There Are Many Different Perspectives And Ways To Practice Naturopathic Medicine. This Is How We See It:
Patients often call the office and ask if we treat a particular disease and the truth is that we do not treat disease at all. I treat the cause.
Diseases are just clusters of symptoms caused by some disruption in the body’s biochemistry. Once the cause is identified and this disruption is corrected the body will heal itself.
I focus on assisting the body to function at its optimal potential for health.
This usually begins with optimizing gut function including identification of any food sensitivities/allergies, restoring beneficial flora, and replenishing nutrient deficiencies.
There really isn’t any “disease” that you can’t cure when you help the body to heal itself and restore optimal functionality.
These diseases are your body’s way of telling you that you are doing something wrong. Either you are not getting enough of what your body needs to function properly or you are getting something that is acting like poison in your body. It’s really that simple.
Successfully Treated Diseases/Symptoms
All of that being said, we have successfully treated patients who have come in with the following diseases/symptoms:
- acne
- allergies (environmental & food)
- asthma, autism, ADHD
- bronchitis
- Lyme (& co-infections)
- obesity
- Diabetes (type 1 &type 2)
- insulin resistance/pre-diabetes
- metabolic syndrome
- autoimmune disease
- hypertension,
- hypercholesterolemia
- high triglycerides
- fibromyalgia
- chronic fatigue syndrome
- ulcerative colitis
- Crohn’s disease
- IBS
- PMS
- PMDD
- depression
- anxiety
- insomnia
- hypothyroid
- Parkinson’s disease
- psoriasis
- osteoporosis
- hot flashes
- memory issues
- vaginal atrophy
- low libido
- hormonal imbalances
- prostate enlargement
- systemic
- vaginal yeast infections.
Food First!
You will hear me say over and over again that you are what you eat. Literally! If you constantly put crap into your body you will make crappie cells and feel like crap! If you put photochemical rich foods into your body, you will make high quality cells that function at their maximum capacity. Your body can only function as well as the cells you are made from.
We believe that foods act either like poison or medicine and there really are no neutral foods.
Food Poisons
Refined carbohydrates and processed foods filled with sugar (POISONS) cause depression of the immune system and massive inflammation which leads to chronic diseases like hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, and autoimmunity.
Food Medicines
High-quality protein, essential fatty acids, and phytochemicals found in whole foods like fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, legumes, and certain high-quality animal proteins (MEDICINES) build your cells right so they function optimally, your body makes anti-inflammatory compounds and you actually prevent the development of disease, plus you feel great.
Depression & Anxiety Example
3 things we frequently see in my practice that are some of the most common reasons for depression and anxiety:
- Not enough essential fatty acids (MUFA and omega 3 FA)
- Not enough essential amino acids (proteins) especially in vegetarian/vegan population
- Nutrient deficiencies (esp. Vit D and Methyl B12 & Methyl Folate in those who have MTHFR SNP)
