Matt Le Roux

18/08/2026

Does standing up leave you dizzy, breathless, or foggy?

This could be a sign of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), a condition where the autonomic nervous system struggles to regulate heart rate and blood flow properly when moving from sitting or lying to standing.

POTS is often linked to viral illness, concussion, chronic stress, and periods of prolonged inactivity. The good news is that many of the underlying drivers can be identified and addressed.

At Wave Functional Health, assessment includes objective measurement of nervous system function through HRV analysis, along with functional medicine testing where needed to understand what is really going on beneath the symptoms.

Read more about POTS and how it is approached at Wave Functional Health

Standing up should not trigger a racing heart, dizziness, and fatigue. Dr Matt le Roux at Wave Functional Health Gold Coast explains what POTS is, why it happens, and how a root cause approach investigates the underlying drivers.

11/08/2026

Ever checked your smartwatch and wondered what your HRV score actually means?

You're not alone. More and more people are noticing low or inconsistent HRV readings and feeling a bit confused (and sometimes worried) about what it means for their health.

Here's the short version: HRV reflects how well your nervous system can shift between stress and recovery. Low HRV on its own isn't cause for panic. But if it comes with poor sleep, digestive troubles, trouble relaxing, or feeling wiped out after exercise, it might be worth a closer look.

We've written a full guide on the signs of nervous system dysregulation and what your HRV numbers are really telling you. Link below if you'd like to read more.

If you've noticed any of these signs yourself, our team offers clinical HRV assessment to help get to the bottom of it.

https://www.wavefunctionalhealth.com/blog/nervous-system-dysregulation-hrv-numbers

05/08/2026

Most athletes spend years refining their strength, speed and conditioning, yet very few ever look closely at the nervous system that is coordinating all of it. Performance is not only built in the gym or on the field. It is built in the brain and the autonomic nervous system, the two systems that determine how well you recover, how clearly you think under pressure, and how efficiently your body converts training into results.

Discover how functional medicine, neurofeedback and HRV testing work together to improve athletic performance, recovery and resilience from the inside out. Available at Wave Functional Health Gold Coast.

27/07/2026

Sleep is the most underrated health intervention available to you, and it is free.

Here is what tends to happen when people stop treating it as optional:

Cravings settle down. Broken sleep changes your hunger hormones, so reaching for sugar the next day is a signal, not a character flaw.

Energy stops swinging. Steady blood sugar overnight means you wake up feeling like you actually rested.

Your brain clears out. Overnight is when the tidying up happens. Short sleep means less of it.

Want to test it for yourself? Try this for 30 days:

Same bedtime and wake time, weekends included.
Get outside in the morning light for ten to fifteen minutes.
Last coffee before midday.
Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet, around 18 to 19 degrees.
Protein at every meal, and a small protein snack before bed if you wake up hungry at 2am.
Skip the evening wine and watch what changes.

Rate your mood, energy, and productivity out of ten each day. After a month, you will have your own data, not someone else's opinion.

Small, boring, repeatable. That is usually what works.

22/07/2026

Insulin resistance is one of the most overlooked drivers of poor energy, weight gain, sugar cravings, brain fog and hormonal imbalance.
The frustrating part is that many people do not know they have it.
They may have been told their fasting glucose is normal. Their HbA1c may still be within range. They may not have diabetes. But they still feel tired, hungry, foggy, inflamed and stuck in a body that does not respond well to diet or exercise.

Feeling tired, craving sugar and gaining weight despite normal blood tests? Learn how insulin resistance affects energy, hormones, brain fog and metabolism, and what functional medicine looks for instead.

13/07/2026

Ever heard of "brainspan"? It's not just about how long you live, it's about how many of those years your brain stays sharp.

The great news is that cognitive decline isn't something that just happens to us as we age. Small, consistent choices like quality sleep, regular movement, real social connection, and learning new things all help protect your memory, focus, and mental clarity well into later life.

Think of your brain like a muscle. The more you challenge it in new ways, the more resilient it becomes.
Ever heard of "brainspan"? It's not just about how long you live; it's about how many of those years your brain stays sharp.
If you've been noticing brain fog, low focus, or just want to be proactive about your cognitive health, this is exactly the kind of thing we love digging into at Wave Functional Health. Prevention beats reaction every time.

