Naturopathy Flashcards
Naturopathy
- ‘Naturopathy is a system of healthcare which encourages and promotes the body’s own self healing mechanisms’.
- Naturopathy uses therapies such as Nutrition, Fasting, Hydrotherapy, Naturopathic manipulations, Herbal Medicine, Acupuncture, Homeopathy and others, following Naturopathic principles to promote the body’s own self healing mechanisms.
Naturopathic Principles (5)
- The Healing Power of Nature
- Treat the Cause, not a Symptom
- Treat the Whole Person
- Prevention is preferable to cure
- Education
The Healing Power of Nature
- The body can heal itself given the right conditions and treatment.
- The body has a ‘Vital Force ’ ((‘Qi’ or ‘Prana’) which can be stimulated or suppressed.
- Vital Force can be stimulated with: fresh air, sun, clean water, a healthy diet, fasting, detoxification, natural therapy.
- As naturopathic practitioners, it is essential to promote the flow of Vital Force using various natural therapies.
- “Whatever disease the body has produced, it is able to revert it”.
Treat the Cause, not a Symptom
The question is not what is the disease, but why is it there, where did it come from and, therefore, what is the cause?
Treat the Whole Person
- Operating naturopathically requires you to recognise individuality.
- Take into account the whole patient (encompassing physical, mental, genetic, environmental, social and other factors).
- The person is treated, not the symptom.
- There is no “one size fits all” approach. You may have two clients in one morning complaining of the same symptoms. Your approach would differ for each of them.
Prevention is Preferrable to Cure
- Naturopathic practitioners must promote the importance of ‘ prevention’. This is essential.
- With most diseases being so clearly linked to diet, lifestyle and the environment , it is essential that we address these in order to prevent disease, rather than simply react when it has already manifested.
- Promoting health ultimately maintains optimal Vital Force at all times.
Education
- Naturopathic practitioners educate their patients by bringing a better understanding of health , how to attain and maintain it and how to avoid creating an environment where disease can result.
- You must empower patients to take responsibility for their own health.
Naturopathic Nutritionist
• A Naturopathic Nutritionist follows the Naturopathic Principles knowing that every person is an individual and requires a personalised nutritional approach to health.
• A Naturopathic Nutritionist focuses on the following:
– Using whole & organic food as medicine
– Detoxification & cleansing.
– Looking at the constitution of a patient (TCM / Ayurveda /
– Understanding the cause of an individual’s symptoms.
Nutrient
A substance which provides nourishment essential for growth and maintenance of life.
Nutrition
The process of providing or obtaining the food necessary for health and growth.
Nourishment
The food or other substances necessary for growth, health, and good condition.
Food
Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink or that plants absorb in order to maintain life and growth.
Whole Food
Food that has not been processed or refined and is free from additives or other artificial substances.
Organic Food
Food free of fertilisers, pesticides, irradiation, GMOs, growth hormones and livestock feed additives.
Superfood
- Superfoods are highly nutritious foods containing all, or nearly all, the vitamins, minerals and trace elements a body needs.
- For example algae, sprouts, bee pollen, wheatgrass.
- The term ‘Superfood’ is more and more used liberally in the food industry today.
- Superfoods incorporated into a wholefood diet are fundamental for human health, although, they do not work in isolation but as part of a healthy lifestyle.
