What is your experience of naturopaths?

[englishvegoboi]

I have started this thread because I was wondering if there are other people on this forum who are as cynical as me about 'naturopathy'.

Veganism is not popular in naturopathic circles at the moment, probably due to the fact that everyone is raving about the Atkins diet ): From my own experience, many naturopaths base their philosophy around what is popular in the most recent editions of women’s magazines or the results of some dubious 'scientific' study.

Take Vitamin C for example, a study caried out a few years ago revealed that this ‘wonder vitamin’ has anti-ageing properties. The naturopath’s response: prescribe hundreds of dollars of Vitamin C pills to vulnerable people who are scared of growing old. Of course, a few years later a new scientific study emerged that questioned the health benefits of large doses of vitamin c, so the naturopaths adapted their philosophy accordingly.

I went to see a naturopath who told me to go on the Atkins diet even though I was not in the slightest bit overweight. When I told her I was vegan she looked at me with disdain and told me that I would 'die eventually'. Some months later I returned and she suggested that I go on the blood type diet and as I am blood type A, I should consider going vegetarian!!!!

There are some good naturopaths out there and I am sure that some of them share this forum. However many of those good naturapths adopt a tried and tested holistic philosophy such as ayurveda and TCM etc. Some naturopaths do succeed in combining different philosophies and mange to make a pragmatic assessment of modern empirical research BUT naturopaths like that are few and far between. Indeed many are dogmatic and will not take your code of ethics into account when prescribing a diet. It is after all much easier for a naturopath to tell you to eat meat than to sit down and tell you about vegan sources of amino acids and omega 3 etc.

Do not be fooled by the name, choosing a naturopath is a dangerous game of Russian roulette.

[LittleNellColumbia]

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[Mystic]

I went once. I was told that I was allergic to wheat. So I avoided it for a while. I ended up buying all this other stuff, but as it turns out, I am fine with wheat. I spent a fortune. This was ages ago.

[foxytina_69]

im seeing one currently. its helped me alot. im trying to get off all of my asthma medications. shes a great naturopath. we laugh tons while were together. i always look forward to us meeting. and she always spends extra time with me and makes sure everything is covered that i have to ask before i leave.

[LittleNellColumbia]

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[eve]

I'm sure there are some good naturopaths out there, and I must admit having gone to one a long time ago, but not impressed. Same with nutritionists, even vegans suggest seeing a nutritionist for info, but I have met quite a few nutritionists, and wouldn't give tuppence for them.

Some people are intuitive, and if you come across someone like that, and I have, it's good to listen to their advice, but obviously their advice doesn't come from books.

[treehugga]

My husband often jokes that to qualify as a naturopath all you have to do is tell people not to consume wheat or dairy .

I find them extremely expensive and I have more success diagnosing myself and getting what I need at the health food shop.

The last one I saw told me I needed to consume liver. When I told her 'no way' she said 'what? Not even for medical purposes?' I never went back.

I had an excellent one years ago and stepping into her palce was like going into an alchemists. She made up lotions and potions herself and there was always a pleasant herbal smell there. You felt better just seeing her. She had the healers touch.

Nowadays you walk into a sterile clinic, costs a fortune and smells like nothing. I always find that dissappointing. Only my experience though!

[treehugga]

Where have all those wise women herbal healers gone?

Bring em back I say

[Yogini]

I've only seen one. She was obsessed with making me eat fish. She was also convinced that veganisn isn't healthy - she said her vegan friends all eat Cool Whip and that can't be healthy. I've never eaten Cool Whip in my life. I don't have enough money to find another naturopath.

Love,
Anna

[eve]

Why would you need to find another one?

[veganblue]

I would really like to find a *good* naturopath - but how do you find you beforehand if they are going to be good? I am pretty confident that I will get pretty much a decent basic each time I walk into a doctors office - why should it be any different with naturopaths?

I have only once ever seen a nutritionist and she was really cool - not only did she work out a diet for me, she brought in some photocopies of some research she did.

If I ate the quantity of food she was recommending though I would be the size of a house and very poor!!!

Now I am on a diet that requires me to eat six small meals a day - yikes!

Maybe the idea is to ring before hand and ask what the naturopaths opinion is on vegetarianism or even ...veganism for example....?

[foxytina_69]

that would be a good idea veganblue. i guess i struck lucky with my naturopath! (i had a 'feeling' about her, even though her office is like 30-40 minutes away!) i didnt expect any naturopaths to be close minded about veganism of all things!

[Yogini]

Why would you need to find another one?

In hopes of finding one who can successfully treat my health issues and is not a moron.

Love,
Anna

[Pilaf]

I went to see a naturopath who told me to go on the Atkins diet even though I was not in the slightest bit overweight. When I told her I was vegan she looked at me with disdain and told me that I would 'die eventually'. Some

HAHAHA..yes.. oh this is rich. I suppose she tried to tell you you'd become immortal with a ripped physique if you tried the fatkins diet?

[kriz]

[QUOTE=treehugga]My husband often jokes that to qualify as a naturopath all you have to do is tell people not to consume wheat or dairy [QUOTE]

LOL. My friend came back from a naturopath and was told the reason for her baggy eyes and low energy is that she reacts to WHEAT and DAIRY. She had a list of food items she could eat. Excellent choices according to the list were for example lamb, veal, chicken...What if the junkfood and all the meat she consumes on a daily basis (I know her eating habits) make her feeling run down and not the freaking wheat! She also paid a huge amount of money for such crappy advice.

[foxytina_69]

i never knew so many people had such problems! i hope i can change that when i go to naturopath school!

[Roderick]

As a English naturopath who advocates the vegan diet for certain health issues i feel I must defend my colleagues.

The first thing to remeber that training standards varry around the world, you cannot just buy a diploma by the post in the UK. So comments of buy a certificate and pretend to be a doctor do not apply in the UK, they may in other places though.

There are schools of naturopathy some based on fasting, vegatarianisum etc, etc. So depending on the training of the naturopath and of course the influences (prejudice) of their instructors you may get some who do not understand your point of view.

naturopaths treat ill health, many of you are fortunate in having the internet as a source of information. I was born into a time before computers existed! It is not unusual as a naturopath that I am confronted by people who have caused their own ill health by a poorly thought out and applied diet. Having said this as a naturopath i am aware that Atkins exactly matches diets that were advocated in the 1930's and I do not advocate Atkins at all.

There is a history of poorly applied vegan diets that as a naturopath I was made aware of as a student, a well applied vegan diet is fundamentaly healthy.

So the bottom line is naturopaths are as good or as bad as any other branch of medicine and cannot all be placed under the same heading. A good doctor listens a bad doctor ignores and dictates.... its that simple!

R

[Tiggerwoo]

I'm currently being treated by a naturopath, who has improved my health tenfold, when all the allopathic doctors just masked the symptoms and made me alot worse when I was pretty ill. Also in being treated by a naturopath who will treat the person as a whole, rather than they symptom I became interested in holistic health and am now training to be a naturopath and believe me, the training is pretty intense!

[Tigerlily]

*Bumping this thread*

I'm interested in seeing a naturopath. I have some health issues that my conventional family doctor doesn't seem to really care about. There's a couple in my area but I have only heard about one naturopath. She also owns a natural health store. I hope she isn't too expensive.