What is a Naturopath?

A traditional naturopath focuses on the prevention of diseases and optimizing health. A naturopath gives clients the tools needed for optimal health, by teaching clients how applying natural lifestyle approaches can encourage the body’s own healing.

A naturopath does not “diagnose” or “treat diseases”. The main goal of a naturopath is to address the root cause. An ailment will either be because the body is toxic or deficient. A naturopath will work to help address these issues by removing the source of toxicity, while at the same time, addressing any deficiencies that may be present. This could be due to environmental issues, lifestyle habits and/or dietary choices.

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My Journey

Hi! My name is Kathie and I have been on a healing journey for the last 8 years. It started with my Diabetes 2 diagnosis back in 2015. I knew I was sick inside, but I didn’t know how sick.

One weekend, I went to visit an older friend, and I told her how I hadn’t been feeling all that great lately. Dizziness, mild headaches, hot and cold flashes, really nothing that couldn’t be related to getting older, except that I wasn’t that old. She had me check my sugar, and I was well over 300. She scolded me, made me spit out my cinnamon candy that I was eating, and had me take one of her diabetic pills. That scared me more than anything, because I didn’t like taking pills, and I didn’t know what it would do to me. She assured me that it would help bring my number down, but I was leery.

When I got home that Sunday evening, I got on my computer to browse through FB and an advertisement for a whole foods diet popped up on my screen. It was about a woman that had an issue called Hidradenitis suppurativa, which is a painful, long-term skin condition that causes skin abscesses and scarring on the skin. That story piqued my interest, as I had been diagnosed with that in my mid-twenties. I had had that skin condition as far back as I could remember, and the scars to prove it. I still had it when I read the article. I was hooked .

I started to read all I could on this way of eating that they were promoting. It seemed too easy. 30 days of eating clean whole foods and taking out gluten, dairy, added sugars, grains, legumes, soy, and msg. The rules were simple. Three meals a day, no snacking, no taste testing foods, no licking the spoon and no weighing for 30 days.

The author recommended that you research it, come up with a plan, pick a start date and do your shopping to prepare for it. I picked June 8, 2015, as my start date. I was so excited! I told my husband the day before how excited I was to start, because I was tired of feeling terrible all the time. I started the morning of the 8th, and I didn’t stop the program for 2 whole years. Not one cheat day in that whole time. Because of this initial program, I reversed my diabetes diagnosis, and I no longer have the skin issues.

Over the last 8 years, I have cycled in and out of dietary choices, like Whole30, Paleo, Keto, and Carnivore, as I still struggled with an inability to lose weight and still had some joint pain. Through research, learning whatever I could, and taking food sensitivity tests, I have learned that there are some foods I just can’t eat right now, until my body has completely healed itself. I have settled somewhere into a Keto Carnivore lifestyle, eating the foods that I know do not cause me issues, and working on healing my digestive system. This is what led me to becoming a Naturopath so that I might help others.

Does this sound familiar? I would love to be an educator for you so you no longer have to feel like I did. Schedule an appointment with me and start your journey to better health.

Kathie Graves LMT, CMLT, CHHP

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