NDs base their practice on 6 timeless principles founded on medical tradition and scientific evidence.

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​​Let nature heal. Our bodies have such a powerful, innate instinct for self-healing. By finding and removing the barriers to this self-healing—such as poor diet or unhealthy habit — NDs can help nurture this process.

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​Identify and treat causes. NDs understand symptoms will return if the root illness is not addressed. Rather than cover up symptoms, NDs seek to find and treat the cause of these symptoms.

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Do no harm. NDs follow three precepts to ensure their patients’ safety:

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1. Use low-risk procedures and healing compounds — such as dietary supplements, herbal extracts and homeopathy — with few or no side effects.

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2. When possible, do not suppress symptoms, which are the body’s efforts to self-heal.
 

3. Customize each diagnosis and treatment plan to fit each patient. We all heal in different ways, and NDs respect our differences.​

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​Educate patients. Naturopathic medicine believes that doctors must be educators, as well as physicians. That’s why NDs teach their patients how to eat, exercise, relax and nurture themselves physically and emotionally.
 

​Treat the whole person. We each have a unique physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, sexual and spiritual makeup. NDs know that all these factors affect our health.
 

​Prevent illness. Proactive medicine saves money, pain, and lives. That’s why NDs evaluate risk factors, heredity and vulnerability to disease. By getting treatment for greater wellness, we’re less likely to need treatment for future illness.