The Naturocrit Podcast - The First Half of Episode 005e (005e1) - Script & Annotations

here, I provide an annotated script for the first half of Part Five of the Naturocrit Podcast's Episode 005, titled "The 'Science-Based' Science-Exterior Canadian-Based Naturopathic Interior".  I am looking at naturopathy in the province of Ontario, Canada chiefly through associations centered around ND Iva Lloyd.  In this Part 005e, I will 'visit' two of ND Lloyd's books:

001. the First Half of Episode 005e (005e1) script and annotations:

Standard Introduction:

Welcome to, as that robot voice says, The Naturocrit Podcast, and thank you for boldly listening.

What ARE we even talking about?

Well, this podcast series is my take on naturopathic medicine, an area I've been studying for about twenty years, including my time in so-called 'scientific nonsectarian naturopathic medical school'.

My approach is a pairing of scientific skepticism and a deep knowledge of naturopathy's intimate details.

In previous episodes of this series, I established that naturopathy is, essentially, a kind of knowledge blending, misrepresentation, and irrationality.


I have termed naturopathy both 'an epistemic conflation falsely posing itself as an epistemic delineation' and 'the naturopathillogical':

the science-exterior is mixed with what is scientific, then that whole muddle is absurdly claimed to be science as an entire category, while particular sectarian science-ejected oath-obligations and -requirements are coded or camouflaged, therein effectively disguising naturopathy's system of beliefs in public view.

Naturopathy's ultimate achievement is a profound erosion of scientific integrity and freedom of belief packaged in the marketing veneer "natural" and improperly embedded in the academic category "science".

Episode Synopsis:

In this continuing Naturocrit Podcast Episode 005, titled "The 'Science-Based' Science Exterior Canadian-Based Naturopathic Interior" -- really -- I have been looking at naturopathy in the province of Ontario, Canada chiefly through associations centered around ND Iva Lloyd.

In Part One, I visited the biography page of ND Lloyd at the AANP's Natural Medicine Journal, a journal she sits on the editorial board of, and then other example NMJ pages.

I also visited web pages of the AANP proper, to get an idea of 'what-AANP-regards-as-science', which turns out to be anything, though AANP's NMJ is claimed to 'scientifically filter' its contents.

In Part Two, I visited ND Lloyd's practice's web pages, and those of her alma mater and place of teaching, CCNM.

In Part Three, I visited the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors [OAND] and Ontario's Board of Directors Drugless Therapy - Naturopathy [The Board].

In Part Four, I visited the CAND, its ND Lloyd-edited journal Vital Link, and the naturopathy wiki ND Lloyd edits, ndhealthfacts.org.

In this Episode's final Part Five, I will visit two of ND Lloyd's paper-based books, and then summarize this episode.

And, for the sake of organization, I will be tabulating the findings of all this rummaging in the transcripts to this episode, which, as usual, will be posted at the Naturocrit blog.

Episode Question:

And my overarching, ongoing question for this NPE5 is:

"what does naturopathy in Ontario promise, preponderantly, and what is underneath, essentially?"

Overarching Focus:

For this episode's parts, I will generally look for naturopathy's 'science, evidence, rigor and fact' -type claims and then explore naturopathy's contents as commitments, ideas and activities that belie those labels, such as:

naturopathy's essential vitalism belief, homeopathy and such activity, supernaturalism, and ANY other naturopathic off-the-wall-ness.

ND Lloyd's ISBN 9781552787786, 2009's "The History of Naturopathic Medicine: A Canadian Perspective":

The book's dust jacket tells us:

"over 2400 years ago Hippocrates was first to proclaim the healing power of nature. Known as the founder of medicine, he believed in the natural healing ability [...] naturopathic medicine is based on this ancient philosophy [...] today, naturopathic medicine has established accredited academic institutions and programs, and has strong national and provincial associations. Most importantly, it continues to graduate naturopathic doctors that embrace the principles of the healing power of the body [coded vitalism-spiritism...] Dr. Iva Lloyd graduated from the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2002."

