A recent edition of the monthly Chapter Leader newsletter from the Weston A. Price Foundation (WAPF) had some interesting information I thought was worth passing along.
This particular newsletter contained guidelines for finding a quality healthcare provider for yourself and your family – a very timely topic for those who actively seek to implement health goals.
Certainly, the healthcare provider you choose has a tremendous influence and impact on whether or not those goals come to fruition.
I’ve blogged before on how to determine if your dentist is truly holistic but have not tackled how to pick a doctor or other healthcare provider. Picking the right practitioner is a very important decision as the wrong person guiding your medical choices has the ability to upend all the good you are doing sourcing and preparing nutrient dense foods for your family with bad advice, toxic therapies or discouragement of your efforts in the home.
The importance of finding a healthcare provider that is as closely aligned with your dietary and medical philosophy as possible cannot be overstated!
The guidelines provided by the Weston A. Price Foundation were so pithy and spot-on that I thought I would share them with all of you. A big thank you to Lisa, WAPF Chapter Leader of Eugene, Oregon for crafting the wording of these guidelines.
For a list of practitioners who make the “Best” or “Good” categories where you live, contact your local WAPF Chapter Leader for his/her resources list.
Is Your Healthcare Provider “Best”, “Good” or “Avoid”?
Below are the categories with which to classify your healthcare provider. What to do if yours falls under the “Avoid” category but you need to keep seeing this doctor due to health insurance reasons?
In that case, go to that doctor only for routine tests, checkups etc, but go to a doctor in the “Best” or “Good” categories for interpretation of these results only if necessary. Â Also, make a mental note that whatever a doctor in the “Avoid” category may say to you should be taken with a grain of salt as this information is not based from a traditional dietary or holistic healing perspective.
Best:
Healthcare provider who is knowledgeable about and uses Weston A. Price dietary principles in his/her practice, and who is also highly skilled and effective at working with the body’s natural healing abilities.
Good:
Healthcare provider who does not use traditional dietary principles in his/her practice, but is nevertheless effective at working with the body’s natural healing abilities, and supportive of your dietary and lifestyle choices.
Avoid:
Healthcare provider who pushes low-fat diets, USDA food pyramid, reduced-sodium diets, mercury fillings, root canals, flouride, routine antibiotics, or toxic drugs and treatments, and those who argue with or belittle their patients over their personal dietary or lifestyle choices. Â
If you have a great practitioner that fits in the “Best” or “Good” categories, please post name, location and phone number if you are comfortable with that to share with other readers who live in the same area.
Do you have additional criteria for determining who is worthy of your medical trust or websites that list quality holistic healthcare providers? Â Please share your tips in the comments section.
If anyone knows of a “best” or “good” doc in the Milwaukee, please post! Thanks!
I’ve seen 2 doctors who maybe fall into the “good” category, but never a best. Dr. Aukerman at Ohio State was good and took insurance, but I think he just retired. When he found out I drank raw milk, he just asked me if I got it from a certain farm and told me that was a good place to buy it. Now I go to the Holtorf Clinic in Torrance, CA. It costs a fortune. I’m pretty sure they’ve never heard of WAPF, but they know how to treat thyroid properly, don’t criticize my lifestyle/diet choices, and know that low fat/low cholesterol stuff is bunk. They push their own really expensive supplements, but the stuff works surprisingly well, and they don’t get too worked up when I decline to buy them.
We have one that falls in the good category in the Mitchelville -Bowie area
Ruhi Deabreu – can you please share the contact info of that person. I live not too far from the area? Thanks
I am new to this state of Maryland and live near Bowie. I am recovering from cancer and would also like to know about a doctor in this area, for a general practice. Thank you.
Kristin,
I did not see a reply to your request for a name. We are in Huntingtown, MD. Did you ever find a doctor. I am still looking for various doctors/dentists. I winter if there a directory of some sort to narrow down our search.
Diana Danielson
Hi! I’m new to Maryland and live near Bowie. Would you give me the name of the doctor which you speak about on the healthy home economist? I am recovering from cancer and could sure use good advise concerning diet, etc. thank you.
Barbara Sibona
I am a naturopath in the Seattle area and follow the WAPF teachings as well as educate my patients about them. I have patients making their own kombucha, sauerkraut and kefir. I love them 🙂 http://www.doctorcorinne.com and I do take insurance.
Hi Dr. Corinne! We li probably live just a little too far away from Kirkland to visit your practice, but do you know any WAPF docs down here in Tacoma or Olympia?
