Naturopaths improve health without drugs

The topic for the July 5 Women of Wellness program was "What is a naturopath?" The guest speaker at Fallbrook Library, Debi Foli, talked to a group of about 40 people, including at least three men. She explained what naturopathic medicine is, how it is different from traditional medicine and what it can do for individuals.

Foli started out by showing a short video about a woman who was overweight and tried all kinds of diets before losing 100 pounds and then died of a heart attack at the age of 58. That woman, she said, was her mother who would have turned 86 July 5.

Foli said it was because of her mother that she became interested in naturopathy. "If I can inspire one person to learn one new thing, I've done my job," said Foli, who, as a naturopath, has been in practice for 16 years.

Naturopathic doctors, Foli said, expand a patient's choices. They use the whole-body approach, treating body, mind and spirit with natural therapies involving food, lifestyle and botanical medicine. Instead of prescribing drugs, they use clinical nutrition to treat the patient, which includes dietary assessment, nutrient therapy and assessing supplement-drug interactions.

Naturopaths also use behavioral medicine to address the effects of one's lifestyle, psycho-social factors and the environment. They offer individualized care with one hour or longer appointments which they tailor to the patient's goals. Foli added that naturopaths form integrative partnerships with chiropractic, acupuncture and mind-body therapies.

Foli also explained that the practice of naturopathic medicine is restricted in three states by various laws (Minnesota, Colorado, and California) while 16 states require a license or registration to practice. Twenty-eight states allow a naturopath to practice without registration or a license and three states have made the practice unlawful (Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida).

In California, naturopathy is seen as a complement or alternative to traditional medicine. Naturopaths believe that "vitality is created by nutrients, not drugs. Our bodies are built with all the chemicals our bodies need," Foli said.

Foli said that while naturopaths agree with medical doctors about anatomy and physiology, "then we come to a fork in the road," as a naturopath believes food and nutrients can help the body heal while doctors use drugs and surgery to repair the body. Foli pointed out that "supplements have yet to kill anyone." On the other hand, she said, "the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General in 2008 reported 180,000 deaths by medical error in Medicare patients alone."

"Everyone is authentically built with custom DNA and blood chemistry," Foli said. So, she orders complete blood work to study the individual's blood chemistry in order to help him or her with a modified Mediterranean diet (taking sugars out and using more of the right fats) to correct the problems they are having.

The practice of naturopathy was recognized by an Act of Congress in 1929, she said, detailing what naturopaths can practice, but "we all specialize," she added.

Foli earned a BS in natural health/business. She is a certified nutritional consultant (CNC), a holistic health practitioner (HHP), a traditional naturopath (NP) and a registered naturopathic diplomat (RND). Becoming a naturopath requires 4,100 hours of education (four years) and 1,200 interning clinical hours.

Foli noted that the naturopath curriculum includes a wide variety of subjects from psychology, homeotherapeutics and living foods to macrobiotic dietary evaluations, neuro-physical reprogramming and magnetic therapy. Besides biology, chemistry, anatomy and physiology, naturopathic students also take biology of cancer, blood chemistry and immunology, toxicology, and complementary approaches to health and healing.

Naturopaths are required to take 30 hours of continuing education classes each year, so they are aware of the latest innovations in treatments for various conditions. They also retest patients at least annually to measure their progress objectively.

"We all have cancer," said Foli. "Our immune systems handle it, but when we get run down, cancer takes over." The naturopath determines the causal factors in the destruction of one's immunity that allowed cancer to develop instead of being destroyed by normal immune function.

They also test the patient's blood to look for heavy metals which like to stay in the body. According to Foli, "metals have affinities to nutrients and rob the body's organs of essential elements."

She presented some case studies of patients with various diseases and how she has been able to help them. In just four months, a person with Alzheimer's disease had an improving memory, reduced anxiety and stress, better concentration, was no longer depressed and had a returning sense of humor with more animation.

In just three months, a liver cancer patient had his cancer marker total plunge from 4,163 to 128, was sleeping through the night, had multiple liver pulmonary nodules disappear with other nodules showing no growth, reached a healthy weight and was off two medications.

Foli also helps people with anxiety and poor concentration, diabetes and high blood pressure and breast cancer as well as menopause and insomnia. Other examples of services she offers in Fallbrook are for mononucleosis, hyperthyroid and hypothyroid, autoimmune disases, weight loss, hormone rejuvenation and lost vocal capacity.

She emphasized that she cannot heal conditions like Alzheimer's and advanced cancers but she can improve the patient's quality of life. She also said that naturopaths' practices are all cash as insurance companies do not cover all their services and charge a lot for the ones they do. To learn more, visit straightnutrition.com.

Fallbrook Regional Health District hosts the WOW program on the first Thursday, of each month, also providing refreshments and door prizes. The next WOW will be on Aug. 2.