09/07/2026

Something significant just happened in autoimmune research. The NIH has launched the NOURISH Autoimmunity Challenge, funding 15 research teams to study exactly how nutrition affects immune regulation and autoimmune disease.

This research is diving into how specific foods interact with gut immunity, how to predict and intercept flares before damage occurs, and how structured diets like the Mediterranean Diet compare against the Autoimmune Protocol for real disease outcomes.

For those of us in functional medicine, this feels like validation a long time coming. We have spent years focused on the gut-immune connection and using food as a genuine therapeutic tool, often without the backing of large scale research behind it. That is starting to change, and it is exciting to see the science catching up with what patients have been experiencing in their own bodies for years.

https://orwh.od.nih.gov/in-the-spotlight/winners-of-nutrition-for-our-immune-system-health-nourish-autoimmunity-challenge

06/07/2026

Most people associate metabolic syndrome with heart disease and diabetes. Far fewer know what it is doing to the brain.

A large 2024 study examined brain MRI and cognitive testing data from nearly 37,400 adults without dementia. Those with metabolic syndrome showed greater cerebrovascular injury, more evidence of brain atrophy and small vessel disease, and worse cognitive performance, particularly in executive function and processing speed. These differences remained significant after controlling for other risk factors.
What made the findings particularly striking was the pattern: the more metabolic syndrome components a person had, the worse their brain health outcomes were across every measure. This is not about crossing a diagnostic threshold. It is about cumulative burden.

Metabolic syndrome is diagnosed when three or more of the following are present: central obesity, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, elevated fasting glucose, or high blood pressure. More than one in five adults in Western populations currently meet that criteria.
The mechanisms linking poor metabolic health to brain tissue damage include blood sugar dysregulation that promotes inflammation and oxidative stress, gut dysbiosis that drives neurotoxicity, liver-related ammonia elevation, and impaired cerebrovascular circulation. Each process compounds the others over time.

The mechanisms connecting poor metabolic health to brain tissue damage include blood sugar dysregulation promoting inflammation and oxidative stress, gut dysbiosis driving neurotoxicity, liver-related ammonia elevation, and impaired cerebrovascular circulation. Each process compounds the others over time.

The research suggests that metabolic dysfunction may be accelerating brain aging years before any dementia diagnosis. That window, before overt decline, is exactly when intervention matters most.

Metabolic health is brain health. It is worth taking seriously well before symptoms appear.

06/07/2026

Here is a connection that does not get nearly enough attention in conversations about autoimmune disease.

Sleep and immune function are deeply intertwined, and the relationship runs in both directions. Poor sleep drives inflammation. Inflammation disrupts sleep. And for people managing conditions like multiple sclerosis or rheumatoid arthritis, that cycle can significantly worsen their disease.

The research is specific. Chronic sleep deprivation promotes the release of proinflammatory cytokines, suppresses the regulatory cells that keep immune responses in check, and disrupts the circadian rhythms that govern immune signalling throughout the day. These are not minor effects. They are mechanisms that directly contribute to autoimmune disease activity.

In MS, sleep disorders affect up to 62 percent of patients. In rheumatoid arthritis, poor sleep is tightly linked to pain severity, disease activity, systemic inflammation, and depression, each making the others harder to manage.

The good news is that several lifestyle-based approaches have evidence behind them for improving sleep quality and supporting immune health at the same time. Mediterranean-style eating, regular aerobic and resistance exercise, mind-body practices like meditation and yoga, and cognitive-behavioural interventions all show meaningful benefit.
The good news is that several lifestyle-based approaches have evidence supporting their ability to improve sleep quality and support immune health at the same time. Mediterranean-style eating, regular aerobic and resistance exercise, mind-body practices like meditation and yoga, and cognitive-behavioural interventions all show meaningful benefit.
Sleep is not a soft variable in autoimmune health. It is one of the most important levers available, and it is often the most overlooked.

02/07/2026

Do you always feel cold, even when others around you are comfortable?

If your doctor has told you your thyroid is "normal" but you are still cold all the time, there may be more to the story.

Functional medicine looks beyond a single TSH result to assess adrenal function, iron levels, blood sugar regulation, and gut health, all of which play a role in how your body produces and distributes heat.