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.
This is very informative. I love your guidelines. Last year, a healthcare practitioner suggested to me to eat foods with low fat and less sodium content. Also, my former dentist suggested to me that I must undergo a root canal. I never knew before. Anyway, thanks for this article. 🙂
How about Phoenix, AZ and surrounding areas?
I live in Charleston, South Carolina and have had amazing experiences with Dr. Sherri Jacobs, a naturopath/health-coach. Dr. Sherri falls in the “best” practitioner category- she is knowledgeable of Weston A. Price principles and effective in applying them. Her greatest attribute, in my experience, is her competence in truly listening, which equips her to apply my health complaint to my whole body/life. I trust her and appreciate her knowledge of our body’s ability to heal naturally. I recommend Dr. Sherri to anyone in the area.
Thank you for your recommendation. I also live in the area.
I do know of a naturopath I have used in the past here in GA: Dr. Becky Mauldin. I also know of a couple of chiropractors, too. Dentists are tough: there are a few here, but they are hours from me and with 2 small kids it’s tough to find the time. My dentist doesn’t push fluoride and doesn’t do mercury; I’ve been happy with him. My kids’ dentist is another story: they all seem to push fluoride.. sigh. At least this one seems to accept I don’t want it and doesn’t push it at every_single_visit.
Here in the South suburbs of Chicago, there is a “best” Dr. Zumhagen. 🙂
Any docs in Southwest Florida? Desperately need one for my little family. All the docs here keep trying to push drugs and steroids into my little girl, not to mention the fights over the vaccines.
Hi Yamilet, Did you find some good Doctor in South Florida?! I am looking for one.
Thank you,
mariana
I recently discovered Dr Robinson’s family practice in Lakeland, Fl. I live in Plant City, FL and am thrilled to have this awesome health resource so close to home. Their prices are very reasonable and they practice alternative healing methods as well as conventional medicine when necessary. They are a father and son practice and are as knowledgeable as you would hope your doctor would be and they are compassionate as well. I recommend them to any one in the area!
Any suggestions for the Memphis, TN area?
Dr. Paul Williams! I met him at Whole Foods one day, and we had a conversation that stemmed from the kale in my basket…and the fact that my hand basket was overflowing. Lol. He gave me his card. THEN a few months later, I find out that he is the in office Doc for a company that a client of mine works for. I don’t know a lot of about him, but I definitely know he is rather “cool” and “prescribes” supplements instead of antibiotics and such.
His office and number are on this site.
http://www.healthgrades.com/physician/dr-paul-williams-xhhf7/appointment#Content_anchor
We are soon moving to San Antonio, TX. Any recommendations there?!
Barry Smeltzer is a PA and is in San Antonio!
DR. Marsha Hamilton N.P in Portland Oregon (Milwaukie). I’d put her in the Good, possibly Best. She is more pro-paleo, but very open to what works.