Hi Melissa, I have a few names for you. I would suggest giving a few of these doctors a call and talking with them before you go in, just to make sure they are a good fit for you! At my clinic I offer a free 15 minute in-person or phone consult and I assume most other naturopaths do the same.
Dr Sheetal Shah:
Dr Oksana Mulyukova:
Dr Katie Shaff:
Dr Molly Brignall:
I am not sure if all of these doctors take insurance, but I think so. All the best in your search for the right PCP for your family!
Oh, how I wish you were in SoCal! God bless you!
Thank you Mikki! I love SoCal, my grandparents lived in San Diego so I was there a lot when I was growing up.
Corinne, Hello…
I’m pleased to have seen your post here. Where is your practice located? I’d love to make a connection with you. I’m an LMP as well, a birth doula, and love teaching my pregnant clients about nutrition and gut health. I also teach fermented foods classes. Thanks,
Libby
Hi Libby, I am in Kirkland, WA. You can contact me through my website or [email protected]
Libby I am a doula also (in Virginia). You reminded me to add information about fermented foods to my website!
http://Www.beyondbirthsupport.com
He has to look like Rick Springfield/Huey Lewis had a son.
So far I have found that all naturopathic doctors I have frequented (since I have completely given up on mainstream allopathic ones) are green allopaths (to quote Dr. Carolyn Dean). They love pushing their billion and one supplements and expensive treatment options on their patients. Then it kind of all fizzes out into thin air. I can only imagine from everything they expect a patient to do that one needs to be independently wealthy and idle to be able to afford the time and money for treatment options they suggest. This is in Portland, the home of NCNM. Genuinely disappointed. I know that when I was a kid, there were these doctors who were like wisemen/wisewomen. They could see you, your gait, parse your voice, your gaze and have an idea about your ailment from experience. They did use tests and medicines but frugally and wisely. These doctors are becoming scarcer and scarcer. Where are these true healers? We just have people around who want to make a profit and run their health businesses rather than give us a sustainable way to deal with health problems. I know that allopathic doctors are notorious for supporting big pharma, throwing one into a cascade of tests and drugs but all the naturopaths I have visited also use us as guinea pigs for new treatments without taking any responsibility for the outcome.
Following the WAPF diet, Sarah’s blog and other related sites have been greatly beneficial and have changed my life in ways I can’t even begin to describe however, I am at a loss when I get a mysterious ailment or health problem every now and then. I am at the end of my tether.
Amen Ranjani! My NP who has helped me in many ways, is just not open to WAPF principals. She kinda stares at me in a glazed way when I talk about raw milk, and that I’m not worried about my elevated cholesterol. Even after I did a stress test with an echocardiogram and my arteries were clear, she still doesn’t like my “levels.” So, I’d love a list of WAPF knowledgeable doctors in SoCal. I too have benefited from a WAPF temp ate of a diet these past 5 years. I’m sold, wish some doctors in my area were!
Oops. A typo! That was to be “template,” not “temp ate!”
Mikki…are you sure she is a true NP…I would think she would not be worried about your cholesterol levels?
My experience with naturopaths was similar. I was told “don’t eat this, don’t eat that” – but when i asked for a rational explanation for the strictures, they were not able to say anything that made sense to me. We ARE all different in our responses to things and saying, “Studies have found . . . ” just doesn’t cut it. I have seen some of those studies done and know just how unscientific they truly are.
What part of SoCal are you in? I’m reasonably pleased with the doc i see, and love the chiropractor i work with. I also know a lot of people/docs i can honestly tell you, don’t bother.
There’s only one Naturopath/Homeopath in the Kansas City area. So much for big city life~ LOL!
Kansas is awful, Laila. I am happy to find a doctor who won’t push vaccines
Dr. David Rostollan is a professional health and nutrition consultant, and has
been educating others in natural healing for many years. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Natural Health (Highest Honors) and a doctorate in Naturopathy.
Who is it?
Who is it? I am in the KC area and know of a few naturopaths but would like to know of a local homeopath!
Are you on the Kansas side, or Missouri side? I know several just south of KCMO, if you’re interested. I work at a Health Food Store and we actually have several come up here for clinic days in our backroom.
Finding a doc that fits these guidelines and is covered by insurance is frustrating!
Susan Delaney, Carborro, NC.
I live in Westerville OH and I see Dr. Marvin Im up on Polaris Pkwy. I’ve been very happy since finding him as he is miles above any primary care doc I’d seen before. I’m not sure that I can say he is in the best category but certainly he up to the level if the “good”. I’d recommend him to others. In fact, I already have in the past several times.
Thanks! I am in Westerville also!