We’re excited to be giving away two copies of The Health Detective’s Handbook by Susan Birch to our GrownUps members!
To be in the draw, simply make sure you’re a GrownUps member, signed up to our newsletter, and fill in your details at the bottom of the page.
The Health Detective’s Handbook is a guide to reconnecting with the body and understanding what it needs to thrive.
Many people spend years feeling tired, frustrated and disconnected from their body. They try harder, eat less, exercise more, chase symptoms, and still don’t understand why they don’t feel the way they expected.
This book encourages readers to think like Health Detectives. Instead of seeing symptoms as isolated problems, it encourages people to look for clues, notice patterns and ask better questions about what their body may be trying to tell them. When we understand how the body works as an interconnected system, it becomes easier to ask better questions, recognise patterns, and make choices that address what may be driving those symptoms in the first place.
Drawing on more than four decades of study, professional practice and Susan’s personal journey, the book shares the tools and insights that have made a difference in her own life and in the lives of her clients. Incorporating an ancestral view of health and human biology, Susan Birch explains how food, movement, sleep, stress, recovery, mindset, and environment shape how we feel, function, and live.
This is not about chasing a smaller body or following another set of rules. It is about learning how to work with the body rather than against it, so readers can make informed decisions and find their own path to lifelong wellness. We only have one body, and it has to carry us through our lifetime. This book is about learning to understand, respect and care for it in a way that supports the life we want to live.
As well as illustrations, diagrams, tables, reflection exercises, core concepts, practical tools and recommended resources throughout, The Health Detectives Handbook includes 17 real-life New Zealand case studies that illustrate how health challenges develop, the obstacles people face, and the practical steps they took to create meaningful change.
The Health Detectives Handbook combines science, practical application and real-life stories to help readers make informed decisions, care for their body with respect, and find their own path to lifelong wellness.
About Susan Birch
Susan Birch began studying exercise and nutrition science in 1986 and quickly found her passion. She later trained in functional medicine, nutritional biochemistry, blood chemistry analysis, and other health systems. She holds a Master of Health Sciences, plus postgraduate diplomas in Sports Medicine, Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation, Musculoskeletal Medicine, and Community Nutrition from Otago University. She is passionate about health, fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle education. Her clients started calling her the “Health Detective” for her talent in spotting patterns and connecting the dots — looking beyond symptoms to find the factors that keep people trapped in cycles of fatigue, pain, poor health, self-doubt, and frustration.
Extracted Case Study
Extracted from ‘The Health Detective’s Handbook’ by Susan Birch, published by Health Detective Publishing, RRP: $49.99.
CASE 8: GAY’S EXPERIENCE WITH STRESS
My friend Gay loves riding her mountain bike. She took up the sport about eight years ago and, at 81, is an inspiration to all of us. A talented sportswoman, she has always been interested in health. But despite her diligence in following the “healthy food pyramid” and a lifetime of regular exercise, she suffered from high blood pressure, prediabetes and thirty years of kidney problems. Here, I’ll discuss her experience with stress, and in Chapter 17 (page 148), I’ll also share how Gay avoided kidney surgery, normalised her blood pressure and reversed her prediabetes.
Gay had returned to riding her bike three months after her hip surgery in 2023. We went out for a ride together. Partway through our ride, I noticed she was trembling, taking shallow breaths, and looking very nervous. When I mentioned this, she admitted that she had been worrying about one of the corners on the track; to the extent that the worrying had disrupted her previous night’s sleep. Her heart rate was extremely high despite the easy downhill trail we had just ridden. Although she went on to ride the scary corner like a pro, her heart rate remained elevated throughout the remainder of our ride.
This experience demonstrates how our bodies subconsciously react to our thoughts and perception of danger. It’s a normal and common reaction that most of us will be familiar with; runaway thoughts when anticipating unpleasant experiences such as a confrontation with a partner, colleague or in other challenging situations.
Gay uses the Morpheus training system, a cardio training app and heart rate monitor developed by exercise physiologist Joel Jamieson.7 Using this, she checks her heart rate variability (HRV) each morning. This provides feedback on her recovery and fitness progress. The morning following our ride, her recovery was low, and her HRV was very low, indicating that her sympathetic nervous system was still recovering from the stress hormones and hypoxia she had experienced the previous day. While in this state, Gay’s digestive enzymes, sleep hormones and calming neurotransmitters are all out of balance. It took a few days for her HRV and recovery to return to baseline, and during this period her body’s demand for nutrients increased to support her physiological functions.
Without us ever realising it, this can happen to all of us throughout the day as we respond to different stressors in our lives.
You must be logged in to enter this competition.
Not a member? Join now
Terms and conditions
-
-
You must be a GrownUps member and subscribed to our newsletter to be eligible to enter.
-
The competition closes on 23rd September 2026. Winners will be notified via email by 24th September 2026.
-
It is your responsibility to provide a correct New Zealand postal address for prize delivery. GrownUps is not responsible for prizes sent to incorrect addresses.
-
Winners will be drawn at random by the GrownUps administration team.
-
GrownUps employees and their immediate families are not eligible to enter.
-
By entering, you agree to GrownUps using your name on social media as a winner of the competition.
-
One entry per household.
-
The prize is non-transferable and cannot be exchanged for cash or other items.
-
You must reside in New Zealand, as the prize can only be delivered within New Zealand.
-
You must be over 50 years of age to enter. Please ensure your membership details are up to date in your dashboard.
-