The CAND website for the book reminds us it was partially funded by the CNF [2014 archived here].

I will return later to what the dust jacket says and interpret what I believe naturopathy's "ancient philosophy" aka "principles" language ACTUALLY MEANS there, as decoded by way of CNF and ND Lloyd's books.

The History Book's Grand Claim of 'Science Subset Naturopathy':

There are an awful lot of science claims in this book.

I'll divide them between historical citations ND Lloyd has collected, what she has directly written, and what she quotes contemporary NDs as saying.

I've tried to take great care to identify the sources correctly, as written by ND Lloyd.

Now, some of the historical claims are from the past Canada-wide naturopathy organization.

As a reminder, that organization currently is CAND, but once it was CNA.

ND Lloyd tells us:

"in the 1990s the growth of the profession was centered in Ontario and the Canadian Naturopathic Association (CNA) was moved from Alberta to Ontario. In 2002, the name of the association was changed to the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (CAND)."

These CAND / CNA claims from this book are in addition to what I cited in Part Four of this episode.

Historical 'Science Labels' from Naturopathic Promotional Literature or Licensure Acts:

> "[p.366] early 1900s, What is Naturopathy, Ludwig Staden ND [...] the essence of naturopathy [...] it is based on the highest scientific principles."

> "[p.374] 2000, CNA Summit [...] naturopathic medicine is distinguished by the principles which underlie and determine its practice. These principles are based upon the objective observation of the nature of health and disease, and are continually reexamined in the light of scientific advances."

[currently written into Oregon law, archived here 2014].

> "[p.368] 1946, Manitoba Naturopathy Act [...] naturopathy is the science of physiological medicine."

> "[p.372] 1971, 'Naturopathic Medicine, A Separate and Distinct Healing Profession', a CNA document [...] naturopathic physicians have met a standard of qualifications that compares favorably with medical graduates of medical schools and they are equally scientifically oriented to perform and interpret diagnostic procedures [...] naturopathic medicine is very much in favor of all modern, scientific advancement and techniques."

> "[p.368] 1939, Association of Naturopathic Practitioners of British Columbia [...] naturopathy, as an exact science, takes its place with the other healing arts in properly accepting its responsibility in the treatment of disease."

So, I think those are some very strong broad science claims, from various decades.

Science Claims of Other NDs:

There are 2 quotes from Old Science-Based Joe, that is, ND Joseph E. Pizzorno:

"'[p.236] not only do we have good scientific basis for what we do, but we also use the same scientific literature orthodox MD's use to prove the validity of what we do and to discredit much of current orthodox medical practices [...and p.241] people who categorize naturopathic medicine as 'nonscientific' are conveniently uninformed.'"

And there's also:

> "[p.246] whether this is through implementing the scientific method and use of rigorous randomized controlled trials or through a broader examination of how an intervention affects patient care, Dr. Seely recognizes that research can only improve the ability to make treatment decisions and ultimately provide the best care for patients."

> "[p.318] Dr. Steven Olsen ND [...] homeopathy is on the verge of more scientific validation."

[this is the exact opposite of what's happening to homeopathy in terms of science].

Science Claims ND Lloyd Herself Writes:

> "[p.175] scientific tools now exist to prove and appreciate many aspects of naturopathic medicine."

> "[p.235] despite evidence for its effectiveness and safety, naturopathic medicine has historically been accused of not being scientifically based."

But, this may be the ultimate FALSE broad claim, because sometimes the naturopaths say exactly what I need them to say in a manner much better than I could have:

"[p.028] modern day science recognizes that the concepts of vitalism and holism are as integral to understanding health and disease as the concepts of reductionism and mechanism. The true picture, and hence the answer to health promotion and disease prevention, lies in the blending of all the knowledge."

[is this a pairing by ND Lloyd of vitalism with reductionism, and holism with mechanism, as polar opposites?].

