About INT Naturopathy

Naturopathy is based on the principle that good health requires balancing our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical needs.  As our life is balanced we are able to connect with our own healing energy as well as that of the earth around us.  The use of herbs, homeopathic, nutrition and diet facilitates our own healing processes.

At INT we use a three-pronged approach of diagnosis, treatment and personal empowerment to assist you to heal.  The first approach involves uncovering the reason(s) for your illness and symptoms and explaining them in a language that is easily understandable.  We have found that the most important facet of healing is the education of the individual.  It is for this reason that we involve clients as much as possible in becoming aware of the reasons for any ill health.  To facilitate this process we use a variety of diagnostic techniques.

The second approach to healing involves treatment through the use of herbs, Homoeopathics, diet and nutrition, and flower essences.   Herbalism and Flower Essences are rightly gaining acceptance amongst even the orthodox professions for their phenomenal healing abilities. Three well-known examples are Gingko to improve memory and concentration, Milk Thistle to support the liver, and St John’s Wort to aid the nervous system.  Homoeopathy has been in existence since the eighteenth century.  It involves the use of minute material doses to help stimulate the body’s healing response.  Diet and nutrition are probably one of the most important of all therapies, aiming to ensure that all nutrients are supplied in their correct amounts, and that a person has all the materials they need for healing.

The third approach involves the person themselves.  Healing can only occur from within.  For this reason we work as closely as possible with clients to ensure that they understand the reasons for the steps that are being taken.  In addition we work to empower people to understand their own health needs and optimise their healing potential through the proper use of diet, exercise and positive thinking.

Our primary aim at INT is to facilitate healing, by giving tools to clients to enable them to heal themselves and remain healthy for a lifetime.

Homoeopathy

Homoeopathy was developed in 1810 by Samuel Hahnemann who as a Pharmacist and Doctor observed that by decreasing the concentration of the medicine we were taking we could often achieve better results and that the substance that produced the symptoms also acted to cure them. Hahnemann found that if someone who is vomiting is given a remedy prepared from a substance that would induce vomiting (such as ipecac) in a healthy person that the symptoms were alleviated. This was termed the law of “similars”. The term applies to the scientific validation of this premise and is experimentally determined.  For example when a Homoeopathic preparation of the herb arnica is given, a person will generally bruise without trauma to their skin, but when given to people with bruises the bruise healing is rapid and far more accelerated than when arnica is not applied. Homoeopathy also works on a vibrational level.

Flower Essences

In a similar way that stems, roots and leaves are used to make herbal medicines and oils of the plants are used to make essential essences or Aromatherapy, the flowers of plants have medicinal qualities also. Edward Bach in 1930 noted the healing effect plants had on people and that the scent of certain flowers generated certain moods and responses. After intensive investigation he was able to determine that certain flowers in particular had certain medicinal effects and were particularly effective with assisting emotional healing, such as releasing negative moods and ascribed the flower essences as a therapy. We all know how uplifting it feels to walk through a flowering garden when we are down! Bach Flower’s, Australian Bush Flower’s and other flower remedies are working on these principles and once again can be explained through principles of vibrational or energetic medicine.

Herbal Medicine

Herbal medicine is the oldest form of medicine known to mankind. Using plants and plant extracts as remedies, it was the form of medicine used up until modern pharmaceutical based medicine and still remains the most widely practiced form of medicine in the world today.

Medicinal plants contain a variety of chemicals such as resins, gums, alkaloids, antibiotics, as well as minerals, vitamins and trace elements. These chemicals exert a therapeutic effect and strengthen the organs and systems of the body and assisting the healing response. Medicinal plants also forms a basis for conventional medicine, with many of today’s well known drugs (such as digitalis, which is extracted from the leaves of the foxglove, and morphine which is derived from the poppy) having their origins in plants.

The therapeutic effect of herbal medicines depend on their active constituents, they may reduce inflammation, relieve irritation, mobilise mucous, soothe, reduce pain or promote digestion.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is based in the principles that the essential oils of certain plants have physiological effects and specific reproducible healing properties. These oils act therapeutically through inhalation or absorption.

