Choosing How You Heal: Understanding the Many Options of Natural Medicine
In the vast and often confusing world of natural medicine, holistic practices, and supplements, it’s not abnormal to feel as though it’s impossible to cut through the noise. In my experience as an herbalist, naturopathic doctor, and acupuncturist, and researcher of all aspects of natural medicine and supplements, it is not unusual for people to ask me “oh so you’re a homeopath then?” or something similar. Given how much overlap and confusion there can be in these areas, I wanted to create a primer to help those less familiar with these terms better understand, navigate, and choose for themselves, the type of natural medicine that calls to them. While this list isn’t exhaustive, hopefully it can help explain some of the most common inroads into the wide world of natural medicine that people encounter. So, with so many options, let’s dive in!
Naturopathic Medicine: The Modern Integrative Doctor
Naturopathic medicine is a system of healing built around what is called the vis medicatrix naturae, which is Latin for “the healing power of nature.” This principle holds that the body possesses its own self-organizing wisdom, and that the role of the doctor is not to impose health from the outside, but to create the right conditions for the body to restore itself.
One of the defining frameworks of the profession is known as the Therapeutic Order. This is often pictured as a pyramid, with the broad base representing the most fundamental and widely used strategies, and the narrow peak representing interventions used only when necessary. The base involves removing obstacles to health, such as poor nutrition, lack of exercise, chronic stress, or environmental exposures that strain the body. By clearing these barriers, the body’s natural resilience can begin to reassert itself. From there, care moves toward stimulating the body’s own healing mechanisms. This might mean introducing herbal formulas, nutritional supplements, hydrotherapy, or homeopathic remedies, tools that encourage the body to activate its innate repair systems.
As the process deepens, attention turns to strengthening and restoring specific organs or systems that have become weakened or damaged. Many of the same therapeutic tools are used here, but they are chosen with precision. For example, a patient with asthma might be given lung-supportive herbs, anti-inflammatory nutrients, and breathing practices designed to improve respiratory function, rather than general wellness support. This is often where many herbal supplements are targeted.
If lower-level approaches are not enough, naturopathic doctors are also trained to incorporate more targeted or invasive methods, pharmaceuticals, minor surgeries, or specialist referrals, always with the guiding principle of starting with the least force necessary and progressing only as the situation requires. This approach blends modern diagnostic training and clinical science with traditional healing practices, creating a form of healthcare that bridges conventional medicine and holistic wellness, and aims not only to relieve symptoms but to address the root causes that gave rise to them.
Functional Medicine
Functional medicine is a relatively new approach that has gained momentum over the past few decades, blending the rigor of modern science with the philosophy of root-cause healing. It has many overlaps with naturopathic medical approaches, and was founded by naturopathic and conventional medical doctors working together. Rather than focusing solely on a diagnosis or set of symptoms, functional medicine practitioners seek to understand the underlying web of factors that led to illness in the first place. This often involves a deep dive into a person’s health history, genetics, environment, and lifestyle, as well as comprehensive laboratory testing that may go beyond what is typically offered in conventional care. The goal is not simply to identify what is “wrong,” but to map how different systems in the body are interacting, or failing to interact, effectively. For example, chronic digestive issues might be linked to imbalances in gut bacteria, nutrient deficiencies, stress hormone dysregulation, or even long-term inflammatory processes. Treatment plans are highly personalized and may include targeted nutrition, lifestyle adjustments, stress management, supplements, and sometimes medications, but always with the aim of restoring balance and optimizing the body’s natural function. Although functional medicine shares some philosophical ground with naturopathic medicine, especially in its attention to lifestyle and prevention, it is not tied to a particular traditional medical system. Instead, it is a modern, systems-biology approach that uses the tools of contemporary science to address the whole person, creating a bridge between conventional diagnostics and holistic thinking.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a medical system developed in the late 18th century by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann, built on the principle of “like cures like.” The idea is that a substance that can cause certain symptoms in a healthy person can, in a much smaller and highly diluted form, help to relieve those same symptoms in someone who is unwell. Rather than working biochemically in the way herbs or pharmaceuticals do, homeopathic remedies are believed to act as energetic signals, prompting the body to correct its own imbalances. Remedies are prepared through a process of repeated dilution and vigorous shaking, called succussion, which homeopaths believe enhances the remedy’s healing potential while removing toxicity. The choice of remedy is highly individualized; two people with the same medical diagnosis might receive entirely different prescriptions, because homeopathy takes into account the whole person, including emotional patterns, physical symptoms, and personality trait in order to select the correct remedy.
Homeopathy has been both praised and criticized, in part because the extreme dilutions often contain little or none of the original substance, making its mechanism difficult to explain in conventional scientific terms. Yet many patients and practitioners report benefits, especially for chronic conditions as well as safe and gentle support during pregnancy and childhood, or in cases where a person cannot tolerate stronger interventions. For its adherents, homeopathy offers a unique path to healing, one that seeks to stimulate the body’s own self-regulation with a touch so light it is sometimes described as medicine’s most subtle art.
Chiropractic
Chiropractic is a health profession that centers on the idea that the structure of the body, particularly the spine, influences overall health and well-being. Developed in the late 19th century by Daniel David Palmer, chiropractic care began with the belief that misalignments in the spine, called subluxations, could interfere with nerve function and disrupt the body’s ability to heal itself. While the philosophy has evolved over time, the central focus remains on restoring proper alignment and movement to the joints, with the spine as a primary area of attention.
