Each year at this time our friend locks herself away for a week or two, in this case two, and engages a water diet her naturopath gave her to 'cleanse' her system.

She also has an iron deficiency.

Both my wife and I as committed christians see this as 'witchcraftie' and of no substance.

Has anyone ever found any value in this type of process?

Our friend will be on water for two weeks then fruit juices then solids.

Could such a process harm her?

This is an extreme example to throw up and doesn't really suggest to me a serious attempt at starting a discussion on the benefits or otherwise of naturoapthy.

I can't imagine any naturopath that I've ever dealt with recommending a two-week water-only cleansing regime. Are you sure you've been presented with the full picture?

If so, I can only conclude that there are obviously some practitioners of naturopathy, just as there are in conventional medicine, who shouldn't be in practice.

Having said that, I'm sure most naturopaths would recommend detoxifying the system as an important first step in attempting to regain good health.

I dont know if it is an extreme example Bronwyn?
Its what she is doing because her naturopath recommended it.

We got concerned because we can see no benefit in what she is doing.

A light diet with some red meat might have been more beneficial to her condition.

Whenever I think of anything that people refer to as 'natural' in the frame of "do it this way and you will live long and happy and healhty" I think of witches around a pot out in an English forest.

Wikipedia says as a criticism that naturopathic medicine is considered by some as being quakery.

A thread is as serious as the knowledge it brings up that might help someone.

Dear Gibo,

I think you're right to be concerned about
your friend.

What she's doing to herself sounds very
extreme - and could have serious effects
on her health.

Flushing your system out of toxins should
only be done under the instructions of a
medical practitioner. I've never heard of
it continuing for a whole week. It certainly
sounds rather odd, and you're right to be
concerned.

Can you get someone else to try to talk to her,
if she won't listen to you?

Another friend or relative?

Many people believe in naturopathy, as an
alternative method of healing, instead of
using drugs. They believe that natural
products have no side effects and are better
for the body. I know just from drinking herbal
teas, for example, the calming effect they have on me.
Peppermint tea stopped me feeling nauseous when I
was pregnant. Garlic helps bring down blood pressure,
and so on.

Queen Elizabeth II is a firm believer in
naturopathy, as was her mother (who lived to be
over 100).

Thats good Foxy.
Our friend is a strong headed girl.
My wife and I intend to keep a close eye on her over the next few days.
She seems happy enough at the moment, but being home alone, weakened by lack of food, watching large numbers of videos to pass the time, might alter her mental health...i.e isolation under such conditions can sometimes open doors for one to hear things?

I didnt know the Queen and her mum were into health that way.
They are/were both long-lived; and I am grateful for that.

Respect for the Royal household may have diminished but we remember the Queen and her mum with great love and adoration.
I couldnt have imagined a world without the Queen.
It would probably would have been full of pollies.
I think we needed a Royal household with long roots going back down through time (I think to Alfred the Great) just for our spiritual health.

Generally not eating for a week will have no ill affects on a person at all as long as they drink fluid. In fact most Aussies could do with a week or so off food after Christmas.