Ian Breakspear

July 20, 2014January 9, 2023

No more Advanced Diplomas – Industry Skills Council

On 2nd July 2014 the Community Services & Health Industry Skills Council (CS&HISC) announced that as of December 2015 the Advanced Diplomas of Naturopathy, Western Herbal Medicine, Nutritional Medicine and Homoeopathy would be aligned at Bachelor degree level and removed from the Training Package. Why is this fantastic news, and what does this mean for Naturopathy and Herbal Medicine, and for current and future practitioners? Read on to find out.

January 9, 2014January 9, 2023

Is Standardisation Standardised?

Standardised herbal extracts seem to be popular – they are in many practitioner only herbal medicines as well as over-the-counter products. But based upon the questions I receive, few practitioners really understand what constitutes “standardisation” in Australia.

July 30, 2013January 9, 2023

Integrative medicine in Ecuador

Mariano Atupana works alongside medically-trained doctors in Ecuador

This is an interesting little BBC News article on the use of traditional Andean medicine alongside conventional modern medicine in a hospital in Ecuador.

June 29, 2013January 6, 2023

Adaptogens & Nervines – a summary of my presentation

Adaptogens & Nervines presentation title page

A little over a week ago I delivered a presentation on Adaptogens and Nervines at the NHAA Sydney Chapter Meeting. For those who couldn’t attend, here is a quick summary.

June 3, 2013January 6, 2023

An abomination! Mixing chocolate with agar to reduce fat

Apparently food chemists have found how to replace a significant amount of natural cacao fat with various liquids like fruit juice or alcohol, if a special emulsion is created using agar.

May 29, 2013January 6, 2023

Adaptogens & Nervines – my presentation at June NHAA Sydney Chapter

In April I was down in Melbourne for the 8th International Conference on Herbal Medicine. Whilst I was there, VIC Herbs (the Victorian State Chapter of the NHAA) invited me to do a talk to their membership. The topic was “Adaptogens & Nervines – Perfect Pairs”. Well due to popular request I will be delivering that same presentation to the Sydney Chapter in June.

May 27, 2013January 9, 2023

So what is Pharmacognosy

Evan's Pharmacognosy medicinal plant identification kit from Childers Pharmaceutical Museum

Today was the first class of Pharmacognosy & Herbal Pharmacy for Trimester 2 at ACNT. So I thought now is as good a time as any to look at this fascinating herbal science in more detail, and see why it is so important to being a good herbalist.

May 26, 2013January 9, 2023

Masters DVD – Cardiovascular Herbal Medicine by Ian Breakspear

Optimal Rx banner for 2013 Sessions with the Masters

A couple of months ago I was asked by OptimalRx to participate in an interview as part of their 2013 Sessions with the Masters DVD series. The result was an approximately 50 minute interview covering a range of cardiovascular conditions and providing great herbal clinical tips. Read more to see how to order and view a short snippet from the DVD.

May 20, 2013January 6, 2023

BBC News – Good & Bad Revision Techniques

BBC News (Health) reported today on some recent research concerning the best and worst strategies for studying and revising material. In short they confirm that techniques such as highlighting or underlining have a low efficiency in terms of retention and utilisation. The article also provides a good comparison of the efficiency of a range of techniques.

May 18, 2013January 7, 2023

Cornell Notes – Is this Note-Taking Perfection?

A little over a week ago I wrote about three tips to help perfect your note taking. I stated that re-reading and highlighting have been shown time and again to be amongst the worst methods of note taking and learning. So what is the secret? Well that’s where we come to Cornell Notes.

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