Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine is a Toronto naturopathic clinic dedicated to providing safe and effective treatment of a wide variety of health conditions using natural therapies and the principles of naturopathic medicine.
Obesity is well treated using naturopathic medicine. Obesity is a condition defined as having an excessive amount of body fat, or a “body mass index” (BMI) score of 30 or greater. It is not only a cosmetic concern, but it also increases your risk of many diseases and other health problems.
Obesity is caused by a variety of factors, including genetic and hormonal influences and caloric balance. Excess dietary calories are stored in the body as fat. Complications of obesity include heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, a variety of cancers and gynecological problems (e.g., infertility, irregular periods), metabolic syndrome, osteoarthritis, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea and impaired quality of life.
Professional healthcare should be sought out if you are suspect you would benefit from weight loss and have symptoms associated with obesity.
Symptoms of obesity
Symptoms associated with obesity include:
• Back and joint pain
• Shortness of breath with minor exertion
• Constant sensation of warmth and excessive sweating
• Rashes or infections folds of your skin
• Snoring, poor quality of sleep or sleep apnea
• Daytime sleepiness or fatigue
• Depression
Treatment of obesity at Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, the goals of obesity treatment are to identify and address triggers associated with increased calorie intake (e.g., emotional triggers to eating) and, (if possible) metabolic factors, balance calorie intake and expenditure, provide on-going psychological support and encouragement, manage associated health conditions and symptoms of obesity and ultimately, reduce weight.
Conventional treatment for obesity may include surgery and variety of medications, including Meridia® and Xenical®, which may have short- or long-term side effects. For this reason, you may choose to try natural treatment to possibly avoid use of conventional medications, or together with conventional medications in order to decrease dosages of conventional medications required to help you manage obesity.
Naturopathic treatment of any chronic health concern must be recognized as a process that involves identifying specific treatment goals, a thorough understanding by your naturopathic doctor of all factors affecting your health, including physical, psychological, emotional and lifestyle factors, development of a comprehensive treatment plan and execution of that plan through periodic monitoring and adjustment.
At Toronto-Centre Naturopathic Medicine, a typical approach to treating obesity may be to first identify and address underlying factors in your lifestyle (e.g., poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, poor stress management, smoking, use of certain medications, social and economic issues) or general health (e.g., diabetes mellitus) that may be contributing your weight issues, address, if possible metabolic factors contributing to your obesity using a cleansing program or homotoxicological medicines, create a program to balance your caloric intake and expenditure, create a schedule that will foster personal accountability and a positive outlook and manage (and reverse if possible) any existing complications of obesity (e.g., high blood cholesterol, joint pain).
Where appropriate, a number of therapeutic options are available, to be used alone, or more often in a complementary fashion, including:
• Diet therapy
• Lifestyle counseling
• Exercise prescription
• Cleansing protocols
• Homotoxicological medicines
• Acupuncture
• Nutritional supplements
• Botanical (herbal) medicines
• Homeopathic medicines
• Relaxation techniques
• Bowen therapy
• Suikodo™
References
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Obesity [Online]. [cited 2010 Jan 16]; Available from: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/obesity/DS00314.