The use of nutritional medicine is different to dietary advice. Supporting the body with specific micronutrients (vitamins, minerals, amino acids) and targeting deficiencies that may have developed over time can result in significant improvement of acute and chronic health issues. For example, iron deficiency anemia may be well supported with dietary modification, but addressing the level of deficiency with measured doses of a nutrient via supplementation, over specific periods of time, can provide a much more targeted and calculated approach to repletion and improvement. Supplementation will only be recommended where applicable.
Supplements vary in formula, dosage, quality of ingredients and price. The quality of ingredients, either herbal or nutritional (such as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, etc), can be affected by the origin of the raw product (where the herb was grown, including country, soil, quality of air, climate, etc), how it was grown, harvested, treated, manufactured and packaged. Testing different brands of the same ingredient can produce markedly different results. Naturopathic consultations offer expert advice on a broad range of supplement brands and the quality of their ingredients. Stock brands include Bioceuticals, Mediherb, Fusion, Flordis, Nutrition Care, Eagle, Blackmores, BioMedica, Orthoplex and many more.