And of course, vitalism is science-ejected, profoundly, and holism, when it particularly means supernatural-containing, cannot be science-supported either.

As I've said many times before, naturopathy's ultimate project is a BLENDING of knowledge kinds, which I've termed 'epistemic conflation', and then improperly mislabeling that blending science [an epistemic distinction].

The take-away, here, is that naturopathy claims the broad epistemic status of "science-based" upon 'the essentially naturopathic.'

That Which Belies Naturopathy's Science Claim in this History Book:

So, it is quite not-controversial to state that some things are not scientific.

And it is quite not-controversial to note that what is inherent to naturopathy is science-exterior.

This is easy to do, and obviously such observations contradict naturopathy's broad science label.

If naturopathy TRULY was scientific, in terms of rigor, then why, as the book abundantly illustrates, is naturopathy full of the science-exterior, like:

Vitalism:

We're told:

> "[p.044] the aim of all treatments is to stimulate the healing power of nature."

And because we have brains, and we are not automatons, the question to ask is 'what does that mean?'

Covert Vitalism:

Naturopathy is very fond of coding its vitalistic-supernaturalistic central premise.

The book states:

> "[p.030] 'the principles of naturopathic medicine are what distinguish it from every other type of medicine [...] if we forget, ignore or do not follow these principles, naturopathic medicine will be relegated to an historical footnote.' Paul Saunders, PhD, ND, DHANP [an NCNM 1991 graduate, and the NPLEX Board President] [one bio., another bio.]."

Yes, the ND Saunders who is President of NPLEX, the North American ND Licensure exam that QUITE FALSELY labels homeopathy a clinical science [see Wikipedia].

So, PRINCIPLES.

Let's start with their primary principle.

Now, we saw in Part Two of this episode that ND Lloyd has a unique synonym for "life force", "vital energy" or HPN:

"personal essence".

There is quite a convenient equation in this Canadian history book of naturopathy.

ND Lloyd writes:

> "[p.027] every aspect of an individual works as a unit with a personal essence (vitality) that guides life and provides innate healing [next to a picture of her Energetics book, which I will get to in the second half of this episode...p.060] homeopathic remedies are made from plants, animals and minerals. They are created by diluting [...] substances many times until what remains is the energetic blueprint or essence, not actual chemical components."

> "[p.384] 1660-1734, George Ernst Stahl: reintroduces the concept of [...] soul or vital essence in humans."

There is a SUPERNATURAL basis, according to naturopathy, for, shall I say, human form, function and HEALING, and that defines the 'essentially naturopathic'.

The equation is:

 soul = vital essence = vitality = energetic blueprint = energetic essence.

Now, Stahl's entry at Wikipedia states:

"he was a supporter of vitalism and until the late 18th century his works on phlogiston were accepted as an explanation for chemical processes [...] Stahl professed an animistic system [...] his main argument on living things was that there is an agent responsible for delaying this decomposition of living things and that agent is the anima or soul of the living organism. The anima controls all of the physical processes that happen in the body [...] not only just controls the mechanical aspects of it but the direction and goals of them too."

So, there's this idea of this inhabiting spirit running the physical body, which I think is the essence of vitalism, when you boil it down:

a kind of dualism, from a time when the properties of things were associated with substances responsible for those properties.

Vitalism, just like phlogiston, is quite scientifically discarded, from the days when phenomena were attributed to unmeasured yet assumed primordial substances.

IMHO, the actual scientific basis for life and chemical processes, is way more interesting than the 'imaginary explanatory primitivism' of the prescientific era.

Anyway, both quotes above don't invoke naturopathy's typical language for that vitalistic-spiritistic 'cause':

medicatrix.

But, the term is used quite frequently in the book.

Medicatrix: 

> "[p.073] quoting naturopathy's founder Lust] 'the only healing force is the vis naturae medicatrix."

I'm not sure why it's in that order, but that's what's written.

> "[p.373] 1989, American Association of Naturopathic Doctors definition, adopted by the CNA [...] naturopathic physicians seek to restore and maintain optimum health in their patients by emphasizing nature's inherent self healing process, the vis medicatrix naturae."

