1. HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF NATUROPATHIC NUTRITION Flashcards
This module covers: • The definition of Naturopathy & Naturopathic Nutrition • The Naturopathic Principles • The history of Naturopathy and Naturopathic Nutrition • Allopathy vs. Naturopathy • What “Suppression” means • The Laws of Cure • TCM – yin/yang foods
Define Naturopathy
Naturopathy is “a system of healthcare which encourages and promotes the body’s own self-healing mechanisms”
Name 4 therapies used in Naturopathy
1) Nutrition
2) Fasting
3) Homeopathy
4) Herbal medicine
Also, acupuncture, naturopathic manipulations, hydrotherapy and others, following naturopathic principles to promote the body’s own self-healing mechanisms.
Name four Naturopathic Principles and briefly explain each
1.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.
2.Treat the Cause, not the Symptom:
The question is not what is the disease, but
* why is it there,
* where did it come from and thus,
* what is the cause?
3.Treat the Whole Person:
* 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.
4.Prevention is Preferable to Cure:
* Most diseases are clearly linked
to diet, lifestyle and the environment, it is essential to address these in order to
prevent disease, rather than simply react when it has already manifested.
- Promote health to maintain
optimal Vital Force at all times.
5.Education:
* Educate 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.
* Empower patients to take
responsibility for their own health.
Explain what is meant by
“treating the whole person”.
- 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.
Who said “Whatever disease the body has produced, it is able to revert it”?
Dr. A. Vogel, Switzerland
What is Health?
‘Abundant Vitality’
The best possible physical,
mental and emotional state.
Explain the purpose of Nutrition
The purpose of Nutrition is food that promote healing and growth
Who is a Naturopathic Nutritionist
A Naturopathic Nutritionist follows the naturopathic principles knowing that every person is an individual and requires a personalised nutritional approach to health.
What is the difference between Nutrient, Nutrition and Nourishment?
- 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.
Explain the difference between Food, Whole Food and Organic Food
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.
What is a Superfood and give 2 examples of a super food?
They are highly nutritious foods containing all, or nearly all, the vitamins, minerals and trace elements a body needs.
However, Superfoods are incorporated into a wholefood diet are fundamental for human health and they do not work in isolation but as part of a healthy lifestyle.
Example are algae, sprouts, bee pollen, wheatgrass.
What is meant by ‘Junk food’? Give one reason why it should be avoided.
‘Junk foods’ contain substances which are not natural, have been altered, or are not suitable to maintain health and growth (GMOs, trans fats, sweeteners, pesticides, artificial colourings, etc.).
Junk foods hinder cell communication and are, therefore, detrimental to health and wellbeing.
List FIVE junk foods commonly consumed as part of a typical Western diet and ONE nutritious alternative for each of these. Incorporate superfoods where possible.
Junk / Alternative
Cakes / Fruits
Biscuits/sweets / Dried fruit & nuts
Sugar / Bee Pollen
Chips / Algae/ baked Crispy Kale
Gluten Wraps / Lettuce wraps
Bacon / Grass-fed meat
A client asks you “why should I choose
organic food?”. What would you say?
Organic Food is free of fertilisers, pesticides, irradiation, GMOs, growth hormones and livestock feed additives which is better for your health.
How old is Ayurvedic medicine &
Chinese medicine?
Ayurvedic medicine: Recorded over 5000 years ago (applications of air, herbs and water).
Chinese medicine: 3000 years ago, TCM.
What was used by Egyptians for night blindness?
Liver
What was used by Native Americans for healing?
Herbs
How was disease treated in all ancient cultures?
They use fasting, diets, purging, herbs, and various forms of hydrotherapy.
What is Hippocrates (468‒377 BC) best known for?
- Hippocrates: The Father of Medicine.
- “Food as the primary source of medicine,
health and healing. First use food, then herbs, finally intervention.” - Nature is the “Physician of Man”.
- Credited for writing the Hippocratic oath.
Famous Quote “Let food be thy Medicine, and Medicine be thy food.”
What is the essence of the Hippocratic Oath?
Do no harm.
The oath:
“I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice”.
“I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I suggest to this effect. In purity and holiness, I will guard my life and my art.”
What does Greek medicine have in common with Chinese medicine and Ayurveda?
All these medical systems seek to
harmonise the health of the individual with the Universal Life Forces of Nature
What disciplines in Greek medicine has been a source and inspiration for Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries?
Homoeopathy, Naturopathy, chiropractic.
What was the German Sebastian Kneipp (1821–1897) best known for?
The Father of Hydrotherapy.
He cured his own TB by bathing in the river Danube.
What is Hydrotherapy?
It is the therapeutic use of water as a healing agent.
Compare and contrast the use of HOT and COLD water in hydrotherapy
- Cold Water: Decreases circulation and numbs the area.
- Hot Water: Relaxes muscles and increases circulation.
Explain the benefits of alternating hot and cold water?
- It stimulates blood flow, increasing oxygen and therefore nutritional supply to cells.
- Strengthens the immune system.
- Promotes circulation
- Lowers high blood pressure,
- Relieves headaches, promotes
parasympathetic activity, - Enhances sleep.
Give one application of hydrotherapy internally and one externally?
- Externally: Compresses, wraps, foot baths, steam baths, sauna.
- Internally: Acts as solvent and carrier (nutrients into cells and wastes out).
What did Swiss Dr. Max Bircher-Benner (1867–1939) advocate?
A 50/50 raw food diet with emphasis on fruit.
Heat (apart from sun) degrades food by destroying enzymes.
What is Dr. Max Bircher-Benner (1867–1939) famous for?
- Famous for his Bircher muesli (raw oats, goats’ yoghurt and fruit, soaked overnight).
- “Good gut health is necessary for proper growth of cells and tissues”.
- To maintain nutrient profile in food
Who said that “90% of diseases are due to improper functioning of the bowel” and promoted the importance of the intestinal microflora
Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (1852–1943)
Who used the term ‘nature-cure’ to define his approach to recovery and formulated the ideas of ‘healing crisis’.
Henry Lindlahr (1862–1924)
What was Henry Lindlahr’s (1862–1924) view of the primary cause of disease?
“the accumulation of morbid matter
is the primary cause of disease”.
What, according to Dr. Max Gerson (1881–1959) are the
two planks underpinning health?
Toxicity and deficiency