Chiropractors use hands-on adjustments and other manual therapies to improve mobility, reduce pain, and support nervous system function. Many also incorporate rehabilitative exercises, soft tissue work, ergonomic advice, supplement use, and lifestyle guidance to help patients maintain their progress outside of the clinic. Although best known for treating back and neck pain, chiropractic care is also sought for headaches, sports injuries, and support in maintaining overall musculoskeletal health. For some patients, chiropractic care is a standalone therapy; for others, it’s part of a broader wellness plan alongside physical therapy, acupuncture, or naturopathic care. Its emphasis on physical alignment and movement makes it distinct among holistic approaches, offering a tangible, hands-on path to restoring comfort and optimizing function.
World Medicines: Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine:
Two of the world’s most enduring medical traditions that are now used worldwide, Ayurveda from India and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) from China, have shaped how millions of people understand health, disease, and the human relationship to nature. While they emerged in very different cultural contexts, both are complete systems of medicine that view the body as a dynamic whole, where physical, mental, and spiritual aspects are inseparable.
Ayurveda, meaning “the science of life,” dates back thousands of years and is deeply woven into India’s cultural fabric. It describes health as a state of balance among three biological energies, or doshas, Vata, Pitta, and Kapha, each with its own qualities and tendencies. An Ayurvedic practitioner may look not just at symptoms, but at digestion, sleep patterns, emotional state, and how a person’s lifestyle aligns with seasonal and daily rhythms. Herbs, diet, meditation, yoga, and cleansing therapies such as Panchakarma are all part of the therapeutic toolkit, with the aim of guiding a person back toward their unique state of balance. Ayurveda is unique in the way that it codifies "holistic individualized medicine” that we discuss in the West as part of its foundational approach through understanding the unique doshic balance of each patient, and treating accordingly to increase or decrease the influence that particular dosha has on the patient, with the goal of balance being paramount.
Meanwhile, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), with written records stretching back over two millennia, is grounded in the concepts of Qi (vital energy), Yin and Yang (opposing but complementary forces), and the five elements, wood, fire, earth, metal, and water, that govern cycles within the body and the natural world. Illness is seen as the result of disharmony within these systems. Diagnosis may involve observing the tongue, feeling the pulse, and listening to the patient’s description of their symptoms and experiences. Treatments can include acupuncture, herbal formulas, cupping, moxibustion, and mind-body practices such as Tai Chi or Qigong, all designed to restore the smooth flow of Qi and rebalance the body’s internal environment. Acupuncture, the use of small needles placed into the body, is the most familiar tool in the toolkit of TCM practitioners in the West and often practitioners will call themselves “acupuncturists” to reflect this understanding; however, all acupuncturists have been trained a variety of TCM modalities in order to get their licenses. Moreover, the rise of “dry needling” is becoming more popular, which is the use of acupuncture needles into trigger points of the body, often conducted by a variety of different clinicians, from medical doctors, to nurses, to physical therapists, that ignores the theory of TCM, and simply uses needles to affect muscular trigger points.
Both Ayurveda and TCM share a commitment to prevention, a belief in individualized care, and a focus on aligning the person with the natural world. Yet each has its own distinct worldview and methods. Ayurveda’s lens is often constitutional and seasonal, guiding lifestyle choices according to an individual’s dosha type. TCM tends to frame health in terms of dynamic relationships, how Yin and Yang interact, how Qi moves, and how the five elements express themselves in different organ systems. For modern patients, these systems offer not just treatment options, but philosophies of living that can be integrated alongside conventional care or explored as comprehensive paths in their own right.
How to Choose the Right Path for You
With so many holistic systems available, the question often becomes less about which one is “best” and more about which one feels right for your needs, values, and goals. Choosing a path begins with reflecting on what kind of support you’re seeking. Some people want a structured, lifelong framework for living, like the seasonal and constitutional guidance offered in Ayurveda or the pattern-based worldview of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Others prefer the flexibility of naturopathic medicine or functional medicine, where different tools can be combined based on personal health priorities and scientific insight.
Practical considerations also matter. Access to qualified practitioners, the amount of time you can commit to lifestyle changes, and your comfort level with certain therapies all influence the choice. You might resonate with the gentle, highly individualized remedies of homeopathy, the hands-on approach of chiropractic care, or the plant-based wisdom of herbal approaches. Many people also find that integrating elements from more than one tradition offers the most comprehensive care, seeing an acupuncturist for chronic pain while also consulting a naturopathic doctor for nutrition and lifestyle guidance, for example. The best starting point is often a conversation with a trusted practitioner who can explain what to expect, outline options, and help match your preferences with the system most likely to meet your needs. Your journey may evolve over time as your health changes, your knowledge deepens, and you encounter new perspectives on healing.
The Takeaway: More Than One Way to Heal
Across all of these traditions, one thread remains constant: the belief that true healing has many approaches. Whether through balancing doshas, restoring the smooth flow of Qi, aligning the spine, or uncovering root causes with modern diagnostics, each path seeks to understand the whole person, body, mind, and spirit, in the context of their environment and life story.
Exploring holistic health doesn’t mean turning away from conventional medicine; it means expanding your toolkit. You might use acupuncture for stress relief while taking prescribed medication, or follow an Ayurvedic diet alongside physical therapy. These approaches are not mutually exclusive, and the most effective healing plans often weave them together. Ultimately, the richness of the world’s healing traditions is an invitation to participate in your own well-being. You have the freedom to learn, to try, and to choose, drawing on wisdom from across cultures and centuries. In a time when health can feel complex and impersonal, these systems remind us that there are many ways to heal, and that the journey is as important as the destination.