TruMed's Guide to Choosing a Naturopath

This is a guide to help you choose the best Naturopathic doctor for your health concerns.

If you are looking for a Naturopath, Edmonton certainly has some top Naturopathic Doctors. This article will help you understand what Naturopathic Doctors have to offer, and how to choose a Naturopath that fits your needs.

We'll cover Naturopath training, diagnostic testing, naturopathic treatments and services. We'll even cover IV Therapy and its benefits since some Naturopathic Doctors offer this treatment. Lastly, we'll link you with some of the best naturopaths across Alberta & Canada.

The staff at TruMed Clinic wish you the best in your health journey.

If you are in Edmonton and have questions about us or about Naturopaths, feel free to email: [email protected]

What is a Naturopath?

Naturopaths are trained as primary care providers but also add various natural therapies (like herbs, vitamins & supplements) as your treatments.

Naturopath and Naturopathic doctor (N.D. or ND) are equivalent titles in Edmonton & Alberta and most other jurisdictions. Dr. Muradov personally prefers Naturopathic Doctor because Naturopath can sound a bit "woo woo."

Probably most importantly Naturopaths are trained to "tolle causam," latin for "treat the cause." We realize it seems obvious that the health care practitioner you're going to should look for the cause of your concerns but unfortunately western medicine seems to focus mostly on treating symptoms. Although a Naturopathic doctor can definitely provide symptomatic treatments, Naturopaths usually try to find why you have these issues, so that we can permanently resolve your health concerns

Naturopathic Doctor vs. Medical Doctor

So what exactly is the difference between a Medical Doctor and a Naturopathic Doctor?

Let's start with schooling. So in the first two years of Naturopathic medical school, the biomedical science, clinical sciences, and diagnostics courses are very similar to those taken in standard medical school (here's a page with some cool Naturopathic Doctor education stats and graphics). In third and fourth years, Naturopathic training diverges and we cover areas like herbal medicine and nutrition. However, NDs do not do mandatory residencies.

The bottom line is all Naturopaths in Edmonton and Alberta have completed a four-year doctoral program that is usually comprised of about 3,000 hours of classroom training and 1,200 hours of clinical experience and is done after an undergraduate degree so it takes 7-8 years to become a Naturopath (doesn't sound woo woo now does it??!!)

Naturopath vs. Homeopath

So what's the difference between a Naturopath and Homeopath? Sigh. This is probably the most common question Naturopaths get.

A homeopath is not a protected title so anyone can do a weekend course in natural medicine and call themselves a homeopath. More importantly, homeopaths and homeopathic doctors focus primarily on using low dose, diluted medicines to heal the body energetically. Unfortunately, homeopathy gets a lot of flack for being placebo medicine.

Naturopaths are trained in homeopathy and Dr.Muradov has seen homeopathics work in certain situations. However, Dr.Muradov does not include homeopathy as part of his Edmonton Naturopathic practice.

Naturopathic doctor training is more vigorous, comprehensive and Naturopathic doctors have more modalities that they work with (herbs, supplements, and even medications).

similing woman that goes to Edmonton Naturopaths for health advice

How to choose a Naturopath

Find out what they focus on - All Naturopaths undergo similar training but most naturopaths in cities like Edmonton end up focusing their practices. Some Naturopaths focus on hormones and others on pediatrics and some on cancer. so on and so forth. Dr. Muradov focuses his Naturopath practice on digestion, fatigue and hormones, dash of Skin, Mood, Cancer and MS. The other two Naturopaths at TruMed focus on pediatrics, allergy, and fertility.

Be aware of costs and fees: Naturopathic medicine in Edmonton and all of Canada for that matter is private medicine which means there are going to be up-front out of pocket costs and expenses to see a Naturopath and it ain't cheap!! Your Naturopathic doctor will spend close to an hour with you on your first visit and initial naturopathic consultation costs are usually $180 - $275 and diagnostic testing (hormones, food allery) can easily add up into the hundreds of dollars.

Do you feel comfortable and confident with the Naturopath you've chosen? ?You're probabaly going to be working with the Naturopath you choose for at least a few months so if after your initial consultation you don't feel totally confident or comfortable, don't feel obligated!! It might be worth visiting another Naturopath in Edmonton until you find someone who feels right!! They might not be the best Naturopathic Doctor in Edmonton but if they fit your needs that's what matters!

Other areas to consider:

What's the Naturopath's background? Seeing what the Naturopathic Doctor's educational background and what their undergraduate degree was in might help you understand more about the way they practice.