Diagnostic Services

We have applied ourselves with great vigour to acquire the latest technology in diagnostic and treatment protocols to assure all clients receive the most up-to-date and comprehensive care. Our Diagnostic Services include:

Heamaview (Live blood cell analysis) 

This is a sophisticated, highly sensitive and accurate test whereby blood is examined under a high power microscope to reveal the underlying mechanisms of many diseases.  Hemaview identifies variations in white and red blood cells, platelets as well as parasitic, bacterial and fungal forms. It provides a nutritional evaluation testing Antioxidant levels, Essential Fatty Acid levels, Iron levels, Inflammatory processes, Vitamin B12/Folate relationships, Lipotropic Nutrients, Immune Function, Digestion and Digestive Enzyme Function and Gut Permeability parameters. It demonstrates the effects degenerative change, such as oxidative damage and inflammation produce and provides direction for appropriate and successful management of many health concerns.  For more information about Heamaview click here.   

INT Hemaview Live Blood Cell Analysis
By adapting exciting new techniques of advanced technology, microscope analysis researchers have devised a fascinating means for you to see in a single drop of blood, the impact diet and lifestyle have on your health.  Live blood analysis of your blood allows you to see first hand over 30 different patterns related to nutritional health.  This includes:

1. B12 and folic acid status
2. Free radical damage
3.  Immune weakness
4.  Fat metabolism
5. Circulatory problems
6. Essential fatty acid levels
7. Inflammatory conditions
8. Cardiovascular stress
9. Digestive enzyme levels
10. Candida albicans and others.

Through nutritional, physical or lifestyle changes you can also observe changes in your blood as your health improves. 

Basically there are three main contributors to degenerative disease:

1. Genetic predispositions: For example as in the lack of ability to produce a certain enzyme;
2. Stress: For example from social conditions (work), temperature (excessive heat or cold), or infection;
3. Nutrition:  All bodily tissues are replaced every 5-7 years.  If nutritional balance is not maintained at optimal levels, tissues are gradually replaced with sub-optimal material, and the dysfunction we usually regard as aging.  Chronic disease may then result.

The Hemaview blood test involves taking a sample of blood (approximately one to two drops) and observing the health of this sample under magnification.  This technique avidly shows the health of red and white blood cells including those cells essential for our immune status (ie the natural killer cells and the helper T cells).
There are two prerequisites to the successful prevention and treatment of chronic disease:

1. Detection: identifying the disease processes operating in the individual patient;
2. Monitoring the treatment: ie observing the progress of health improvement through a system that provides treatment feedback.

This is where the great strength of the Hemaview lies: it can show the effects of degenerative aging (oxidation, inflammation etc) on the blood, and by inference on the rest of the body.  More importantly it will show these effects to you and motivate you to make necessary changes to your lifestyle.  In addition, subsequent screenings will show the benefits that the treatment and lifestyle changes are having on the state of you inner health. 

Vitality and Longevity Analysis: VLA is a scientifically validated test that accurately measures the biological markers of aging, including; Fat Mass, Muscle Mass, Cellular Toxicity, Cellular Fluid Levels, Cellular Vitality and their expression as Biological Age. It is extremely important both as a diagnostic tool to determine the underlying influences that are affecting your health, and as an assessment tool to determine the success and effectiveness of the treatment measures applied during your care.  For more information on VLA interpretation of finding click here.[to VLA info level 4]

Vegatest – Vegatest or Electro-Dermal testing utilises electric current and meridian feedback to determine the energetic and health status of organs and systems of the body. It is used to determine the presence and influences of allergies, systemic exhaustion and other biochemical interactions and relationships. Vegatesting is central to the application of Naturopathy within INT to support the most appropriate direction in care for all patients.  For more information on Vegatest click here. [to vegatest page level 4]

Fructosamine and Glucose Testing - Fructosamine (a Glucoprotein) is an indicator for blood sugar (Glucose) control, the state and function of the hormone Insulin and the likelihood of diabetic onset. Assessing these parameters, particularly in obese people, and providing ongoing assessment enable us to more accurately and specifically direct, re-direct and support your care on an ongoing basis.

Cholesterol/HDL Ratio's - Cholesterol/HDL ratios are indicators of vascular health. They provide feedback that enables us to determine vascular and coronary heart disease risk and other parameters such as total cholesterol, triglyceride levels, lipoprotein levels and glucose levels.

