What is Alternative, Homeopathy, and Naturopathy?

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Naturopathy, as a collection of disciplines, dates back approximately 150 years, although some of its practices have been used for centuries. It draws upon the rich heritage of writings and practices of Western and Eastern natural doctors since the time of Hippocrates. Modern naturopathy grew out of the healing traditions of the 18th and 19th centuries, but its underlying philosophy, and the belief that the body has the innate wisdom to resist disease and the mechanisms to be able to self-regulate and recover from disease, are identical to Ayurvedic medicine. These observations of health and disease evolved into a healing art that was passed down over the centuries, being modified and added to by many different disciplines, including traditional Chinese acupuncture (five elements/phases), Tibetan medicine, Greek medicine, and Unani Tibb.

Research in the 19th century by Antoine Bechamp and Claude Bernard further confirmed the naturopathic view of health and disease. Their research confirmed that the state of the inner terrain of the body was of paramount importance to health. Bernard stated that the factors necessary for health were divided into internal factors and external factors. The internal factors were alkalinity and a negative electrical charge, and the external factors were good nutrition and the effective elimination of toxins. Even Rudolf Virchow, the father of pathology, was quoted as saying: “If I could live my life over again, I would devote it to proving that germs seek their natural habitat—diseased tissue—rather than being the cause of the diseased tissue; e.g., mosquitoes seek the stagnant water, but do not cause the pool to become stagnant.” This line of thought complements naturopathic understanding perfectly and is in agreement with what Bechamp and Bernard believed to be true.

At the turn of the 20th century, doctors and naturopaths were divided between those that believed in the importance of a healthy diet and lifestyle and a natural approach to support health, and those that were following the germ theory of disease; ‘a pill for an ill’.

Those doctors that favored a more natural approach to health and disease included Dr. Thomas Allinson (of Allinson bread fame), who developed his theory of medicine called ‘Hygienic Medicine’. He promoted health through diet, exercise, fresh air, and bathing, and the avoidance of alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee. He was opposed to drugs and vaccination and believed that smoking caused cancer, a radical view at the time. Other doctors, including Dr. John Harvey Kellogg and Dr. John Tilden, believed that the state and cleanliness of the gut and the resultant bowel flora were of the utmost importance to health and that accumulated toxicity in this area resulted in disease.

Research carried out by Professor J.E.R. McDonagh, an English surgeon, further confirmed the naturopathic unitary view of disease. McDonagh concluded that there is only one disease and that all diseases stem from this one source: damage to the blood proteins. He suggested that there is a life force or energy from which all matter is derived and that this matter pulsates in cycles. As long as these cycles continue, the body will function healthily. If the cycle is disturbed, disease will result. These findings confirmed the earlier research of Bernard and Bechamp, which indicated that the inner terrain and alkalinity of the body determined health and that disease occurred when this delicate balance was disturbed.

The main practitioner known to have formulated naturopathy at the beginning of the 20th century was Benedict Lust, who trained in chiropractic and adopted the term “Naturopath,” which he purchased from a colleague, Dr. John Scheel. Lust opened the first ‘Health food store’ in America in 1895 (originally called ‘Kneipp store’) and set up the American School of Naturopathy. In 1902, Lust replaced the Kneipp societies with the ‘Naturopathic Society of America’, later changed to the ‘American Naturopathic Association’. Lust claimed at one point to have 40,000 practitioners practicing naturopathy. In the early 20th century, naturopaths were on a par with doctors and were sought after for their vast and diverse knowledge of health and disease.

Numerous amazing practitioners influenced naturopathic medicine, including (but not limited to) Father Sebastian Kneipp (hydrotherapy), Dr. Henry Lindlahr (nature cure), Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (autointoxication), Dr. A.T. Still (osteopathy), D.D. Palmer (chiropractic), Winternitz, Dr. O.G. Carroll, Bernarr McFadden (physical therapy), Rudolf Steiner, and Dr. Bernard Jensen.

Naturopathy, therefore, became an amalgamation of different disciplines, all of which aim to treat the body naturally and respect and acknowledge the vital energy in the body. Although the therapies differ, the underlying message of promoting health and supporting the body’s own healing processes runs through them all. They include healthy living, natural diet, detoxification, exercise, physical therapy, and mental, emotional, and spiritual healing, all using natural therapeutic agents. The schools of thought that influenced naturopathy include hydrotherapy, nature cure, the Eclectic school of medicine, the hygienic system, autotoxicity, homeopathic medicine, herbal medicine, osteopathy and chiropractic, exercise, and spirituality.

