What are the Differences Between Naturopathy and Ayurveda
There are numerous alternative medicines nowadays, but Naturopathy and Ayurveda appear to be the most popular.
Both have a holistic approach and are associated with natural healing and abstinence from unhealthy diets and lifestyles.
Natural remedies, healthy nutrition, and exercises are the core of these sciences, focusing on body detox and a balance between the body, mind, and soul.
Despite the similarities mentioned above, Naturopathy and Ayurveda have different approaches and fields of practice.
So, what are the differences between Naturopathy and Ayurveda?
Naturopathy is considered an alternative medical system that focuses on natural healing practices, minimal use of medications, and fostering the body’s natural mechanism to cure a disease. Ayurveda is more concentrated on achieving an ultimate balance between the body, the mind, and the spirit by using botanical medications, spiritual techniques such as yoga and meditation, and massages.
Many people have turned to alternative and complementary medicines such as Ayurveda and Neuropathy in seeking a better life quality.
However, knowing their differences doesn’t tell much about their philosophies, approaches, and techniques.
Therefore, we have created this article to help you better distinguish between the two.
You’ll find detailed information about the two sciences, including their advantages and disadvantages so that you can make an informed choice when needed.
What is Naturopathy?
Naturopathy is defined as an alternative healthcare system that stimulates and promotes the body’s self-healing mechanisms rather than using medicine in its basic form.
The fundamental principle in neuropathy is the belief that human bodies can revitalize and restore on their own provided that it gets sufficient resources for those processes to get activated.
Since Neuropathy sees the human body as a whole composed of physical, emotional, and spiritual elements, the approach is complementary.
In other words, the treatment targets the whole body rather than segments of it.
The treatments include entirely natural therapies without using any chemicals whatsoever.
Neuropathic therapies include elements such as:
- natural, balanced food
- fasting
- hydrotherapy
- sunshine
- fresh air
- herbal medicine
- acupuncture
- homeopathy
- and neuropathic manipulations.
The main aim of these approaches is to foster the body’s self-healing mechanism and strengthen its approach.
They don’t heal the body but activate the force within the body capable of activating the healing process.
Naturopathic Principle – How it Works
The basic principle of Naturopathy is the belief that the body can heal itself, i.e., whatever disease the human body was able to produce, it is also able to reverse.
So, Naturopathy is here to help the body facilitate the process.
All the symptoms that arise due to an illness or a disease are seen as bodily functions that occur to fight against invaders.
But what is this driving force that helps it recover?
According to naturopaths, the body has a Vital Force (so-called Qi or Prana) that can be stimulated to heal the body, or it can also be suppressed, which is the reason for getting ill.
The methods mentioned above are frequently used to activate this energy (body detoxification, sun, water, air, balanced diet and lifestyle, fasting, etc.) are essential for a person’s healing.
Naturopathic physicians look for the best possible way to promote the energy flow by choosing the proper treatment and therapy for each person that needs healing.
Advantages of Using Naturopathy
Naturopathy has helped thousands of people worldwide.
From disease prevention to actual healing, this alternative medicine has proven efficient in tackling real diseases, fortifying the body’s immune response, and enhancing a person’s wellbeing.
1. Disease Prevention
The primary Naturopathic approach establishes and maintains a balance within the human body considering the psychical and emotional aspects.
When a naturopathic doctor starts working with a patient, they consider the people’s mental wellbeing, the amount of stress they have, the exposure to harmful substances, nutrition, and the overall quality of life.
Based on the results, the doctor recommends a treatment that will help the patient fight existing symptoms and boost the immune system to prevent other diseases.
2. Diseases and Symptoms Treatment
In addition to disease prevention, Naturopathy is also used to treat existing conditions, from mild to severe, from acute to chronic.
Naturopathy has also been shown to effectively treat diseases that haven’t been clearly diagnosed or even cancers.
3. Personalized Approach and Treatment
Perhaps one of the reasons why Naturopathy seems to be highly effective is that it approaches each person individually.
And that is understandable as every person is different, with personal lifestyle, habits, and genetics.
Therefore, naturopathic physicians assess the information they get from the patient and create a personalized treatment to stimulate healing processes and maintain lasting wellbeing.
Patients usually receive a lasting health plan and treatment that are crafted for their needs.
In addition, patients receive guidance on how to change their daily habits and implement the treatments effortlessly.
4. Safe Treatment
Supported by numerous studies, Naturopathy is considered safe when used to treat most common health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, chronic neck and back pains, etc.
Of course, the treatment and the overall guidance must be provided by licensed naturopathic physicians who have completed post-graduate medical education in Neuropathy and alternative medicine.
5. Offers Cost-Effective Treatment
Since Neuropathy addresses the root cause of any disease and tackles it highly efficiently, there’s frequently no need for regular, expensive treatments that cost thousands of dollars.
Plus, the recovery period of any disease includes spending hundreds of dollars on supplements without offering a guarantee that the person will have long-term effects from taking them.
