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What is a Naturopath?

A Naturopath is a doctor who approaches patient care by looking at the entire person, taking into account mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical symptoms. A Naturopath believes in supporting the body so that it may heal itself naturally. Some of the methods Naturopaths use to achieve natural healing are; homeopathy, herbal medicine, hydrotherapy, and nutrition. Naturopaths spend a great deal of time with their patients in order to gain an intimate understanding of their patients’ condition.

What kind of training do Naturopaths have?

A Naturopathic Doctor (ND) has completed 4 years at one of the four nationally accredited naturopathic medical schools. The first 2 years of a naturopath’s education is very similar to their M.D. and D.O. counterparts. They study Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology. At the end of the 2 years naturopaths take their Basic Science Boards. The last 2 years are spent rotating with naturopaths, medical doctors, osteopathic doctors, chiropractors, and doctors of oriental medicine learning a variety of therapies including: nutrition, homeopathy, herbal medicine, hydrotherapy, acupuncture, physical manipulation, pharmacological drugs. After successfully completing their fourth year, naturopaths must take national clinic boards in order to practice in licensed states.

The 5 Naturopathic Principles

1.     Primum No Nocere – First do no harm

2.     Vis Mediatrix Naturae – The healing power of nature

3.     Tolle Causam – Identify and treat the cause

4.     Tolle Totum – Heal the whole person

5.     Docere – The doctor as teacher

Naturopathic Therapeutic Order

Establish the Conditions for Health

Stimulate the Self-Healing Mechanisms

Support Weakened or Damaged Systems or Organs

Address Structural Integrity

Address Pathology: Use Specific Natural Substances, Modalities, or Interventions.

Address Pathology: Use Specific Pharmacologic or Synthetic Substances

Suppress Pathology

Nutrition

Food is the lifeblood of our body and we are currently in a nutritional crisis. Humans have been around for hundreds of thousands of years but only recently did we stop eating real food. Real food is what our body needs to make it run most efficiently yet contemporary diets consist primarily of processed foods that only resemble our previous eating patterns.

The World Health Organization reports the following:

U.S. Health System is 37^th in the world.

U.S. Healthy Life Expectancy is 24^th in the world.

U.S. Expenditures on health

U.S. Health Costs per Person is $6,350, more than any other country.

Why aren’t Americans healthier?

In the United States we are fortunate enough to have the most highly trained  doctors and the most advanced technology in the world. We cannot assume however, that we can eat an unhealthy diet and live unhealthy lifestyles and expect that their will always be a pill to fix our problem. We have to change our understanding of food and eat to promote health and immune function in our body as opposed to merely satisfying our taste buds. If we own a high performance car we always make sure to buy premium gasoline to ensure optimum performance yet we think nothing of filling our bodies with toxic and processed foods. If you blow your engine you buy a new one but our bodies aren’t as easily replaced.

The Good News

Fortunately our bodies are quite resilient and due to advances in the fight against infectious disease, our bodies are able to last a long time, if we feed them premium food just like you would fill your tank with premium gasoline.

What is premium food?

Premium food is simply, Vegetables & Fruits, raw nuts and seeds, whole grains, and lean meats.

Vegetables and fruits:  I put vegetables first because they should be eaten in greater quantities. It is recommended that we eat 6-8 servings of vegetables per day and 2-3 servings of fruits per day. When choosing which veggies and fruits to buy be sure to choose a VARIETY OF COLORS to ensure the body is getting the full spectrum of benefits the veggies and fruits have to offer.

Raw nuts and seeds: Nuts and seed should be eaten raw except for peanuts which are actually legumes and should be eaten roasted. By not heating nuts and seeds we preserve their full nutritional content. Nuts and seeds are a great source of protein, good oils, and other vitamins and minerals.

Whole grains: Whole grains don’t mean Multi Grain. Multi-grain means there is more than one grain but not necessarily that it is whole. If you want whole grains read the label and it must say; whole grains. Whole grains are an important source of amino acids and minerals. Consumption of grains should be limited though, grains can be problematic if eaten to excess. Wheat for example, causes an immune response in many people.

Lean Meats: Many people consider the Mediterranean diet to be the optimal choice for longevity and quality of life and lean meats are an essential part of that diet. Lean meats are chicken, turkey, fish etc. This does not include beef or pork. Lean meats are a easily absorbable form of protein and the fact that the protein is not surrounded by excess fat contributes to a healthy cardiovascular system.

Diet: In the context of nutrition, diet refers to the food you eat, not a weight loss program.

What is Homeopathy?

“By similar things a disease is produced and through the application of the like is cured” – Hippocrates (460-350 BC)

Homeopathy is an approach to disease based on the idea that “likes cure likes”.  In a similar approach, when we get vaccines, we injected with a mild form of the disease we are trying to resist. The word homeopathy was coined by Samuel Hahnemann meaning;

From the Greek:

            Omoios = “Similar”

            Pathos = Suffering

The word homeopathy is used to distinguish itself from the contemporary medical approach which uses medicines that are opposite of the symptoms. For example, if a patient goes to a doctor with a cough, the doctor would give the patient an anti-tussive or anti-cough medicine. A homeopath on the other hand would give them a remedy that would produce that patient’s unique cough in a health individual. In doing so the body is able to fight the cough just as our immune systems fight off infectious disease after being primed with a vaccine.

Is there any research to support it?

Ö August 6, 2009 Charite University Medical Center, Institute for Social Medicine, Epidemiology and health Economics Berlin, Germany performed a prospective, multicenter observational study, for patients with chronic low back pain. The study included 2 years of follow up. They concluded that
“classic homeopathic treatment represents an effective treatment for low back pain and other diagnosis. It improves health-related QoL and reduces the use of other health care services.

Ö A study published in BMC Public Health 2008, 8:413 reported that in long term observational study, patients with chronic illness improved from their primary complaint and remained better for 8 years.

Ö A randomized double bind study in the Archives of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck surgery, August 1998, 124:879-885 reported that homeopathy was as effective and much safer than the leading drug for patients with vertigo.