Naturopathy Principles and Practices

Naturopathic Nutrition Year 1: History and Philosophy

• Naturopathic Nutrition is a healthcare system that promotes the body's self-healing mechanisms using therapies such as nutrition, fasting, hydrotherapy, naturopathy, herbal medicine, acupuncture, homeopathy.

• The core of naturopathic nutrition is the principle of understanding and addressing the underlying cause of a patient's health issues, not just treating symptoms.

• Naturopathic practitioners are trained to promote prevention alongside treatment, understanding that effective health management prioritises prevention above cure.

• Naturopathic practitioners work towards creating a better understanding of health and how it can be achieved and maintained in clients, alongside avoiding environments where disease can develop.

• Learning comes from recognising individuality as a naturopathic fundamental.

• The approach is holistic, looking at the whole person, incorporating their physical, mental, genetic, environmental, social and other factors.

• Naturopathic practitioners do not use a "one size fits all" approach.

• Naturopathic nutrition focuses on empowering patients to take responsibility for their own well-being.

History of Natural Medicine

• The history of natural medicine explores different cultures and historical figures who developed systems of natural healthcare. They include the applications of air, herbs and water to treat disease.

• Examples like Ayurvedic, Chinese, Egyptian and Native American practices are cited, all using treatments such as fasting, diets, purging, herbs and various forms of hydrotherapy.

• Figures like Hippocrates who coined the term "let food be thy medicine", promoted food as the primary source of medicine, and herbs, before resorting to interventions. He also formulated the Hippocratic oath.

• Significant figures such as Sebastian Kneipp, Max Bircher-Benner, John Harvey Kellogg and Henry Lindlahr, along with significant historical approaches such as hydrotherapy and naturopathy, are highlighted.

• Louis Pasteur is noted for developing the germ theory, which contrasts with the earlier understanding of disease by Antoine Bechamp, whose work viewed disease as originating within the body due to changes in the body's terrain.

• The presentation describes how some views and practices supporting natural approaches were suppressed or marginalized, including the history of the development and suppression of natural medicine, as well as the connections of some figures in medicine to the pharmaceutical industry.

Allopathy vs. Homeopathy

• Allopathy uses chemicals and drugs to treat symptoms, regarding the symptoms as the disease and taking a reductionist view. It attempts to suppress the symptoms but disease can then be driven deeper into the body by suppression.

• Homeopathy emphasizes cures like with like, using substances to facilitate the body's own healing, whilst considering the patient as a whole.

The Law of Similars

• In 1791, Samuel Hahnemann translated a Materia medica about the effect of Cinchona bark (China)

• Hahnemann took China, experiencing malaria-like symptoms, thus establishing the law of similars.

• The law postulates that a substance that causes certain symptoms in a healthy person can cure similar symptoms in a diseased person.

• This fundamental has examples, such as bee venom for a bee sting, coffee for insomnia.

Suppression of Symptoms

• Suppression occurs when symptoms disappear without healing the underlying illness.

• The body may find alternative ways to express the illness deeper into the body, leading to more detriment to health instead of healing it.

• This may occur in a range of ways: suppressing emotions, suppressing natural bodily secretions (sweat suppression), surgical removal of parts, including suppressing recurring infections, suppressing fever and pain and suppressing natural immunity.

The Body's Self-Healing Abilities

• The body has an innate intelligence and power to restore itself if given the opportunity.

• Cells constantly regenerate, and the body can heal from injuries like cuts and broken bones

• Specific examples of normal body processes cited, such as blood clotting or bone repair, demonstrating the body's inherent self-healing ability.

The Laws of Cure

• The Laws of Cure explore how ailments and symptoms often resolve in the reverse order to their appearance, with the mind often showing improvement prior to the body's response.

• The presentation cites specific cases demonstrating the principles behind this.

Naturopathic in Practice

• Naturopathic practice emphasizes understanding and addressing the root causes of illness, unlike allopathic treatments which address symptoms.

•  Illustrative examples include coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis treatments that are cited as contrasting.

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

• Type 2 diabetes is attributed to a lack of exercise and improper diet, in particular, excessive consumption of processed carbohydrates and unhealthy fats.

• This leads to insulin resistance, causing a disruption in the body's ability to properly manage blood sugar levels.

• Naturopathic practitioners promote lifestyle changes to counteract this, emphasizing a healthy diet and increased activity levels, whereas allopathic medicine addresses this with drugs to manage the blood sugar levels.

Traditional Chinese Medicine

• Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) centers around the understanding of Yin and Yang.

• It involves balancing Yin and Yang forces, and these principles translate into dietary choices and treatment methods that are outlined.

• Concepts like the Chinese Body Clock are introduced, highlighting the different times of the day at which different organ systems have their peak performance, making holistic treatment decisions.

Summary Exercise

• Answering the questions encourages critical thinking.