> "[p.030] at the AANP conference and at a Canadian Naturopathic Association board meeting, both national organizations agreed on six defining principles of naturopathic medicine [...#2] the healing power of nature ( vis medicatrix naturae) [...] vis medicatrix naturae, the healing power of nature [...] the body's ability to heal itself [...] an inherent healing ability [...] this innate healing ability [...] the aim of naturopathic physicians is to treat [...] by directing the vital force and encouraging it with naturopathic therapeutics [...and placed right next to this principle, as a sidebar] 'during the healthy condition of man the spirit-like force which animates the material body rules supreme as dynamis. All parts are wonderfully maintained by it as a harmonious vital process, both in feelings and functions, in order that our intelligent mind may be free to make the living, healthy, bodily medium subservient to the higher purpose of our being.' Samuel Hahnemann M.D."

So, we went from VMN to the naturopathy-wide consensus that such is "vital force" or "spirit-like force".

And there's more overt vitalism. 

Overt Vitalism:

As Vital Force:

> "[p.028] research shows that human beings are discovered to be self-organizing systems that had the ability to renew, grow and heal based on an inner wisdom or vital force."
 

> "[p. 030] six defining principles of naturopathic medicine [...include #1] first, do no harm (primum non nocere) [...] a principle of medicine since the time of Hippocrates. From a naturopathic perspective, it refers not only to the patient's vital force. It refers to choosing treatments [...] that support the innate healing ability of the body."

So, harm in naturopathyland is when you don't abide by their vitalistic-spiritistic conceptions of physiology.

> "[p.060] Samuel Hahnemann [...] and his followers subscribed to the vitalistic approach to medicine, believing that a spirit-like force was present in every organism and that sickness was due to an alternation of the vital force."

> "[p.382] 2008, CAND documents [...] when carefully matched to the patient [...homeopathic remedies] are able to affect the body's 'vital force' and to stimulate the body's innate healing forces."

[Overt] Vitalism as Life Force and Chi / Qi:

> "[p.382] 2008 CAND documents [...] Oriental medicine / acupuncture.  The key principle that defines and connects all of Chinese medicine is that of chi, or vital energy. The chi of all organs must be in balance, neither too active nor too dormant, for a person to be healthy. The chi of the body's organs and systems are all connected in meridians or channels that lie just under the skin. A naturopathic doctor will use Eastern herbs and acupuncture to assist the body in regulating the chi and achieving balance."

Shall we call it chi-nese medicine?

> "[p.180] apart from monthly academic meetings, the [Korean] association runs various seminars and workshops where naturopathic modalities like homeopathy, hydrotherapy, chiropractic and qi (chi) energy medicine are introduced."

> "[p.063] acupuncture is a part of Chinese medicine, as well as other forms of healing.  It involves inserting fine needles into specific parts of the body in order to relieve symptoms and to establish health. The ancient Chinese hypothesized that energy circulated in the body via specific channels, called meridians. On each meridian there are acupuncture points which are stimulated by these needles, thus influencing the appropriate body organs, nervous systems or affected areas allowing the healing life force to flow uninhibited. The Chinese believed that in addition to being in balance, the energy or life force (which they called 'chi') had to be able to circulate freely around the meridians. If a break or congestion occurred anywhere in the movement of the energy, symptoms or illness would result."

> "[p.076] Dr. Louisa Lust [the wife of the founder of naturopathy...] she believed firmly in the life force within as the great healing agent of the body."

Supernaturalism:

Now, we're seen that spirit is an alternate for the vitalistic conception of naturopathy, but it's not often admitted directly.

There is one glancing mention of the supernatural, in name:

"[p.056] mental illness has a history of being poorly understood in most cultures. In some, mental illness was interpreted as a sign that the supernatural or gods were upset with an individual and, as a result, torture and rituals were performed to rid 'mentally ill' patients of demons."

