Naturopathic medicine is the original medicine – a holistic approach to healthcare that emphasises the body’s innate ability to heal itself. In this article you will find a run-down on the benefits of naturopathy, so you can find your own love for it!

In contrast to its opposite – allopathic, drug-based medicine – naturopathy aims to work in harmony with the human body, rather than overriding, removing, or blocking potential causes of disturbance. 

Naturopathy combines modern scientific knowledge with traditional and natural forms of medicine, focusing on treating the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—rather than just addressing symptoms. This article explores the principles, treatments, and benefits of naturopathy.

There are 6 Foundational Principles that Guide Naturopathy

1. The Healing Power of Nature: Naturopathic medicine believes in the body’s inherent ability to heal and maintain health. Practitioners seek to support and enhance these natural processes and use supplements and herbal tinctures from nature to address symptoms.
2. Identify and Treat the Root Cause: Rather than merely alleviating symptoms, naturopathic medicine aims to identify and treat the underlying causes of illness – this is the challenging but most effective aspect of naturopathy which is not found in allopathic (drug-based) medicine.
3. First, Do No Harm: Naturopathic treatments are designed to be gentle and non-invasive, minimising the risk of harm, and as treatment is natural, the body responds appropriately to the treatment and can eliminate anything it doesn’t need or use. 
4. Doctor as Teacher: Naturopaths educate and empower patients to take an active role in their health, promoting lifestyle changes and self-care (because without your active participation, correction in the body can’t occur). 
5. Treat the Whole Person: This principle emphasizes the interconnectedness of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health, and doesn’t discount any category as a potential driver of symptoms.
6. Prevention: Naturopathy focuses on disease prevention through lifestyle and dietary modifications, stress reduction, and natural therapies.

It wasn’t long into my naturopathic medicine studies that I started seeing changes in how I saw the body – parts of the body work together, with one system not at all separate from another. When we treat the whole body, and the whole person, and take in their history, we have a chance of supporting the body in healing from the root – something the body can absolutely do, if it has the right environment.

You may want to also check out this article – Mind-Blowing Notes from an 1884 Medical Text Book – to see the correlations between traditional, old-school medicine and naturopathic medicine today. In fact, the old way is even more holistic than the modern form.

Common Naturopathic Treatments

Naturopathy employs a wide range of treatments, often tailored to the individual needs of the patient. Treatments that a naturopath can directly apply include;

1. Herbal Medicine: The use of plant-based remedies to support health and treat various conditions.
2. Nutrition and Diet: Customized dietary plans to address deficiencies, support healing, and promote overall well being.
3. Lifestyle Counseling: Guidance on stress management, sleep hygiene, and other lifestyle factors that influence health.
4. Homeopathy: A system of medicine based on the principle of “like cures like,” using highly diluted substances to stimulate the body’s healing response (homeopathy was not included in my training, but I have tried it and it’s extremely powerful)..

Where required, a naturopath may refer out to the following services for extra support (or they may be trained in them also); 

5. Acupuncture: An ancient Chinese practice involving the insertion of fine needles into specific points on the body to balance energy and promote healing.
6. Hydrotherapy: The use of water in various forms (such as baths, compresses, or steam) to treat illness and promote health.
7. Physical Medicine: Techniques such as massage, spinal manipulation, and exercise therapy to support physical health and recovery.

Are you starting to see how it can work with your body, rather than against it, and how powerful it has the potential to be? Let’s look further into the benefits…

What are the Benefits of Naturopathy?

The benefits of naturopathy are pretty endless, but here are a few powerful benefits;

Holistic Approach: Naturopathy considers all aspects of an individual’s health, addressing physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual needs. You will spend up to 90-minutes with a naturopath so they can get a clear and full picture of what is going on for you (as opposed to 7-10 minutes with your GP) . 

Personalised Care: Treatments are tailored to the unique needs and circumstances of each patient, so each ‘prescription’ is unique to that person. There is no ‘one’ supplement or treatment prescribed to every patient in the hopes that something will improve. 

Prevention and Wellness: Naturopathic medicine has an emphasis on disease prevention and promoting long-term wellness through healthy lifestyle choices.

Complementary Care: Naturopathy can be used alongside conventional medicine, offering additional tools for achieving and maintaining health.

Empowerment: Patients are encouraged to take an active role in their health, leading to greater self-awareness and self-care practices (very important)..

I hope that has painted a clear picture on what naturopathy is, how it works, and a deeper insight into the benefits of naturopathy and what it could potentially do for you.

I personally spent from 2014-2017 doing training in naturopathy (including 200 supervised clinic hours) and I know first-hand how powerful it is. It changed the way I support my clients, how I help them lose weight and become healthy, and I’ve integrated it into my business ever since! 

The only last note I’ll add is, you have to be accountable. It won’t help you unless you help yourself. Allopathic medicine is best for those who don’t want to make lifestyle changes, as it does not address the root cause, and won’t support you in healing. Naturopathy is about healing, and finding your way back to wholeness again, but you will have to play an active role in that process, too 🙂 

Jen x