What is Naturopathic Nutrition?

The food and drink we consume has a profound effect on our bodies, in fact it is what forms the physical structure of our body. If we are eating food lacking in nutrients such as vitamins and minerals our body will lack the building blocks necessary to build healthy tissues such as muscles, ligaments, nerves, skin, bone and everything else! The body can only build with the raw materials we supply it with.

Whilst this is obvious most of us spend a lot of time ignoring this. We eat food with very little nutritional value but plenty of calories. Foods such as white bread, white pasta, biscuits, cakes, alcohol, crisps, soft drinks, ready meals, processed breakfast cereals like coco-pops, ice-cream, processed meat products and so the list goes on.

The right foods in....

Naturopathic nutrition or natural nutrition recognizes that we are healthiest when we put the right fuel in our engine. During the time we were evolving there was only one fuel available; the natural kind. Our early ancestors ate what was around them. Of course these foods didn’t have any pesticides or other chemicals sprayed on them, they hadn’t been processed and altered in any way. Modern foods sprayed with synthetic chemicals seem totally foreign to the body. We can get close to eating the correct “fuel” by eating the types of foods our ancestors did. This would be organically produced fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fish from clean waters and organically reared meat. Much of the food would have been consumed raw. Food which has been processed and contains many artificial chemicals such as colour and flavour should be avoided.

And the Rubbish out.....

Not only does the body need the right nutrients but it is vital that the body is able to get rid of any toxins or rubbish that it takes in from the environment or that are produced by the body’s own processes. There are five organs of elimination; the bowels and kidneys but also the liver, lungs and skin. It is not good enough to simply put in the right nutrients at the top end if the system is overloaded with toxins. There are simple measures that can help get the body to eliminate waste better. These measures are often known as detoxification or ‘detox’. There are many different methods of detox which can again be tailored to your individual needs. They normally involve dietary changes and may also involve cleansing herbal or homeopathic remedies.

What happens during a session?

In practice I do not use naturopathic nutrition in isolation from the other therapies and tools that I offer. It is an important part of most conditions and therefore an important part in most treatment programs. Improving nutrition and detoxification are of fundamental importance for a healthy functioning body. All other therapies will work better when these basics are in place. For example, if you are having osteopathy for a muscular or joint problem, the correct nutrition will help the work to be more effective. If you need to be desensitised to an allergen such as pollens this will be much more effective also if we get the nutrition and detoxification elements in place.

Nutritional requirements will vary between individuals and if necessary I will test to see if there are foods to which you are intolerant or allergic, and which you are therefore best avoiding.

I don’t want to change my diet can you still help me?

Nobody but you can decide what you want to do, you can choose. From experience I can say that many treatments will work better if you improve your diet and detoxification. It depends on the severity of your problem, of course minor complaints are likely to be helped very easily. Serious conditions need all the help they can get! Often changing your diet is not as hard as it seems at first. I know of people who thought it would be absolutely impossible to change but in the end found it easy. Ask yourself how much you want to help your body and get rid of your condition.