However, when people start a naturopathic, personalized treatment, the changes they are going to undertake to refer to changing the overall lifestyle to prevent adverse outcomes or disease recurrence.
For instance, knowing that diabetes and high cholesterol are caused by lack of physical exercise, chronic stress, and poor diet, a naturopathic doctor is likely to provide a treatment that minimizes or ultimately reduces any adverse influences.
In addition, the patient will receive a list of treatments that stimulate the body’s mechanism to regenerate itself.
Also, unlike conventional medicine, Naturopathy doesn’t incur any costs to diagnose a disease as it is done while discussing personal lifestyle with the naturopathic physician.
Its treatments rarely include taking medications, and when it does, those are naturally made herbal medicines that hardly ever exhibit any side effects.
What Is Ayurveda?
Ayurveda is one of the oldest healing sciences and, translated from Sanskrit, means “The Science of Life ”. It is a holistic medicine that works in helping people lead healthier lives and prevent diseases from occurring.
The primary focus of Ayurveda is strengthening the body’s immune response and prevention.
For that, Ayurveda strives to achieve an optimum balance between a human’s body, mind, and soul to resist external impacts.
For instance, if someone is constantly exposed to stress, has poor nutrition, and feels emotionally overwhelmed, the balance of this person is seriously deteriorated and needs to be restored.
Otherwise, it will inevitably lead to developing severe conditions.
Finding Balance in the Three Principle Energies
To better understand Ayurveda, one needs to comprehend its guiding principles associated with the energy flow within the body and around it.
Thus, its three main energy types called “Vata,” “Pitta,” and “Kapha” can be related to the basic body’s biology.
These are deemed necessary so that the human body can function effortlessly.
When discussing “Vata,” it is usually the energy needed for movement, promoting healthy metabolism, proper cell nutrition, and movement of fluids.
The “Kapha” is considered the energy of creating structure and lubrication, while the “pitta” is the energy associated with proper digestion and metabolic functions.
A healthy person usually has these three energies properly balanced as primary, secondary, and tertiary.
According to Ayurveda, a disease can be caused by:
- Too many toxins flowing in the body
- or when the natural function of the cells are overstimulated (or prevented) due to a deficiency of some of these energies (or their excessive flow)
Advantages of Using Ayurveda
While the Western world is focused on finding cures for existing medical conditions, prevention is always secondary.
However, Ayurveda has proven to effectively prevent diseases from occurring more than just treating the existing medical condition.
Some of Ayurveda’s standard practices are yoga, meditation, herbal medicine, mantra, massage, and pranayama. Below we’ll discuss the most significant advantages Ayurveda has.
It Helps with Stress and Anxiety
Yoga and meditation have been used for centuries to help maintain emotional wellbeing and reduce stress and anxiety.
While practicing yoga and meditation together, it is believed that the energy balance gets restored, and there’s a free flow of energies.
In addition, one of the most popular Indian plants – Ashwagandha, has been scientifically proven to have a significant immune-stimulatory, stress-reducing, and anti-inflammatory effect.
Successful in Reducing Inflammation
Many of the ingredients used in Ayurvedic medicine are clinically proven to reduce inflammation and soothe bodily systems.
For instance, Aloe Vera and Boswellia, in combination with Ashwagandha, are commonly used to soothe inflammation and help the body recover faster.
Many of these herbs are rich in antioxidants to fight free radicals and enhance the body’s vitality and health.
It Boosts your Immune system
Ayurveda has powerful treatments that can enhance the immune system by balancing a person’s energy, usually by practicing meditation, yoga, or prana.
When used in combination with adequately balanced food and Ayurvedic herbs, one can expect long-term effects.
Excellent for Skin Care
Unlike modern-day skincare products that are often criticized for having an excess of charmful ingredients that do more harm than good, Ayurveda offers naturally-based products that make the skin healthy and nurtured.
The primary approach is to understand your skin type (sensitive Pitta skin, dry Kapha skin, etc.) and then find the appropriate skin treatment that treats your skin from inside out.
Combined with a balanced diet and healthy habits, these Ayurvedic practices are a safe method to regain your skin vitality.
Improved Focus and Concentration
People nowadays complain of lack of focus and concentration considerably more than what they did about half a decade ago.
The fast pace of life, the immense amount of information we are exposed to daily, and the constant stress we endure harm our ability to focus on essential matters.
This is where Ayurvedic practices step in, i.e., the combination of yoga, meditation, and ancient herbs restore mental functions and enhance neurotransmitters in their role to transfer and retain information.
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Conclusion
From what we have discussed above, it is clear that even though these two ancient sciences have a mutual aim – i.e., to prevent and cure various conditions, their approaches and philosophies are poles apart.
Naturopathy focuses on using practices that activate a human’s body’s natural self-healing mechanism using natural elements such as water, sun, natural ingredients, acupuncture, and massage.
Ayurveda is about acquiring and maintaining equilibrium within and around the human body to fight diseases successfully.
It uses yoga, meditation, prana, and a combination of herbs to clear the body and the mine while allowing free energy flow.