Naturopathy was extremely popular throughout the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. The naturopathic doctors of the ‘hygienic’ system, such as J.H. Kellogg, Arbuthnot Lane, and Thomas Allinson, played a big part in educating the masses about the benefits of cleanliness and healthy living. Most of the currently accepted public hygiene practices were actually brought into being due to the early naturopathic hygiene reformers. The hygienists had great success at decreasing morbidity and mortality and increasing life span with their methods.

Naturopathy was at its height during the 1920s and up to 1937. Naturopaths such as Lindlahr, Lust, Kellogg, and Carroll were spreading the word of Nature Cure and Naturopathy and having huge success in their sanatoriums in curing people of many ailments. The research of Tilden, McDonagh, and Bechamp verified the underlying principles of naturopathy, and many journals and books were written for the public to educate them into taking responsibility for their own health. The naturopathic journals of the 1920s and 1930s provided valuable insights into the prevention of disease and the promotion of health. Dietary advice focused on correcting poor eating habits, increasing the amount of fiber in the diet, and reducing red meat.

Sir Arbuthnot Lane, a medical doctor and surgeon, set up his New Health Society in the 1920s. His beliefs were ridiculed by mainstream medicine, but he regarded bowel health as of the utmost importance: “The lower end of the intestine is of the size that requires emptying every six hours, but by habit, we retain its contents for 24 hours. The results are ulcers and cancer.” The research of these naturopathic pioneers into the causes of cancer via diet, maintaining good colon health, the importance of probiotics, the problems of too much red meat, and the need for exercise and fresh air is now being resurrected and fed back to the general public after extensive research confirming that what they originally said nearly 100 years ago is, in fact, correct.

So what went wrong? Why is the term ‘naturopathy’ not recognized by many people today? Why have the majority of people never heard of a ‘naturopath,’ let alone know what they do?

The problems started with the advent of the ‘miracle medicine’. Pasteur’s germ theory had taken hold, and the research was on for ‘a pill for every ill’. Sulfa drugs (the early antibiotics) were introduced in 1937; penicillin in 1942 and the Salk Polio vaccine in 1955, and the general public became used to miracle drugs being produced regularly. This, together with the germ theory, took away any need for the public to take responsibility for their health. They no longer needed to worry. If they ‘caught’ something, it wasn’t their fault, and they could take a miracle drug for it. At the same time, the Journal of the American Medical Association, under the editorship of Morris Fishbein, criticized naturopathy as quackery.

In addition to all of these changes within medicine, there was also the Flexner Report. The US Flexner report of 1910 criticized the number of medical schools in the US and called on them to have higher admission fees and higher graduation standards. Many medical schools fell short of the standards stipulated in the report and either closed ‘overnight’ or amalgamated with larger schools. In addition, a medical school could not teach naturopathy or homeopathy, and if it did, then graduates would not be recognized as doctors and therefore would not be able to find work. This, together with the public’s infatuation with technology and ‘a pill for an ill’; World War 2’s need for the development of surgery, and the growing sophistication of the American Medical Association under the leadership of Fishbein, together with the death of Benedict Lust in 1945, all led to the decline of naturopathy.

Although it was science that originally squashed naturopathy, it is science that has helped resurrect it. Vitamins were discovered by Eijkman and Hopkins in 1929, and since then, the role of trace substances in clinical nutrition has been rigorously researched. There is more research into nutrition than any other area. Further discovery that enzymes were dependent upon essential nutrients provided naturopaths with the proof as to why organically grown, whole foods could have such a profound influence upon health. Confirmation of this was given in 1955 by Professor Roger Williams in ‘Biochemical Individuality’ in which Williams, a respected researcher into vitamins, stated that everyone is individual and that we are all genetically and biologically unique. He argued in his book that bad genes did not necessarily cause disease by themselves and that nutrition and environment can influence the outcome. The effect of nutrition and environment upon genes has now been proven.

Further nutritional research by Linus Pauling and Carl Pfeiffer confirmed the importance of diet and nutrition in maintaining health, and work by Rachel Carson in ‘Silent Spring’ in 1962 began to confirm the effects of the environment upon human health. Even the effects of spirituality have been scientifically proven with studies into how prayer has a positive effect upon health. The role of the mind is playing an increasingly important role in health research, and the new science of psychoneuroimmunology is proving the various interactions between the mind and body.

Naturopathy is finally re-emerging in the 21st century as people become disillusioned by modern medicine, which only treats symptoms and rarely addresses the cause of disease. Media coverage of a healthy diet and lifestyle being conducive to good health has spurred people into taking more responsibility for their well-being and seeking out naturopathic practitioners.

Naturopathy now incorporates scientific advances in modern medicine, whilst remaining true to its vitalistic approach. The art of modern naturopathy is to be able to blend advances in modern medicine with the ancient traditions. Science is beginning to prove what the ancient Eastern medical traditions have been teaching and practicing for centuries.

Source: Society of Naturopaths