So the superstitious is bad, unless it's naturopathy's superstition, then it is science.

Well, that's ironic in the sense that physiology is similarly misunderstood by naturopathy, and supernaturalized.

And speaking of god, it was in ND school in CT that ND Sensenig taught that the "life force" that runs the body is also "god power within."

That's the naturopathic culture I was educated in, at a school self-labeled as nonsectarian that was self-labeling the program health science.

Anyway, it is quite unusual for naturopathy to even admit that the category supernatural even exists, apparently, based on how seldom it is mentioned.

That, to me, is rather strange and telling.

I haven't done the work towards what it all could mean, but I suspect that to invoke supernatural as a subdivision of I guess we'll call it ontology, opens a whole 'nother can of worms contrary to naturopathy's project of FUSION or CONFLATION / BLENDING aka integrating 'being types' (ontology) and 'knowledge types' (epistemology).

Soul:

Well, with "personal essence" = "vital essence" = "soul" as the basis of naturopathy, it shouldn't be surprising that soul is mentioned in the book at least 16 times.

ND Lloyd directly writes:

> "[p.022 ] Aristotle was a great philosopher who sought to explain the human body's position in the universe, how it came into being and the meaning of its life. He believed that a 'soul' animated and directed the body and that it contributed to one's state of health."

> "[p.024] this mechanistic approach shaped research and science for hundreds of years, and contributed to humans becoming more detached not only from their environment, but from their own mind and soul."

There's that whole 'slandering', so to speak, of science, it being labeled mechanistic, and the sort of tantrum of 'hey, why isn't our supernaturalism in science?  Let's get rid of the need for explanation AND evidence, in science.'

> "[p.026] George Ernst Stahl [...] believed that even though the organs of the body were subject to the laws of chemistry and physics, there was a soul that regulated and
harmonized their functions."

> "[p.239] overview of the naturopathic approach: vitalism refers to the view that life is governed by forces beyond the physical self. Often vitalism is associated with concepts of spirit or soul and the term vitality refers to the inherent capacity of an organism to
live, grow, develop and heal."

Spirit:

There are at least 27 instances of spirit or longer terms built upon spirit as a root.

> "[p.402, we are reminded that CCNM, ND Lloyd's alma mater, publishes] 'Mind, Body, Spirit' [which began in 2008 and is their alumni magazine, 2014 archived here]."

 > "[p.307] Dr. Lambert (Bert) Kenneth Grube ND [...] he believed strongly in holistic medicine and treated the bodies, minds and spirits of his patients."

> "[p.239] overview of the naturopathic approach [...] holistic or holism means all, entire or total. It is based on the realization that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Holism considers the spiritual, psychological, functional and structural aspects of an individual."

> "[p.060] Hahnemann used the word 'homeopathy' to distinguish his use of infinitesimally small doses of substances to treat the spiritual causes of illness [...] he and his followers
subscribed to the vitalistic approach to medicine, believing that a spirit-like force was present in every organism and that sickness was due to an alternation of the vital force [...p.031, as a sidebar to the HPN principle, we again have that quote from SH, the founder of homeopathy, and he speaks of]  'the spirit like force which animates the material body rules supreme as dynamis'."

Holistic / Wholistic:

> "[p.033] naturopathic principles [...] the mind, body and spirit aspects of an individual arc an inseparable whole that is interconnected and interdependent with family, community and environment."

> "[p.013] in 1901 the term 'naturopathy' was used to describe all forms of natural healing that embraced health and disease from a vitalistic and holistic perspective."

> "[p.062] Chinese medicine is a holistic system of medicine [...] based on vitalistic concepts [...] the perception of human beings as vitalistic and holistic organisms."

> "[p.059] herbs are holistic by nature."

Why is a plant a spiritual something something something?

I don't know.

Homeopathy:

There are at least 139 instances of the root 'homeop'.

It is listed as one of the "naturopathic therapies" in the table of contents.

And I've emphasized the inherent vitalism at the heart of homeopathy already.

