Hi all,Just a quick post to let everyone know that myself and fellow Sydney Naturopath, Catriona Davies will be running a weekend workshop in mid September at Australian College of Natural Therapies in Sydney to introduce soon to graduate naturopaths, herbalists and nutritionists to the incredibly nourishing world of Weston A Price and Nourishing Traditions.Many of you may not realise that Naturopaths in Australia (and I assume in the rest of the world) are currently taught the standard dogma about low fat diets, saturated fat, cholesterol, fibre, polyunsaturated vegetable oil and soy. I am constantly dismayed and saddened when talking with colleagues at seminars and conferences who have never heard of Weston A Price or Francis Pottenger.All of that is about to change……..Soon we will have a new generation of naturopaths prescribing raw egg yolks, liver, chicken broth and raw milk. They will be armed with cultured butter and cod liver oil and not be afraid to use them.But we need your help…….Our intention is to arm these soon-to-be naturopaths with a wealth of resources for both themselves and their future clients. The names of any websites (besides this one) or books that you have found useful during your transition, that helped eliminate your fear of fats, inspired you to brew up a batch of beet kvass or home made yoghurt or perhaps responsible for that ‘AH HA’ moment when you began to question the role your diet played in how you felt. All suggestions and inspirations are welcome and much appreciated.In nourishing thoughts, foods and actionsSarah Luck
Aug 12th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Sarah,
This is fantastic news. Is it possible to see the list of books & websites once it has been compiled? I’d be very interested. Also, I’m 20yrs old and have many times considered becoming a naturopath. Do you have any suggestions, from your experience, of which uni’s (etc) are best to learn at? Thanks*
Aug 13th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I went to Southern School in Fitzroy Melbourne, and we werent taught necessarily that low fat = good, soy = good etc. Some lecturers were into it and some werent. As part of the curriculum we did get taught what the official RDi’s and food groups etc were, but also discussed all sorts of other diets and approaches to eating well.
The basic emphasis was on whole foods and traditional foods. Most did have a phobia of high dairy intake, but thats something I dont necessarily disagree with for a lot of people.
They were all very anti margarine and trans fats. Anti GMO and anti synthetic sweeteners. Some def. preferred the low fat more vegan raw food type approach, but others were not like that at all. e.g. my fave nutrition lecturer gave us recipes for coconut milk smoothies and lamb casseroles etc.
When i started the course I came from the raw food vegan camp (not that i was ever very good at it) but after studying at Southern School I did a complete turn around.
So perhaps it does depend on the college and the lecturers you do get.
But I have noticed outside of college that a lot of seminars revolve around saturated fats being bad, soy being good, and synthetic vitamins being the panacea to all modern ills. This has more to do with them marketting their mass produced product though than real education.
However I do applaud your efforts to re-educate australian naturopaths about traditional foods. I think a lot still do assume (like weston price did before he went on his adventures) that a semi vegan high plant diet is how most ancient cultures in good health ate. It was the photos of native people on high animal fat diets, and my own personal studies into human evolution and the “paleo diet” that led me to conclude that veganism is a misguided approach to getting healthy.
Aug 13th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Amanda,
Yes, am more than happy to post our finished resource list once it’s completed.
When I studied naturopathy, studying at university wasn’t an option until a year or two after I graduated. My feeling is that the smaller private colleges are probably best. They’re a little more intimate and you’ll receive more of your lecturers experience and wisdom as a practioner. Whilst some of the uni course are great - as you can imagine something of the traditional spirit, philosophy and wisdom of natural therapies is lost in the effort to be seen as evidence based. There is a fantastic nutrition course offered by one of the uni’s - the doctor who is in charge of it has a very ‘traditional’ understanding of food and nutrition - I can’t think of the uni or the doctor off the top of my head but will post it at a later date.
Aug 13th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Update:
I’ve had quite a few enquiries by people wanting to attend the workshop so I thought I would post the details for any practitioners or students of natural therapies (including massage therapy) in Sydney who would like to attend.
Cook, Eat, Nourish will be held at Australasian College of Natural Therapies on Saturday/Sunday 13th/14th September 10am - 5pm. It will be part lecture, part interactive cooking class. Everyone who attends will take home their own brew of kefir and beet kvass.
Catriona and I will also be preparing a Nourishing Traditions style lunch for both days. Lunch and notes are included in the $220 charge (this is a bargain for both days - I regularly attend 1/2 day seminars that cost me more than this and all we get are horrid little lollies or dried fruit and nuts).
At this stage it is limited to either students or practitioners as there is quite a bit of assumed knowledge regarding general nutrition, anatomy and physiology etc etc. But we hope to have something similar up and running for parents either later this year or early next year - Watch this space!
If you’re interested in attending you’ll need to contact ACNT on (02) 9218 8888. The course name is Cook, Eat, Nourish and the course code is WSC6081.