What additional training have they done? Most Naturopathic doctors will continue training in their areas of interest. For instance, Dr.Muradov has done additional training in IV Therapy and Hormones.In fact additional training is usually a mandatory part of maintaining your medical license.

Where did they go to school? The Naturopath you visit should have gone to one of seven accredited Naturopathic medical colleges around North America. If they don't state one of these they might not be a real Naturopathic Doc. So beware! All of the NDs at TruMed have gone to the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto.

Are they licensed? This is important in jurisdictions like Edmonton and Alberta where Naturopathic doctors is a protected title. The Naturopath you choose should be licensed with the provincial regulatory body in Alberta for Naturopaths it's the CNDA.

Do they do evidence based medicine? Every Naturopaths uses a different treatment approach. Some Naturopathic doctors use traditional healing treatments such as Acupuncture and Homeopathy where the evidence may not be as robust. At TruMed our Naturopaths typically use evidence based functional medicine treatments. We often reference studies and clinical trials to support the treatments we're chosen.

Integrity and Clarity: Your Naturopathic Doctor or their staff should clarify all fees up front to avoid money based miscommunications. This would incude Naturopath consultation and treatment fees as well as lab testing fees. Lab Testing is usually the most costly area so make sure you understand testing fees at your Naturopath's office.

Top Naturopaths

We've gone through and chosen some of the best Naturopaths across the country according to RateMDs.com so you can see the diverse range of services offered by Naturopaths around Canada.

Vancouver - Dr. Jordana Aziz - Graduated with Dr.M in 2010 who focused on aesthetic medicine.

Calgary - Dr. Rabia Meghji - A Naturopath that does an allergy elimination technique called NAET.

Regina - Dr.Marika Geis - Dr.Geis stands out with outstanding results in digestive concerns.

Winnipeg - Dr. Jason Bachewich - A lyme disease focused Naturopathic doctor in Winnipeg.

Toronto - Dr. Laura Brass - A Naturopathic Doctor that offers video consultations!

Our Naturopath Treatments

Exact Herbal Medicine - Our Naturopathic Doctors use high quality standardized herbal extracts

Functional Medicine Treatments - Evidence based treatments that target the root of your issues

Personalized Dietary Augmentation - We use testing to determine the best diets for our patients.

Vitamin IV Therapy - Naturopaths at TruMed are major providers of IV Therapy in Edmonton

Why TruMed?

Testing: Our Naturopaths use nutritional, hormone and allergy testing for precise natural medicine.

Find the cause: Our NDs look for the causes of your concerns (not just suppress symptoms)

Integrative Approach: We blend western and naturopathic medicines to provide superb care.

"Outside the Box" thinking: Naturopaths at TruMed always think outside the box to find you answers.

Conditions TruMed Treats

Digestive Concerns: Our Clinic treats SIBO & Candida, IBS, diarrhea, constipation, gas & bloating

Fatigue: TruMed NDs assess hormones, nutrient, infections and toxicity to understand your fatigue.

Skin Concerns: Our Naturopathic doctors are experienced with Acne, Eczema, Psoriasis & Hives

Hormone Balance: Our NDs use blood, salivary and urinary hormone testing for hormone issues

Mental Health: We have effective Natural treatments for anxiety, depression & other mental health concerns

More about Naturopathic Medicine:

When properly administered, Naturopathic Medicine has an excellent safety profile and almost never causes serious side effects. The Naturopathic approach to preventing and treating disease rarely subjects patients to the trade-offs inherent in many drug treatments, such as serious side effects. In fact many Naturopathic treatments have beneficial side effects.

For many patients, Naturopathic medicine starts with “cleaning up the diet”, of course you've probably noticed that the Naturopaths at TruMed have a definite preference for food allergy & food sensitivity testing to do so :).

Naturopathic Medicine also includes the use of a wide array of vitamins, minerals, supplements, herbs, and other naturally occurring substances according to an individual patient’s needs. With that said, Naturopathic medicine is highly individualized, and treatment protocols vary greatly from one patient to another.

Determining which Naturopathic treatments are needed for a particular patient requires a thorough medical and dietary history, a complaint orienteted physical examination, and of course an intricate understanding of the nutritional medicine literature (which our Naturopaths at TruMed do!) Laboratory tests are essential in many circumstances and our Naturopaths run a ton of testing to guide our Natural treatments.

Need a Naturopath?

Call TruMed