Additionally, we're told:

> "[p.060] homeopathy is known for three central doctrines:

the 'law of similar' (that like cures like);

the effect of a medication can be heightened by its administration in minute doses (the more diluted dose, the greater the 'dynamic' effect);

nearly all diseases are the result of a suppression."

Dynamic, of course, is this idea of a spiritual force being affected by an empty remedy.

In some sense, a remedy that's been spiritized:

spirit curing spirit, aka like cures like.

There is a list of mandatory courses at CCNM from 2008 which includes several in homeopathy, because homeopathy is fused to an ND degree.

There is mention of "homeopathic intramuscular treatments."

So, dovetailing back to the vitalism-spiritism at the heart of naturopathy, I'll emphasize here that such is at the heart of homeopathy, too.

Homeopathy's ideas and methods comprise a significant amount of 'the essentially naturopathic'.

This "dynamic effect" that ND Lloyd mentions invokes that "spirit like force" also known as "dynamis."

Now, all three fundamental ideas of homeopathy are science-exterior, pharmacologically speaking:

 like cures like is the same sympathetic magic idea as that of voodoo;

dilution does not increase effect but it does, in my view, make the remedy empty or spiritized;

and this idea that illnesses are due to suppression is just plain weird, some say stupid.

Various Sundries:

Antianalysis Blending-Integrating Strangely Labeled Distinction:

Now, the impression I receive is that naturopathy, true to medieval primitivism, quits before looking, in terms of inquiry, content to sit back on untested presumptions.

I'll call this 'anti-analysis blending-integrating'.

First, I'll cite regarding 'blending while simultaneously distinct' naturopathic inanity:

>  "[p.374] 2008 CAND documents [...] naturopathic medicine is a distinct primary health care system that blends modern scientific knowledge with traditional and natural forms of medicine [...] naturopathic medicine encourages the self-healing process and blends centuries old knowledge of natural therapies with current advances ill the understanding of health and human systems."

Second, there's a quote ND Lloyd employs which may represent this agenda best:

> "[p.028, quoting David Bohm (1917- 1992) 'ultimately, the entire universe has to be understood as a single, undivided whole, in which analysis into separately and independently, existent parts has no fundamental status'."

But, I think we also get an admission from ND Lloyd regarding science's march away from vague anti-inquiry place fillers that impede epistemic progress:

> "[p.373] 1989 American Association of Naturopathic Doctors definition, adopted by the CNA 'naturopathic medicine is a distinct method of primary health care' [...p.014] naturopathic medicine is a distinct system of medicine based on the philosophies of vitalism and holism [...p.023] vitalistic and holistic concepts were downplayed and often completely dismissed, as the physical and scientific aspects became the focus of medicine."

Ah, yeah: because supernatural figmentations are JUST THAT.

 > "[p.109] in 1972 [...] the CNA published [...] Naturopathy: A Separate and Distinct Healing Profession [...p.100] from a naturopathic perspective the goal is to remain a distinct medical profession with an expertise in natural medicine."

So, we have a claimed as distinct and scientifically backed set of figmentations, which science either has ejected, or cannot measure, since they are supernatural.

And while we're talking of blending, there's:

Integrative, that 'Blending in a Tuxedo':

There are at least 40 instances of the root 'integrat':

 What's useful: 

> "[p.245, quoting ND Dugald Seely] 'in this burgeoning field of integrative medicine, research can be a real catalyst for change and allow our profession to have a broader impact'."

> "[p.373] from the perspective of naturopathic medicine, the ideal of health is a person who is a complete and integrated whole, with physical, mental and emotional dimensions all in a positive state of balance."

Ah, the whole that omits mention of its supernatural underpinnings.

That is not very INCLUSIVE, or CONSIDERATE.

And there you have it, some naturopathic content that caught my eye from ND Lloyd's Canadian Naturopathy History book.
 
This has been the first half of the Fifth Part of the Naturocrit Podcast's Episode 5.