The Holland Clinic

The Holland Clinic Promoting the health & wellbeing of women over the age of 35 using a holistic, multimodality approach

The Holland Centre is a Healing and Wellness Centre, dedicated to treating and promoting wellness at all stages of peoples life cycle. We seek to support, educate and empower our patients on their journey to greater health and wellbeing. We offer alternative, pain-free and natural solutions to inspire our patients to thrive, not just survive. Our team works in partnership with you to develop perso

nalised and realistic health and wellness plans, which relieve presenting symptoms and treat the underlying cause, to achieve long-term results for your overall health and wellbeing. Patients of the Holland Centre benefit from quality care from a collaborative and diverse team of highly qualified healthcare professionals in Herbal Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Acupuncture, Massage, Dietetics, Psychology, Midwifery, Counselling, Life Coaching, Support Groups, Kinesiology and Shiatsu. The Holland Centre is a safe, warm and confidential environment, where you can openly discuss your current condition and take that first step to restoring balance in your life.

Your skin may be telling the truth
 The gut-skin axis links gut dysbiosis and increased intestinal permeability with inf...
10/06/2026

Your skin may be telling the truth

 The gut-skin axis links gut dysbiosis and increased intestinal permeability with inflammatory skin conditions including eczema, acne, psoriasis, and rosacea. Sometimes the rash is not just a skin problem; it is a gut inflammation story showing up on the surface.
Reference: Salem I, Ramser A, Isham N, Ghannoum MA. The gut microbiome as a major regulator of the gut-skin axis. Front Microbiol. 2018.

If this is resonating, my book This Is Perimenopause: The Symptoms That Were Missed, The Diagnosis You Deserve, and The Healing Plan That Really Works walks you through the Hierarchy of Healing, starting with repairing the gut – the same work we do inside the Vitality Clinic.

If you need support, you can comment “clinic” and I’ll send you details about the Vitality Clinic, or you can purchase a copy of the book via the link in my bio.

Some foods hit harder in perimenopause…
When the gut barrier is compromised and the immune system is already reactive, c...
05/06/2026

Some foods hit harder in perimenopause…

When the gut barrier is compromised and the immune system is already reactive, certain foods can amplify symptoms far more easily.

The issue is not that a food is universally bad; it is that a vulnerable gut terrain can change how the body responds to it.

Reference: Alpay K, Ertas M, Orhan EK, Ustay DK, Lieners C, Baykan B. Diet restriction in migraine, based on IgG against foods: a clinical double-blind, randomised, cross-over trial. Cephalalgia. 2010.

If this is resonating, my book This Is Perimenopause: The Symptoms That Were Missed, The Diagnosis You Deserve, and The Healing Plan That Really Works walks you through the Hierarchy of Healing, starting with repairing the gut, the same work we do inside the Vitality Clinic.

If you need support, you can comment “clinic” and I’ll send you details about the Vitality Clinic, or you can purchase a copy of the book via the link in my bio.

Stress can open the gut barrier
Human research shows that psychological stress can directly increase intestinal permeabi...
01/06/2026

Stress can open the gut barrier

Human research shows that psychological stress can directly increase intestinal permeability. 

This is one reason chronic stress can intensify bloating, food reactions, inflammation, and the sense that everything feels harder in perimenopause.

Reference: Vanuytsel T, Van Wanrooy S, Vanheel H, Vanormelingen C, Verschueren S, Houben E, et al. Psychological stress and corticotropin-releasing hormone increase intestinal permeability in humans by a mast cell-dependent mechanism. Gut. 2014.

If this is resonating, my book This Is Perimenopause: The Symptoms That Were Missed, The Diagnosis You Deserve, and The Healing Plan That Really Works walks you through the Hierarchy of Healing, starting with repairing the gut – the same work we do inside the Vitality Clinic.

If you need support, you can comment “clinic” and I’ll send you details about the Vitality Clinic, or you can purchase a copy of the book via the link in my bio.

Tiny toxins can cause big symptoms. 
Even small amounts of bacterial endotoxin can activate inflammatory pathways and ke...
01/06/2026

Tiny toxins can cause big symptoms.

Even small amounts of bacterial endotoxin can activate inflammatory pathways and keep the body stuck in a low-grade inflammatory state. 

This helps explain why a woman can feel foggy, puffy, tired, and metabolically stuck even when she does not look acutely unwell.

Reference: Bikman BT. Why we get sick: the hidden epidemic at the root of most chronic disease, and how to fight it. Dallas: BenBella Books; 2020.

If this is resonating, my book This Is Perimenopause: The Symptoms That Were Missed, The Diagnosis You Deserve, and The Healing Plan That Really Works walks you through the Hierarchy of Healing, starting with repairing the gut, the same work we do inside the Vitality Clinic.

If you need support, you can comment “clinic” and I’ll send you details about the Vitality Clinic, or you can purchase a copy of the book via the link in my bio.

A leaky gut can inflame the whole body. 
When bacterial toxins cross a compromised gut barrier, they can trigger chronic...
31/05/2026

A leaky gut can inflame the whole body.

When bacterial toxins cross a compromised gut barrier, they can trigger chronic low-grade inflammation throughout the body. 

This is one reason gut dysfunction can show up as weight gain, brain fog, anxiety, and feeling inflamed everywhere at once.

Reference: Bischoff SC, Barbara G, Buurman W, Ockhuizen T, Schulzke JD, Serino M, et al. Intestinal permeability: a new target for disease prevention and therapy. BMC Gastroenterol. 2014.

If this is resonating, my book This Is Perimenopause: The Symptoms That Were Missed, The Diagnosis You Deserve, and The Healing Plan That Really Works, walks you through the Hierarchy of Healing, starting with repairing the gut – the same work we do inside the Vitality Clinic.

