Naturopathy is not about swallowing ‘vitamins’

I realised recently that there is a risk that traditional Naturopathy has been taken over by ‘vitamin sellers’.

This came to me when I was asked, for the 500th time, “Oh, so you sell vitamins?”. Sometimes it is worded along the lines of “Oh, you are a Naturopath! Great! So what vitamins do you sell?”, or “Do you sell a vitamin that could help me?”

Imagine me banging my head against a wall (which is very un-naturopathic).

When did traditional Naturopathy get taken over by these ‘vitamin sellers’ ?

This might just be a controversial post – but its my duty as a Naturopath to let you know the facts, and to advise you to always, always seek advice and consultation from a trained and registered Health Professional – not a sales person.

It saddens me that there are actually quite a few Vitamin Sellers out in society, working for large companies that mass produce a trillion bottles of vitamins and minerals per annum that are often full of tableting agents and produced un-ethically. Often the Vitamin Sellers are selling, promoting and providing unsuspecting people with bottles of vitamins that could actually make them feel worse. The Vitamin Sellers are often on commission. They promote their vitamins to members of society that are already tired, stressed and burning the candle at both ends so are quite happy to try ‘anything’ that can revive them a little.

Sadly the Vitamin Sellers do not really know the depth of what they are selling. Why not? Because they are not Naturopaths. They are business people. Or Sales people. Ask them what sort of reaction the product will have in your body..Ask them what medications you can combine with..Ask them what the side effects will be for YOU – the individual. The Vitamin Seller won’t be able to tell you. So why would you trust the product and swallow it daily? They have been trained to sell the vitamins, and have undertaken training in regards to this. Very rarely is training given in any other aspect – and if it is – how reliable is this training? Is it from a registered University?

Good health is not about taking vitamins. Its about getting enough sleep (so important!), laughing a lot, getting as much exercise as you can, eating a balanced and healthy diet, and learning to let go of the things that weigh you down. Its about taking supplements as part of a sensible diet – for your own personal circumstances. Its about working out whatever health issues are yours, and making what changes you can to deal with this or prevent anything in the future.

Good health does not mean you need to be as skinny as a stick insect. It does not mean you need to be a fitness machine.

You would be better off ditching all forms of takeaway, replacing soft drink with pure water and have a meatless day a week than taking a daily supplement from an unknown background.

Its most certain that you will not achieve good health by taking a ‘vitamin’ everyday and ignoring the rest.

Naturopathy is not about swallowing ‘vitamins’

I realised recently that there is a risk that traditional Naturopathy has been taken over by ‘vitamin sellers’.

This came to me when I was asked, for the 500th time, “Oh, so you sell vitamins?”. Sometimes it is worded along the lines of “Oh, you are a Naturopath! Great! So what vitamins do you sell?”, or “Do you sell a vitamin that could help me?”

Imagine me banging my head against a wall (which is very un-naturopathic).

When did traditional Naturopathy get taken over by these ‘vitamin sellers’ ?

This might just be a controversial post – but its my duty as a Naturopath to let you know the facts, and to advise you to always, always seek advice and consultation from a trained and registered Health Professional – not a sales person.

It saddens me that there are actually quite a few Vitamin Sellers out in society, working for large companies that mass produce a trillion bottles of vitamins and minerals per annum that are often full of tableting agents and produced un-ethically. Often the Vitamin Sellers are selling, promoting and providing unsuspecting people with bottles of vitamins that could actually make them feel worse. The Vitamin Sellers are often on commission. They promote their vitamins to members of society that are already tired, stressed and burning the candle at both ends so are quite happy to try ‘anything’ that can revive them a little.

Sadly the Vitamin Sellers do not really know the depth of what they are selling. Why not? Because they are not Naturopaths. They are business people. Or Sales people. Ask them what sort of reaction the product will have in your body..Ask them what medications you can combine with..Ask them what the side effects will be for YOU – the individual. The Vitamin Seller won’t be able to tell you. So why would you trust the product and swallow it daily? They have been trained to sell the vitamins, and have undertaken training in regards to this. Very rarely is training given in any other aspect – and if it is – how reliable is this training? Is it from a registered University?

Good health is not about taking vitamins. Its about getting enough sleep (so important!), laughing a lot, getting as much exercise as you can, eating a balanced and healthy diet, and learning to let go of the things that weigh you down. Its about taking supplements as part of a sensible diet – for your own personal circumstances. Its about working out whatever health issues are yours, and making what changes you can to deal with this or prevent anything in the future.

Good health does not mean you need to be as skinny as a stick insect. It does not mean you need to be a fitness machine.

You would be better off ditching all forms of takeaway, replacing soft drink with pure water and have a meatless day a week than taking a daily supplement from an unknown background.

Its most certain that you will not achieve good health by taking a ‘vitamin’ everyday and ignoring the rest.