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Nature Heals

Many of you may have felt under the weather after over-indulging during the festive period. Also, winter is a common time of year for cold and flu bugs to spread. but what if you could cleanse your body of toxins and at the same time protect your body from infection? The answer for you could be naturopathy.

Now the term naturopathy is not one used in everyday language, but it is literally the most natural form of treatment in the world. Instead of the doctor, it's Mother Nature and your own body that could be the keys to healing your ailments and maintaining your health.

David Potterton is a doctor of naturopathy based in Tilehurst, Reading, and also edits the journal of the British Naturopathic Association.

He said: "Naturopaths believe that the symptoms of illness are really the body trying to cure itself. So a fever is an attempt by the body to kill the bug, not the bug creating the fever. We tend to promote exercise and healthy diet, rather than rely on drugs."

David Potterton, doctor of naturopathy in Reading

In other words, naturopaths believe symptoms are our signposts. So a fever is seen as a positive because it helps to kill the infection and speeds up the ability to deal with foreign invaders. Therefore, naturopaths don't recommend taking drugs like aspirin to bring down a fever because these only suppress the symptoms, which the body needs to heal itself.

"The benefits of not using any drugs is great", says Mr Potterton, who has been practicing naturopathy since 1975 and is also a consultant medical herbalist. "We view health as something that the body can achieve itself if it's given the right tools. If the person receives proper health advice, the body has the best chance of curing itself."

A good diet is also an integral part of naturopathic practice, because it helps to prevent diseases. Whereas people go to their doctor when they are unwell, naturopathy promotes good health via good nutrition and adopting a healthy lifestyle.

The saying "you are what you eat" certainly rings true in this case. Common ailments such as pain, tiredness, hormonal imbalance including menstrual difficulties, skin complaints and bowel problems can be treated by changing your diet in a way that will help your body heal itself without the need for drugs. However, herbal medicines can also be used to support the healing process.

"Most Western diseases, such as heart disease, are due to faulty eating habits", says Mr Potterton, who used to suffer from asthma until he changed his diet and nutritional intake. "I couldn't even walk past a perfume counter without getting an attack of wheezing. Now I never suffer any attacks."

For those who need a general detox to cleanse their systems, Mr Potterton recommends drinking fruit juices and eating fruit because they cleanse the blood. He also recommends drinking herb teas and eating vegetables, preferably raw, like salads, where possible, but try to avoid meat, dairy produce, and cereals for up to a week. Though restricted diets should be carried out only under the careful supervision of an experienced practitioner.

"Detoxing allows the body to excrete poisons that have been stored up, maybe for years, and it can't do that efficiently if it's digesting heavy foods, so the idea is to allow the body to cleanse itself."

Mr Potterton recommends eating organic foods wherever possible because it will increase your intake of antioxidants, which are the nutrients that mop up damaging toxins in our bodies. "Plants produce antioxidants to defend themselves against attacks by insects", he says, "so if they are sprayed with pesticides their antioxidant levels go down, because they don’t need to produce them.”

Naturopaths concentrate on the causes of symptoms. Based on the premise that symptoms are only an outward expression of an inner imbalance, if the ailment is, for example, a headache then a naturopath would ask about living habits that could cause the headache, such as staring at a computer too long, lack of nutrients or drinking too much caffeine. The naturopath would then recommend a tailored diet and or herbal medicine, such as the feverfew herb, used for treating migraines.

Your emotional well-being is covered as well. For example, if we feel stressed about an exam or a job interview we feel our abdomen go into a knot, and this tightness will affect our food digestion.

At the initial consultation, a naturopath will take a full case history before making any recommendations. They are most likely to check weight, blood pressure, pulse rate and lung function, as well as offering less conventional investigations, such as hair analysis (to detect the levels of toxic elements and nutrients in the body) and food intolerance tests.

Common naturopathic treatments for ailments, including bad posture, are:

1. Natural nutrition and diet advice
2. Nutritional supplementation
3. Packs and wraps, such as a cold pack for a sore throat
4. Osteopathy or other manipulative techniques
5. Massage
6. Natural remedies such as herbal remedies
7. Hydrotherapy (water therapy)

If you'd like more information, contact David Potterton on info@davidpotterton.co.uk.
More details are available on his website, www.davidpotterton.co.uk (link on the top right-hand side of this page).

To find your nearest naturopath, call the Naturopathic Healthline on 0870 745 6984 or visit www.naturopathy.org.uk.