1. To sift through the information.

Perhaps having access to all this information is the very reason it is important to see a naturopath. With so many different diets and supplements available, it can be confusing to work out what is the best for you. A naturopath takes a thorough case history and can make an assessment of your health priorities, before determining the best treatment plan for you.

2. To save you money.

Taking herbs and supplements is expensive. A naturopath can save you money by recommending only those that you really need, and for hopefully the shortest time.

3. To work alongside your GP or other health practitioner.

A good naturopath will communicate and work with your doctor to ensure that natural medicine can be integrated  with prescription medicine safely and effectively. A naturopath will be aware of any potential drug and herb or nutrient interactions.

4. Management of prevalent chronic health conditions.

Naturopathic treatment can assist with common conditions faced by many people, such as arthritis, metabolic syndrome, hormonal imbalance, infertility, migraines, skin conditions, allergies, immune dysregulation, mood disorders and insomnia. Naturopathy focuses on the underlying cause of a condition, not just symptom treatment.

5. Prescription of quality supplements.

Most naturopaths have a dispensary containing supplements that have been carefully chosen for both their quality and effectiveness. A lot of them will be 'Practitioner Only Products', meaning you have access to products not available over the counter. A naturopath will also monitor any reactions to supplements prescribed and alter the prescription as necessary.

Nature marks each season by definite changes. At this time of year, nature’s energy starts to turn inward. The days are shorter and the temperature cooler. Following nature’s lead, we can observe the change and re-focus our own energy. It is an opportunity to take the time to rest. Autumn can be a reflective month, and the ability to slow down and rest will go a long way towards keeping you well over the cooler months.

The colder months should also see a change in your eating habits.

Simple changes to ease the transition to the cooler months:

1. Eat more cooked foods. Our bodies and our digestion need warming in autumn and winter. Eating too many raw foods (including smoothies) can cool you down. Often instinctively we crave soups and stews.
2. Add warming spices to cooking, such as ginger, turmeric, chilli, cardamon and cinnamon.
3. Use garlic, as it’s anti-microbial and can help your body fight the cold virus.
4. Keep moving. Do some exercise every day to keep your circulation and lymph systems moving.
5. Go to bed earlier a few nights a week to allow your body to rest and be restored.

Immune building chicken soup

For those times when you don't have a home made chicken stock on hand, but want the health benefits of real chicken stock.

Stock:

3 free range or organic chicken marylands

1 chopped onion with the skin on

2 roughly chopped celery stalks

1 large chopped carrot

6 peppercorns, 3 bay leaves, 3 sprigs of thyme.

Add all the ingredients to a large saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer for about 45 minutes. Take the marylands out of the pan and remove all the chicken meat. You can add the bones back in and simmer for another ½ hour if you have the time. Then strain the stock and disregard the chicken bones and vegetables.

Soup:

1 onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, 2 chopped finely, 2 crushed

2 leeks, finely sliced

1 celery stalk, finely sliced

2 carrots, chopped finely

2 handfuls of oats

Saute the onion and leeks in olive oil for several minutes until softened. Add chopped garlic, then celery and carrots. Cook for a few minutes, then add stock and salt and pepper to taste. Throw in 2 handfuls of oats, which give a creaminess to the soup. Add the crushed garlic and simmer for about 15 minutes, until vegetables soften. Add shredded chicken. You can take out a cup or two and blend with a stick mixer or food processor and then add back in to give the soup a creamy texture.  Add ginger and chilli if you like a spicy soup.

If you have never been to a naturopath, or are new to the naturopathic world, you may be unfamiliar with how we treat. The main modalities I practice are Herbal medicine, and Nutrition. Both are wonderful and effective entities in themselves, but when used therapeutically together, they can be outstanding in their effect on people, helping them to become well.

Herbal medicine is under utilised by our largely Western society in Australia. However, from a world-wide point of view, the majority of medicine taken around the world are herbal remedies. Herbal medicine is not a primitive form of treating that has been superseded by modern medicine. It still has relevance and so much to offer to people in the 21st century. It is my wish that more people are going to learn about and turn to herb medicine. The 'world of the weed' has so much to offer!

 
Some of the herbs I use in my dispensary would have been familiar to, and used by the Greeks and Chinese 3000 years ago. This is exciting. Remedies would not be handed down over thousands of years if they weren't effective. Our ancestors had a different concept of illness than today's modern medicine. Back then they viewed diseases as imbalances to be corrected, rather than invasions to be attacked. Herbal remedies were used to adjust patterns of disorder, and gently nudge a body back to health.

 
One of the most wonderful things about the herbal world is that herbs behave as more than just an assembly of chemicals. Whereas many drugs are used for only one action on a specific disease state, most herbs can be used across different body systems, and have multiple actions. I may be a bit biased, but I think that's tremendously exciting.

Naturopathic Wisdom

Last night I went to a talk given by a woman who was one of my lecturers during my Naturopathy degree. I hadn't heard this woman speak for many years, and it was a wonderful experience to sit and listen to her wise words again. She trained as a naturopath in the 'old' days, over 30 years ago. Back then Naturopathy hadn't been complicated by the need to be evidenced based and scientifically valid, which is now the case. Most courses now only teach evidence based treatments. It is considered progressive and more desirable to make naturopathy more scientifically accountable. Prior to the last 10 -15 years, there was a strong emphasis on teaching students naturopathic philosophy. Naturopathic philosophy hasn't changed for the last couple of hundred years, but is at risk of being forgotten, or over-shadowed, by evidence based treatments, and dare I say it, a need or desire to sell lots of products or supplements.

If naturopaths are focused on prescribing products to their patients, they may not be focused on understanding their patient, and viewing their disease or condition through a naturopathic paradigm. In this instance there is little to distinguish a naturopath from a medical practitioner. The only difference will be in the prescription - drugs versus herbal and nutritional supplements.

A naturopath that remains true to naturopathic philosophy will not sell you a product to treat each symptom that you present with. Naturopathy has so much more to offer. A good naturopath will investigate how the condition or illness you present with is being experienced in your body. The basis of naturopathic philosophy is that the body is self healing. Therefore, what processes have occurred or not occurred to allow this condition to take hold in your body? How do you operate energetically, metabolically, and emotionally? It is the job of the naturopath to determine how healing has failed for their patient, and what processes are not functioning well to allow the disease process to take hold.

This is the strength of naturopathy. We are able to do this through having a longer consultation time with people, and asking many questions, and also through using Iridology. Sometimes a thorough case history may provide all the information, and sometimes Iridology can be used to understand a person and what is happening in their body more deeply.

Knowledge of scientific research and evidence based treatments is necessary, but allowing naturopathic philosophy to determine a patient's treatment protocol is essential to provide good naturopathic care.