All About Naturopathy
Naturopathy is a holistic, whole-body approach to health and wellness. It is a safe and effective form of natural medicine that aims to identify and treat the root cause of imbalance or disease.
Recognising that you are more than just your illness or a collection of symptoms, a naturopath integrates traditional medicine with modern, evidence-based scientific research to support the body’s innate ability to heal. Naturopaths have completed tertiary studies and undergone hundreds of hours of clinical supervision.
When tailoring your treatment prescription, our naturopath takes into consideration your presenting complaint, health goals, your constitution, vitality, underlying health conditions and family as well as personal health history. They will also consider multiple areas of your health including food sensitivies/allergies, digestive and gut health, mental health, hormones, immune function, autoimmunity, cardiovascular & respiratory health, and physical fitness. Other aspects that will be taken into consideration during a consultation are current medications and pathology or functional testing results.
Our naturopathy team includes: Belinda Harvie
Holistic Nutrition
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Lifestyle Advice
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Herbal Medicine
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Nutritional Supplementation
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Energetic Medicine
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Holistic Nutrition 〰️ Lifestyle Advice 〰️ Herbal Medicine 〰️ Nutritional Supplementation 〰️ Energetic Medicine 〰️
A naturopath recognises the interaction between systems of the body and provides an individualised approach to health and healing using many avenues including holistic nutrition, lifestyle advice, herbal medicine, nutritional supplementation, and energetic medicine, learn more below:
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The philosophy of Hippocrates (the founder of naturopathic medicine) ‘Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food’ is at the core of naturopathic treatment.
Diet and nutritional interventions are utilised to ensure a varied diet balanced in macro, micro and phytonutrients. Nutritional recommendations including recipes are specific to your bio individuality, to promote health and healing.
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Our genetic expressions are influenced by behavioural and lifestyle factors. Lifestyle modifications are addressed in consultations including, sleep, stress management, movement (physical activity), rest, exposure to sunshine, toxin exposure and ensuring support networks.
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Herbal medicine is the most utilised naturopathic tool for healing imbalance and disease. Our ancestors have used plants as medicine to thrive and survive for thousands of years. Herbal medicine uses plants containing chemical constituents to treat ailments of the body by providing a broad scope effect on the body’s physiology.
Plant preparations are made by using plant parts (roots, leaves, flowers and bark) to form tinctures/ tonics and herbal infusions. These tonics are used to help regulate, stimulate or tonify the organs or systems of the body without overriding or shutting down the body’s own innate capacity to restore balance and maintain homeostasis.
Herbal formulas are prescribed based on an individual’s presentation and used to treat mental health, sleep, digestion, skin, cardiovascular, immune, endocrine and reproductive health (to name a few).
In the context of fertility, herbal tonics effectively work to tone reproductive organs, rebalance hormones, regulate the menstrual cycle in preparation for conception, support labour, birth, breastfeeding and healing postpartum.
This ancient art of healing gifts us the real power of nature and is now backed up with modern scientific, evidence-based research.
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A Naturopath uses a food first approach when it comes to supporting you to thrive; however, there are times when our nutritional demands are increased such as when pregnant, breastfeeding, or with excess stress. It is during these times we consider nutraceutical supplementation to ensure optimal nutrient levels to prevent depletion and regain health.
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Energetic medicine is used where necessary, when there are emotional blockages to healing. Australian Bush flower and Bach flower essences help release suppressed emotions allowing you to truly heal and regain balance in the body.
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Naturopathic medicine is a natural healing system that predates recorded history. Recent research has found Naturopathy to be effective in finding and treating the underlying cause of both male and female infertility, increasing both the chance of natural conception and success with assisted reproductive technology (ART).
A couple is more likely to conceive and carry a healthy baby to term when both parents are at optimal health.
Naturopathic/herbal medicine has been found to promote fertility in females by improving egg quality, repairing irregular cycles, anovulatory cycles (lack of ovulation) and when well-nourished amenorrhoea (absent periods). By regulating hormones, naturopathic treatment helps relieve menstrual cycle symptoms including heavy or painful periods, breast pain, fluid retention, acne, facial hair, PMS and PMDD and has been shown to be highly effective in the treatment of conditions such as PCOS and endometriosis.
When it comes to male factor fertility naturopathic treatment has been shown to improve sperm concentration, motility, morphology and DNA quality along with improving the overall health of the individual.