Articles
These articles will give you a better idea of what naturopathy and acupuncture are all about. You'll also find links to research that proves how effective naturopathy and acupuncture is for certain conditions.
Click on any title below to jump straight to the article, or scroll down the page to browse them all.
The Caveman Diet
The Benefits of Eating Seasonally
Naturopathic Weight Loss
Naturopathic Training in NZ
How Preconception Care Developed
Can Chinese Medicine Help Turn a Breech Baby?
Extensive research on Acupuncture and IVF
Debra Betts and Acupuncture During Pregnancy and Birth
The Caveman Diet
Today's hectic urban life makes it easier to grab highly processed foods and eat on the go, rather than well-balanced meals.
And we've suffered as a result.
A healthy diet is the foundation of lifelong good health - but is there a one-diet-fits-all policy?
Absolutely NOT!
Everybody has different dietary needs for their current state of health, their constitution and their eating habits. That's why you should professional advice whenever you have a health problem you want to fix with your diet.
But some principles of good health apply to everyone - I call this the “Eat like a Caveman Diet”!
“Eat like a Caveman”
When you choose the foods you eat every day ask yourself, “Would a caveman eat this tucker?”
If the answer is yes, it's likely to be a healthy choice - using this principle will steer you towards eating less processed, more ‘natural' foods.
If the answer is no, think how far away from a caveman diet it is.
For instance, rice probably wasn't eaten by the caveman, but has been a staple food for civilizations for thousands of years. It's not exactly caveman, but it's not too far off.
Potato chips, on the other hand, are a relatively recent invention. The Caveman's gut never had to deal with deep-fried food with flavourings, food enhancers and preservatives. And our guts aren't so keen on them either.
As we evolve, our system gets used to dealing with these products and adapts to suit our needs. But the process takes thousands of years. Eating like a caveman is likely the most health-promoting choice we can make.
How to eat like a Caveman:
- Eat a varied and interesting diet
- Eat seasonally where possible
- Drink plenty of water each day (NOT coffee, tea, soft drink or juice)
- Good quality protein is essential - in the form of fish, meat, eggs, nuts, beans or legumes
- A healthy diet has good fats - cavemen had high protein, high fat diets. The right types of fats are vital for good health. These include: olive oil, nuts, fish and flaxseed oil
- Most of what you eat should be unrefined carbohydrates - eat plenty of fresh fruit and veges, beans and legumes, and nuts
The Benefits of Eating Seasonally
When you eat seasonally, you also tend to eat locally grown food. Both factors have a huge impact on the nutrient content of food.
- Food that is picked seasonally is more likely to stay on the tree until it is ripe. That way it reaches its full nutrient potential. And that's why just-picked produce tastes so good.
- The longer the time between picking and eating, the fewer nutrients are left. Refrigeration and storage all increase the lifespan of produce, but as soon as it's harvested it begins losing its life force and nutritional value.
- Eating seasonally means the food is more likely to be grown conventionally, within the natural life cycles. It's likely to have fewer pesticides, fertilizers and sprays to make it grow. All of these chemicals decrease the nutrient value of our food and we need more vitamins and minerals to deal with them.
- Modern transport and food preserving techniques are new. Our bodies are made to eat different foods in different seasons. For instance, in summer many fruits are ripe. These are cleansing and cooling, and help us to deal with hotter temperatures. In winter many of the root vegetables are in season. These are warming and building, and help protect us from winter cold. Staying within natural life cycles makes sense to our body.
- Seasonal foods are cheaper. They're grown locally and usually in plentiful supply. It's not often that the better option is less expensive!
The Tricks:
- Buy fresh produce regularly, not just in your weekly shop, but daily when you can.
- Only choose produce that is grown in NZ, or as close to home as possible.
- Choose fruits and veges that are in season. You'll know this by the greater availability of the product, its relative cost and its taste.
- Buy organically if you can. Organic foods are always seasonal as they are spray-free and are not plied with preservatives. They are the best bet if you're looking for maximum taste and nutrients.
Naturopathic Weight Loss
Most people think calories in < calories out = weight loss.
It's not that simple. Your ability to lose, or gain weight is governed by your metabolism. And your metabolism is affected by a number of factors like:
- Gastrointestinal health
- Hormone balance
- Physiological stress levels
- Dietary history
- Quality and amount of sleep
- Toxic chemical exposure (eg alcohol, tobacco, processed foods, caffeine, pharmaceutical drugs)
Naturopathically we believe:
It is necessary to be healthy in order to lose weight, not that losing weight matters for health.
Therefore, we heal the metabolism so that fat loss can occur.
How do you heal metabolism?
- With vitamin, mineral and herbal therapy that promotes the body's ability to heal itself and return to natural function
- By maximising gastrointestinal function, the key to proper digestion and utilization of food
- With dietary recommendations designed to correct individual imbalances - there's no “one diet fits all” policy
- By making lifestyle recommendations to work within your limitations and that address healing metabolism rather than weight loss
The best thing is this approach creates permanent weight loss!
It also prevents the onset of many degenerative diseases such as diabetes, gastrointestinal conditions and coronary heart disease!
Click here for more info on our naturopathic weight-loss programme.
