Naturopathic medicine: Encyclopedia II - Naturopathic medicine - The Principles of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathic medicine - The Principles of Naturopathic Medicine

Naturopathy is based on six tenets or principles [1][2]:

1. "The healing power of nature"
2. "Identify and treat the cause"
3. "First do no harm"
4. "Treat the whole person"
5. "The physician as teacher"
6. "Prevention"

Naturopathic medicine - The healing power of nature

The healing power of nature, has two aspects: (1) basically the body has the ability to heal itself and it is the naturopathic doctor's role to facilitate this natural process, and (2)nature heals. This includes getting enough sleep, exercising, feeding the body nutritional food and, if needed, additional earth food such as herbs and algae which is a living food. Plants can and will gently move a body into health without the side effects of synthetic chemicals like many pharmaceuticals.

Naturopathic medicine - Identify and treat the cause

The underlying root causes of disease must be removed for complete healing to take place. These root causes can exist at many levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. It is the naturopaths's role to identify this root cause, in addition to alleviate suffering by treating symptoms.

Naturopathic medicine - First do no harm

The process of healing includes the manifestations of symptoms, so that any therapy that interferes with this natural healing process by masking symptoms is considered suppressive and should be avoided. The natural life force of the individual should be supported to facilitate healing.

Naturopathic medicine - Treat the whole person

One of the biggest tenants of naturopathy is the belief that conventional medicine does not treat the "whole person", and that naturopathy goes beyond treatment of symptoms and treats the entire body, as well as the spirit and mind.

Naturopathic medicine - The physician as teacher

It is the role of the naturopath to educate an individual in their practices and encourage that individual to "take responsibility for their own health". This cooperative relationship between doctor and patient is essential to healing.

Naturopathic medicine - Prevention

The ultimate goal of the naturopathic physician is prevention. The emphasis is on building health not fighting illness. This is done by fostering healthy lifestyles.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Principles of Naturopathic Medicine", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki