Naturopathic Medicine
What is Naturopathic Medicine?
Naturopathic Medicine is a system of healthcare based on ancient healing methods like Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) and Ayurveda, Herbalism, Homeopathy, Nutrition, and much more. Underpinned by the fundamental belief that given the right conditions the body has the innate ability to heal itself, qualified Naturopaths are trained to find the root cause of symptoms using thorough case taking and tools such as TCM tongue and face mapping, nail analysis and Iridology. A Naturopath will then support the body and mind to stimulate that innate healing ability using food as medicine, detoxification, Bach Flower therapy, herbal remedies, homeopathy, Tissue Cell Salts, medicinal mushrooms and targeted nutrients.
Naturopathic Principles
The healing power of nature: Vis Mediatrix Naturae
“Given the right conditions the body will heal itself. The body is designed to self correct and bring itself into balance, given the right tools.”
A naturopath helps to identify imbalances then provides the right stimulation via nurturing and targeted foods, herbs and other natural remedies to help stimulate the body’s own natural healing mechanisms.
Treat the root cause, not the symptoms
Treat the whole patient, not the disease
“Recognise a patient’s uniqueness by taking into account individual physical, mental, genetic, environmental, social and other factors. The disease isn’t as interesting as the person with the disease.”
You’ve done a nutrition consult, what else do you need? This relates to things outside of nutrition which impact the overall picture of health. Your mindset impacts your path to healing. Are you in a positive state right now or a negative one? How is work life? Family life? Social life? Sex life? Are you exercising at all, getting out in the daylight? Did your mother have a heart condition? Do you live in a city? A naturopath supports you holistically taking your lifestyle and current emotional state into account.
The terrain is the problem, not the microbes
“Ill Health is the product of a weakness in the internal environment of the body rather than external influences. It’s the terrain that is the problem, not the microbes.”
This is Terrain vs Germ Theory. We live in the era of the germ theory where germs are considered bad and can make you sick. A naturopath works with the terrain model. Those germs are able to make you unwell because your immune system isn’t able to fight all the threats coming its way. Germs making you unwell are a symptom of disease, not the cause. Just as a dirty fishbowl will make a fish sick, if your terrain isn’t clean or operating optimally, your immune system will be more vulnerable to illness from external threats. A naturopath knows that to fight illness you need to create a healthy body in which disease cannot develop.