Holistic Health Advice

Nutritional Advice & Weight Management

What you eat affects how every system in your body functions, your energy, your mood, your immune response, your hormones, and your weight. Yet nutrition rarely gets more than a few minutes in a standard GP appointment.

We take a different approach and look at the whole picture; what you're eating, how your body is processing it, what your bloodwork shows, and where the gaps are.

For patients wanting to manage their weight, a holistic approach is not about short-term dieting. It's about understanding the metabolic, hormonal, and nutritional factors that are driving weight gain or making weight loss difficult, and addressing those specifically. That might involve dietary adjustments, targeted supplementation, or identifying an underlying issue such as insulin resistance, thyroid function, or chronic inflammation that's working against you.

A counter conversation can give you a useful starting point. A paid consultation gives us the time to look at your full picture and put together a personalised plan.

Medication Interaction Reviews

If you're taking more than one medication — or a combination of prescription medicines and supplements — the interactions between them matter. Some reduce each other's effectiveness. Some compound side effects. Some create risks that neither your GP nor your specialist may have flagged, simply because they weren't aware of everything you were taking.

As a pharmacist with advanced training in integrative medicine, Mark is uniquely placed to review your full medication picture — prescription medicines, over-the-counter products, and natural supplements together — and identify anything that warrants attention.

This is particularly valuable if you:

• Are on multiple medications prescribed by more than one doctor or specialist

• Have recently had a new medicine added to an existing regime

• Are taking supplements or natural medicines alongside your prescriptions

• Have been experiencing side effects that haven't been explained

A medication review is available as a paid consultation and can be done in conjunction with your GP if appropriate. Mark can also liaise directly with your prescriber if a change or clarification is needed.

Vitamin, Mineral & Supplement Advice

The supplement market is crowded, poorly regulated, and full of products that promise more than they deliver. Knowing what to take, in what form, and at what dose (and knowing what's worth your money and what isn't) requires years of training.

We will help you work out your supplementation needs based on your individual circumstances: your diet, your health history, your medications, and where the evidence actually points. Stay Well Pharmacy stocks and recommends only quality, practitioner-grade supplements where the bioavailability and dosing are clinically meaningful.

Augmented NAC — N-Acetyl Cysteine

We also sell Augmented NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine). If you've read about Augmented NAC and want to know if it's right for you, or if you've been taking it without guidance and want to make sure you're getting the benefit, come and talk to us or read more about augmented NAC…

Integrative Health Advice

Sometimes the question isn't about a specific condition, it's a general sense that something isn't right, that your energy is lower than it should be, that you're not sleeping well, that you're getting sick more than you used to, or that you're managing things adequately but not thriving.

Integrative medicine starts by asking why. Rather than treating individual symptoms in isolation, we look at the underlying patterns, nutritional deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, gut health, lifestyle factors, stress load, and works with you to address the root causes.

This approach suits people who:

• Feel that conventional medicine has told them everything is normal, but know something isn't

• Want to take a more proactive, preventive approach to their health

• Are managing a chronic condition and want to support their body alongside their medical treatment

• Are making a lifestyle change and want expert guidance on how to do it properly

You don't need a referral and you don't need a specific diagnosis. You just need to want to feel better.

How to Get Holistic Health Advice:

At the counter, free:
If you have a quick question about nutrition, a supplement, or a health concern, our team is happy to help. Mark is regularly available in the dispensary and will take the time to give you a useful answer, not just point you to a product.

Paid consultations:
For anything more involved, a full medication review, a personalised nutrition or supplementation plan, our weight loss clinic or a naturopathic health assessment, we offer paid consultations either at the pharmacy or via Zoom or phone for patients outside Christchurch.

Consultations are booked in advance. To make an appointment, call us on 03 349 8785 or enquire via our contact page.

Ready to talk to someone who will actually listen?

Call us on 03 349 8785, pop in to 27 Shands Road, Hornby, or book a consultation.
Open Monday to Friday 9am–6pm, Saturday 10am–1pm.