Aug 13th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Jad
I’m so pleased to hear about your experiences - this is one of the advantages of attending a smaller college vs a university (although this rule is not absolute!). Yes it does depend upon your lecturers - nutrition has changed a lot since I studied but there is still a way to go especially regarding fats, oils and cholesterol. The dairy issue is still problematic and this has a lot to do with type and quality of dairy available. Depending upon where you or your ancestors come from in the world you may never be able to tolerate dairy but most people who currently react badly to dairy can tolerate it raw (goat or cow) or properly cultured - just like many people who react badly to grains can tolerate them once they’re properly prepared. I am currently writing an article about raw milk and have been fascinated about the history of milk in our western culture - the decline of milk as a healthy and nutritious food began with slop milk as far as I can tell (google ’slop milk’ for more info). It is also sad to see that many companies that run seminars for natural therapists continue to push the soy (again, soy is OK if properly prepared but I don’t know of any soy based supplements that use fermented soy), saturated fat and cholesterol wagon. There has been a huge shift in consciousness in the last few years regarding traditional diets that is heartening to see and appears to be fast gaining momentum thanks to websites such as this.
Aug 13th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Hi Sarah, I live in Melbourne and was wondering if you know of any naturopaths in Melbourne who practce this type of diet. I have been battling candida on and off for years and have often got confused about diet. Also I love the body ecology diet and all the fermenting but I take it you wouldn’t agree with the non gluten grains? Or fermented grain drinks. I love the grainfields probiotc drinks. I would love to attend a workshop of fermenting in Melbourne (could travel to Sydney) also, as I can’t find anyone who runs those.
Cheers
Aug 14th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Hi Sarah
Like Jad, I too studied at the Southern School in Mebourne and although I graduated about 10 years ago, I was taught a good mix of traditional wisdom with mainstream more biochem based approaches to nutrition. I am dismayed that we were never taught about Weston Price and it took me a few years since graduating to stumble across it. Good idea though to inspire the practitioners and spread the word. Good luck with it.
Hi Katie - a colleague of mine in Melbourne is a WAP inspired practitioner - Linda Loh. She works in the city I think. I think her website is naturalsparkle.com.au
Anyway all the best
Karen McElroy
Naturopath & Medical Herbalist
www.karenmcelroy.com.au
Aug 15th, 2008 at 4:33 am
Dear Sarah
this is exciting news!
Do you think you’ll be able to do this workshop in Melb too? I have a friend who is in second year at Southern School and another who completed her studies there who would be interested.
Fantastic!
Aug 17th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
This course sounds wonderful! I would love to know whether you think you could run a workshop in Melbourne. I’m a qualified naturopath (graduated with you, Jad - Hi!) and would be keen to participate in the workshop from both a learning and a networking perspective. It would be great if there was a workshop in Melb because I know of a number of people who would be interested in attending. Attending in Sydney might be a bit beyond our budgets.
Further to what has already been written about the teaching in Naturopathic courses; I remember Weston Price being mentioned a number of times throughout my 4 yrs of Nutrition at the Southern School but there wasn’t a great deal of emphasis put on his work. There was such a huge amount of information being given (alongside numerous other subjects) that he probably didn’t get the “airing” he deserved. In fourth year I do remember my favourite nutrition lecturer urging us to read an article entitled “The Oiling of America” but as it wasn’t part of the official course and we were so busy balancing clinic, a thesis, final yr subjects and paid work, I for one (and many of my fellow students) didn’t get around to reading it. As it happens, it was written by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig! It wasn’t until 3 yrs later with the encouragement of an inspiring friend (thanks, Cathy Mifsud) that I started reading Sally’s work. Personally I think we all come to these things at exactly the right time for us and I’m grateful that I’ve encountered the nourishing lifestyle during my child’s early years.
Keep up the great work!
Kate
Aug 18th, 2008 at 4:51 am
Thanks Kate!
Love Cathy X
Aug 18th, 2008 at 5:25 am
Oh wow hey Kate ! i thought your name looked familiar!
Aug 18th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
Iam a naturopath in country QLD and got introduced to the Weston Price and Sally Fallon way of eating about 8 years ago. changed the way i practice naturopathy, some clients find it hard to get their head around it because of what the media feeds them, but for those who do get it, just love the old fashioned way of eating and how nourishing it is. When I share this information with many fellow naturopaths many of them are horrified.
Aug 29th, 2008 at 3:19 am
hi Sarah,
I have found a number of sources that might help, including the first book that turned me head around to this type of diet. Its called Eat, move and Be Healthy by Paul Chek.. a wonderful book and he subscribes to our type diet. Another you probably know, Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon & Dr Mary Enig.. a wonderful book.. soy eaters should see the website. Anthony Colpo from Melbourne is another.. he is a fantastic researcher and has great insight into cholesterol myths.. www.anthonycolpo.com
The latest i have found is from www.foodmatters.tv They are more raw foodists, but there is still some very useful information including a fascinating insight into Orthomolecular Medicine.