Is Nutritional Therapy ‘alternative’ or ‘complementary’
It’s certainly not alternative. It works best when it’s used in conjunction with, and in addition to, mainstream medicine. Especially where disease ‘prevention’ is acknowledged as both desirable and possible. Nutritional Therapy works best as an educational collaboration between the client/patient and the therapist, involving commitment and an open mind.
It also helps to appreciate that over the long term, the substitution of natural whole-foods with the ultra-processed, convenience foods typically eaten in the latter half of the 2oth century has produced factors of chronic disease (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment and infertility), that in this new millennium, simply don’t respond well to 20th century medicine. What lifestyle put in place, lifestyle can change.
Developments in biochemistry and functional testing enable us to look at the minutae of human metabolism and physiology, to identify the underlying imbalances that can tip the individual from healthy vitality, towards ill health. Optimising the function of the various body systems with a lifestyle medicine approach can be a superb adjunct to complement mainstream medicine.