If you need support, you can comment “clinic” and I’ll send you details about the Vitality Clinic, or you can purchase a copy of the book via the link in my bio.

31/05/2026

“If you’ve been told your Mirena ‘has progesterone in it’ and it’s all the same, this is for you.

The Mirena doesn’t contain progesterone.

It contains a synthetic progestin called levonorgestrel, a different molecule, with different effects on your body.

For some women, that means:

* Sudden anxiety or low mood
* Insomnia or broken sleep
* Acne, oily skin, hair thinning, or facial hair
* Flattened libido, weight changes, feeling puffy and not yourself

And on top of that, large Danish registry data now show a modest but real increase in breast cancer with levonorgestrel IUDs, about 14 extra cases per 10,000 women compared with those not using hormonal contraception.

The absolute risk is still low, but it is not zero.

Here’s the key: these are not ‘just side effects’.

They are effects of the molecule you’ve been given.

Your body feels every single one of them.

If you’re on a Mirena and thinking, ‘This doesn’t feel like me,’ or you want to understand the difference between oral micronised progesterone and synthetic progestins, I’ve put everything together for you.

Comment ‘P4’ below, and I’ll send you my full breakdown so you can walk into your next appointment informed, confident, and in charge of your hormones.”

Warmly Dr Kirstey Holland O.M.D

Research in healthy women found that intestinal permeability is associated with visceral adiposity. That means weight ga...
30/05/2026

Research in healthy women found that intestinal permeability is associated with visceral adiposity. That means weight gain around the middle may be linked with gut barrier dysfunction and inflammation, not just food intake or willpower.

Reference: Gummesson A, Carlsson LMS, Storlien LH, Bäckhed F, Lundin P, Löfgren L, et al. Intestinal permeability is associated with visceral adiposity in healthy women. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011.

If this is resonating, my book This Is Perimenopause: The Symptoms That We Miss, The Diagnosis You Deserve, and The Healing Plan That Really Works walks you through the Hierarchy of Healing, starting with repairing the gut – the same work we do inside the Vitality Clinic.

If you need support, you can comment “clinic” and I’ll send you details about the Vitality Clinic, or you can purchase a copy of the book via the link in my bio.

Most of your immune system really does live in your gut lining. When that barrier is inflamed or too permeable, your who...
28/05/2026

Most of your immune system really does live in your gut lining. When that barrier is inflamed or too permeable, your whole immune system can stay on high alert, which helps explain why symptoms can show up far beyond digestion.

Reference: Vighi G, Marcucci F, Sensi L, Di Cara G, Frati F. Allergy and the gastrointestinal system. Clin Exp Immunol. 2008.

If this is resonating, my book This Is Perimenopause: The Symptoms That We Miss, The Diagnosis You Deserve, and The Healing Plan That Really Works walks you through the Hierarchy of Healing, starting with repairing the gut – the same work we do inside the Vitality Clinic.

If you need support, you can comment “clinic” and I’ll send you details about the Vitality Clinic, or you can purchase a copy of the book via the link in my bio.

26/05/2026

If your forties have brought symptoms that suddenly make you feel like you are living in a different body...

joint pain without injury,

brain fog,

bloating from foods you used to tolerate,

skin flares,

mood shifts,

or growing alcohol intolerance...

you are not imagining it.

One mechanism that may connect these symptoms is increased intestinal permeability, sometimes referred to as “leaky gut.”

When the gut barrier becomes compromised, bacterial fragments such as LPS can move into circulation, triggering immune activation and inflammatory cytokines that can affect the joints, brain, skin, mood, and metabolism.

Researchers call this metabolic endotoxemia.

It is one reason many women feel inflamed and unwell even when standard blood tests still appear “normal.”

Perimenopause can make this pattern more likely.

Fluctuating oestrogen, declining progesterone, chronic stress, poor sleep, and modern dietary load can all place additional strain on the gut barrier and immune system during this phase of life.

That is why the path back often starts with foundations:

repairing the gut environment,

reducing inflammatory load,

supporting sleep,

lowering stress physiology,

and using structured elimination and reintroduction strategically.

Inside the Vitality Clinic, this is the work we are doing right now.

Comment CLINIC below if you would like to see whether the Vitality Clinic is the right fit for you.

Dr Kirstey Holland OMD
The Holland Clinic

18/05/2026

Hello beautiful,

If you have been told you are menopausal but you bled less than 12 months ago, you are not menopausal. 

Not yet.

You are perimenopausal, and it changes everything about how you should be cared for.

The clinical definition is precise. 

A woman graduates to menopause only when she has gone twelve months and one day without a period. 

Until then your ovaries are still active and your hormones are still fluctuating; estrogen surges and crashes while progesterone falls.

 The hormonal pattern of perimenopause is the opposite of menopause; high, fluctuating estrogen sitting on top of low progesterone, where menopause is consistently low estrogen.

That distinction matters. 

Women in perimenopause who are treated as if they are menopausal often experience worsening symptoms, including increased anxiety, breast tenderness, and irregular bleeding. 

Years can pass before anyone questions it.

I see this in my clinic almost every week. 

A woman in her late forties or early fifties, told she is menopausal but never quite settling on the treatment she has been given. 

When we look properly at her cycle history and her biochemistry, the picture begins to make sense, and the woman in front of me starts to feel like herself again.

This week inside the Vitality Clinic, we are walking through exactly this; how to know which phase of life you are truly in, and what your body actually needs at this stage.

If any part of this sounds like you, this is where to start.

Comment CLINIC below to see if the Vitality Clinic is right for you.

Dr Kirstey Holland, OMD

Address

460 Victoria Street
Brunswick, VIC
3056

Telephone

+61423483154

Website

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