Liver Enzyme Tests - These are used to determine the activity and function of liver enzymes that support digestion and toxic breakdown. They are a general indicator of liver function and toxicity and systemic overload and when determined provide invaluable information in determining detoxification treatment protocols.

Urinary Indican's Testing - Another measure of toxicity, the Urinary Indican's test will measure the presence and extent of 'Leaky Gut Syndrome,' a measure of the breakdown of gut permeability and integrity. This test also provides invaluable information providing an indication for the Gut Regeneration and Repair Program.

Blood Oxygen Saturation - Oxygen saturation of blood should be approximately 95%. Due to factors such as air and food pollution, accelerated aging, poor breathing habits, and/or insufficient exercise, many people find themselves experiencing symptoms of Oxygen Deprivation such as tiredness, fatigue, depression, anxiety, recurrent or chronic illness, or other health concerns.  By testing blood oxygen saturation we can accurately determine the necessity for support in this area of insufficiency, thereby accelerating the healing response.

Action Potential Stimulation - The APS machine is a gentle and non-invasive method of pain and inflammation management. Acute inflammatory pain and arthritic pain are more effectively managed when the body's innate healing mechanisms are stimulated generating a normal tissue response within the body.

Vitality and Longevity Analysis

Is your body keeping up with you or is it aging faster than your years?

The vitality and longevity analysis takes precise readings which can measure whether your body is declining into premature aging, is on par with your chronological age or, hopefully at above average standards of youthful vitality.

The VLA is a test that takes only a minute to perform.  It involves sending a small AC current through the body via 4 electrodes connected to the hand and foot.  The current is much too small to feel or cause any harm.

The test provides information regarding:

1. Cellular health
2. Toxicity levels
3. Body fat
4. Body water content
   1. Intra cellular fluid
   2. Extra cellular fluid
5. Specific daily requirements of
6. Water, calories, protein fat and carbohydrates
7. Biological age

Interpretation of findings

Impedance Data
Phase angle: Cellular health can be gauged by the total cell membrane mass and the efficiency of its protein and electrolyte channel function.  This is reflected in the readings known as the phase angle.  The higher the reading, the better. 

1. >8        exceptional
2. 7-8       good
3. 5–6.9   average
4. <5        poor

The phase angle is calculated from two other readings, Resistance and Reactance.

Resistance is a measure of electrical conductivity.  Lean body tissue, for example, which contains relatively higher levels of water and electrolytes operates well as an electrical conductor and therefore offers low resistance. 
Tissue such as fat and bone, however, contain less water and electrolytes and therefore give more electrical resistance. 
Typical resistance values:

1. Men:      380- 480 ohms
2. Women: 480-580 ohms

Reactanceis a measure of cell volume.  High values indicate higher cell membrane integrity and volume and therefore better health in general. 

Impedance index gives a broad representation of overall health and body composition.  As your treatment continues you should see this number increase.

1. >1500                          excellent
2. 1300 – 1500    good
3. 1100 – 1300    average
4. <1100                          poor

Body composition

How much fat is normal?

1. Male:    13–20%  (average 29%)
2. Female: 20-25% (average 32%)

Active tissue mass principally comprises skeletal muscle, viscera (brain, heart, liver, lungs) and some smooth muscle.  It is effectively the body’s engine.

1. Male:    40-50%, (ideal 50%)
2. Female: 30-40%, (ideal 45%)

Extra cellular tissue mass refers to bones, ligaments, tendons and extra cellular water.  These provide the transport and support functions of the body.

Fluid Distribution

Total body water:  This is the total amount of fluid in the body whether inside cells, outside cells, in blood etc.

1. Male normal  55-65% of body weight
2. Female normal 50-60 % of body weight

Intracellular water: This is the potassium rich fluid volume found within the cell. It is a sensitive indicator of cellular function

1. >60%               good cellular function
2. 51-60%            normal cellular function
3. <51%               poor cellular function

Extra cellular water: This is the sodium rich fluid found outside the cells.  Excessive fluids can be held outside cells by various toxins.

1. >51% may indicate toxicity, infection, cardiac, pulmonary or renal failure.   Detoxification is indicted.
2. 39-51% average function
3. <39%                 good