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.
My chapter leader, Scott Gillentine in Winston-Salem, NC, said, “I don’t have it please visit her website and get it there”
Now what? …
Hi Sarah,
I love your web-site.
I clicked on the Westin Price Website you had highlighted in your article, and I couldn’t find a list anywhere for healthcare practitioners in my area. How do you find WAP’s list for practitioners in my area?
Thanks,
G.J.
I live in Abilene, Texas and I am SUPER frustrated at the lack of holistic dentistry that is even CLOSE to affordable! I have some major issues, but the holistic dentist that I went to in Ft. Worth about 6 months ago, wanted 16 THOUSAND dollars to fix me! I left and drove home in tears! I have heard of one that is very good in Mexico, but that is still a long way and a little scary. Any help guys? Thanks.
I have had dental work done in Mexico. It was very high quality and inexpensive. Even with the plane ticket, it is often cheaper to have work done there than in the states. If you have questions about a specific dentist, I would try to get in touch with some of the expatriates living in that area to see if any of them have used him or her and what they think of his or her work. There was a yahoo group for the English speakers in the town I was living in near Puerto Vallarta. Perhaps there is something similar near the dentist you are considering.
I live in Greenville, SC and go to a doctor and Physician’s Assistant in Easley, SC at Livingwell Integrative Healthcare. I would put them into the “Good” category although I know that they 100% support my healthy eating plan and do not push any medications, etc. I have received excellent care and they are always available for questions, even in-between visits, at no additional charge. They do not push any supplements but give good advice and if medications are needed they would first recommend compounded products that are designed for your individual needs. They do not take/file insurance for you but will provide the paperwork so you can file it yourself and get reimbursed by your insurance in that way.
I live in Simpsonville, SC, may I have the name of this doctor you have mentioned please, if you would contact me I would greatly appreciate it. [email protected]
I’d put Dr. Waters in Wisconsin Dells in the “best” category. We’re both members of a local, and now nationally known (read “infamous”) Grazin’ Acres farm membership for people seeking raw, nutrient dense dairy and other foods, (Vernon Hershberger’s farm). He stresses diet for health, but also uses supplements and other methods to aid the body in healing. He healed me from adrenal exhaustion. I was quite lucky to find him after becoming SERIOUSLY ill after conventional (read “modern”) treatment.
In the south suburbs of Chicago, try Dr. Mark Zumhagen M.D. I haven’t needed to see a doctor in 15 years, so I am going by what my clients tell me. I am told he follows the WAPF diet. But I’ve also been told he no longer practices medicine as such (no longer delivers babies at home, fixes broken bones, etc.), but that he works with people with diet, lifestyle, and homeopathy. You could call to find out what he is actually doing. 708-403-7070
Also, in the Chicagoland area is a Dr. whose name most of you will recognize, Dr. Joseph Mercola.
Looking for a best or at least a good doctor in Texas. Im in the central Texas area (Waco), centrally located between Houston, Dallas and Austin. If anyone knows of a doctor in my area it would be greatly appreciated. Ive had bad experience. And desired a doctor Id be happy with for years.
Wish you were in South Florida! Would you know of any NDs like you here??
I spent a lot of money and time trying to find someone in So Cal/Orange County. I found that often Naturopaths have just as small a “box” as MDs, they just have different stuff in their little box.
I work now with Leigh Erin Connealy. http://www.cfnmedicine.com/ I don’t know if the clinic follows Weston Price, and i wasn’t satisfied with their nutritionist, but Connealy is good. She looked at my thyroid labs and said, “These aren’t bad” – my heart fell, but then she proceded to do muscle testing and found my thyroid was NOT working well at all and prescribed supplements based on that. They do have a big store there of mostly supplements, but i’ve never had pressure to buy their stuff. Their price of the natural thyroid supplement i get is quite reasonable. Since i can get Standard Process elsewhere at a good price, i do.
Another practitioner in OC is Kathleen Albertson, “Acupuncturist, Herbalist, Holistic Nutritionist.” http://www.orangecountyacupuncture.com/ I’ve been very pleased with her.
I’ve tried a number of docs in OC/So Cal. If anyone is interested in my “don’t bother” list, you can contact me.
My NP found me to be hypo thyroid also and we did all the natural things first, diet, etc., then tried a natural supplement, NaturThroid only to have it not work for me at all, actually ended up in the ER with heart issues due to an overdose…..anyway, she worked with me, put me on a synthetic one and I am doing great! I am 64, so didn’t want to mess around any longer trying “natural” stuff, especially if it sends me to the ER!
still looking…. I would drive anywhere in the Willamette Valley…in Oregon
Heidi,
We moved from Hillsboro, Or to Huntingtown, MD in July. Friends of ours, Barry and Lauri Tauscher in Tigard, took their son to Dr. Mark Stern. Feel free to google them or email me at [email protected]
They also introduced our family to Kangen Water which is produced by a certified medical device from Japan. The health issues that our family had suffered with for several years are no longer a concern just because we changed the water we drink. We went to several “specialists” with little to no relief. I am willing to help educate those who are REALLY ready to make a change.
With Kangen Compassion,
Diana Danielson