Naturopathic Training in NZ
A lot of people are interested in our qualifications and where to go if they want to learn more about naturopathy, or natural health.
Naturopathic training involves:
- Basic medical knowledge (anatomy and physiology) beyond that of a nurse - so you need to enjoy science!
- Naturopathic Philosophy - how to promote the body to heal itself
- Nutrition - you have extensive training that focuses on the nutrients required for optimal body function
- Dietary Therapy - how naturopathic nutrition fits into a treatment programme
- Herbal Medicine - knowledge of plants and their medicinal uses
- Vitamin and mineral therapy - how to diagnose deficiencies and improve conditions
- Bodywork - massage and manipulation techniques
Katie and Annaliese completed their Bachelor of Health Science in Complementary Medicine (from Charles Stuart University in NSW) at South Pacific College of Natural Therapeutics in Ellerslie, Auckland.
They also hold advanced diplomas in naturopathy and herbal medicines which are NZQA qualifications.
Until now, these were the highest qualifications available and took three years of full-time study to complete. The first degree course in naturopathy is being offered as a NZ qualification in 2010.
If you are interested, these institutions offer both full-time and part-time courses in naturopathy:
South Pacific College of Natural Therapeutics - Ellerslie, Auckland
Wellpark College of Natural Therapies - Grey Lynn, Auckland
How preconception care developed
The concept of preconception care came about in 1978 in the UK.
The Foresight Centre pioneered a diet and lifestyle programme for couples dealing with infertility, or parent of children born with health problems.
This programme saw a marked rise in conception rates and fewer health problems in babies who were born to parents on the programme.
Since then, the programme has taken off around the world.
The Jocelyn Centre for Natural Fertility Management brought these principles to Australasia. They focus on nutrition, detoxification and stress management as a pathway to happier, healthier babies.
Thanks to further research we now know certain vitamins and minerals are needed at key stages during the conception process.
We all know the importance of folic acid in the prevention of neural tube defects, but your personal vitamin and mineral deficiencies can affect the health of your children at a later date.
Preconception care is also about minimising “Voluntary Social Poisons” (alcohol, cigarettes and coffee) to allow your body to be in optimal health for conception.
For more information the following books are excellent and very thorough points of reference:
“Beautiful babies, Fabulous Families, Wonderful World” by Belinda Barnes
“The Natural Way to Better Babies” by Francesca Naish and Janette Roberts
Can Chinese Medicine help turn a breech baby?
The simple answer is yes!
The standard treatment to turn breech babies in Chinese medicine is the application of moxa (a heat stick containing the herb Artemisia vulgaris, or Mugwort) to an acupuncture point found on the outer corner of the fifth toenail.
Why? The treatment is said to increase foetal activity.
In a Chinese study carried out in 1999, 130 patients with breech babies at the 33-week mark had this treatment every day for seven days.
This was compared with a control group of another 130 patients with breech babies who received no treatment.
At 35 weeks' gestation, the babies had turned for 75.4% of the group who received the moxa. That's compared with only 47.7% in the control group. Check out this study.
If you've been told your baby is breech, come in for an initial consultation and acupuncture treatment.
We'll figure out the causes and put a plan in place to remedy them.
You'll learn how to use the moxa sticks, and we'll send you home to treat yourself daily.
We follow up with weekly acupuncture to help maximise blood and energy flow to the uterus - and this usually fixes the problem!
Extensive Research on Acupuncture and IVF
Evidence links acupuncture with improved positive outcomes for those undergoing IVF and any assisted reproductive technologies.
In fact, providers such as Fertility Associates and Repromed actively recommend acupuncture for couples going through the process.
Australasia's leading provider is The Acupuncture IVF Support Clinic. They've compiled much of the research done in this area with the following conclusions:
The use of acupuncture used both pre- and post-embryo transfer has now been extensively researched, with largely positive results. See research.
Acupuncture has been shown to decrease anxiety around the IVF process and increase feelings of wellbeing and ability to cope with stress. See research.
Acupuncture has also been shown to increase blood flow to the uterus and ovaries. See research.
Debra Betts and acupuncture during pregnancy and birth
Debra Betts is a nurse who did her acupuncture training in London in 1989.
When she returned to NZ she set up a private practice in Wellington specialising in pregnancy and women's health care.
By 1997 she was teaching acupuncture courses to midwives and she's now a leading expert in obstetric acupuncture.
In particular, Debra advocates the use of acupuncture to assist with:
Morning sickness - acupuncture is completely safe during pregnancy. At a time when most drug therapies are not available to women, it provides welcome relief from debilitating nausea and vomiting. Click here to find out more.
Threatened miscarriage - currently Debra is completing her PhD examining the effect of acupuncture on threatened miscarriage.
Breech presentation - read more about this in the article above.
Pre-birth acupuncture - the use of acupuncture to prepare women for labour was first researched in the 1970s by Kubista and Kucera. They found that acupuncture once per week from 37 weeks was successful in reducing the average labour time of women treated. See the research.
Birth acupressure or acupuncture for pain relief - Debra is very passionate about providing women access to information that helps them have a smoother birth. She has created a free downloadable booklet that teaches people how to use acupressure for pain relief during labour. She is also very active in teaching midwives how to use acupuncture to support woman during birth.