Definition

Naturopathic medicine is a branch of medicine in which a variety of natural medicines and treatments are used to heal illness. It uses a system of medical diagnosis and therapeutics based on the patterns of chaos and organization in nature. Naturopathy is founded on the premise that people are naturally healthy, and that healing can occur through removing obstacles to a cure and by stimulating the body's natural healing abilities. The foundations of health in natural medicine are diet, nutrition, homeopathy, physical manipulation, stress management, and exercise.

Naturopaths are general practitioners who treat a wide variety of illnesses. They believe in treating the "whole person"—the spirit as well as the physical body—and emphasize preventive care....