Naturopathic and Functional Medicine
Conventional Medicine is brilliant at saving lives and is vital to us all. However, It is disease-centred and not health-centred. But health is the presence of positive vitality not just the absence of disease.
In both a Naturopathic and Functional Approach, we believe in the body’s ability to heal itself if we can only remove the obstacles that lead our bodies out of balance.
Each person is a unique expression of their genetic and environmental influences. There is no place for a “one-size fits all”.
As therapists, we dig deep to find out what the cause of your imbalance is, and this will more often than not be a complex web of interconnections rather than a single cause. Then we support the body/mind to return to balance and restored health, though corrective nutrition and lifestyle adaptations.
To achieve this we may need to use functional tests including mainstream tests requested from your GP.
This can inform us where to focus the therapeutic energy for you and be more targeted in our approach.
….so why can nutrition and a functional approach help with so many ailments?
…..because naturopathic thinking says that the whole body is interconnected and the systems are not separate. This means we can link a deficiency of function in one system to underperformance in other systems. For instance if you are constipated (digestive system) this will have significant impact on your reproductive hormones, your energy levels, your skin, and your brain.
…..nutritionists are trained to be detectives
…..our job is to identify the imbalances in these functions and to support the body in doing what it knows best which is for all systems to be working in balance.
Life in the 21st century is a fast paced affair. We are subject to constant information, demands and expectations like we have never really had in history before and consequently the body/mind has to cope with this life load adapting miraculously for years until one day it starts to fail and we experience ill health in the form of chronic disease.
These stresses include more than the psychological stress of modern life, they include: infections, drugs, lifestyles, environmental toxicity, the standard western diet, nutritional deficiency, sedentary living…the list goes on.
Sleep and relaxation, exercise and movement, nutrition, stress and relationships are the core elements that an imbalance in any one will affect all the other systems.