mrs Nasuti’s Gut Gardening program assists people with irritable bowel syndrome, chronic constipation and diarrhoea, indigestion and malabsorption problems.

“You can draw a good analogy between the gut and a garden,” Mrs Nasuti said.

“When you are about to plant something you don’t want to plant in dead, sandy soil.

“First you want to pull out all the yucky stuff and then slowly start putting in the manure.

With both formal pharmacy training and an interest in naturopathy, Mrs Nasuti advocates a holistic approach to digestive health incorporating lifestyle changes, supplements and medication.

“Digestive issues are very prevalent nowadays and a lot of the scripts we get are based on the suppression of stomach acid,” she said.

“Whenever you watch TV you see those sorts of products advertised and in the interim they are okay but they don’t address the root issues.”

Many of those issues, including skipping breakfast, poor food choices, eating in a hurry and living with constant stress, are a consequence of the hyper-accelerated modern lifestyle.

“Because we’re always eating on the run and feeling stressed out our bodies get in the same state as if we were running away from a predatory tiger and so we don’t digest properly,” Mrs Nasuti said.

The Gut Gardening program, available in-store at Gerald Burns Melville Plaza, helps restore balance and promote healthy digestive function.

“You want to slowly remove unwanted stuff, create good biofilm and then replenish and do maintenance,” Mrs Nasuti said.