We are happy to present our interview with Dr. Denys Tsveiuk, a medical doctor who found his true calling in the field of naturopathy. Dr. Tsveiuk’s introduction to naturopathic remedies began in childhood, influenced by his grandmother who, despite working in a pharmacy, championed the use of herbs and natural treatments for health and wellness.
In this interview, Dr. Tsveiuk shares his journey from earning an MD degree to discovering the limitations of conventional medicine, particularly in addressing the root causes of illnesses. His pursuit of knowledge in nutrition, culminating in a diploma in Naturopathic Nutrition from the College of Naturopathic Medicine in the UK, reflects his commitment to a more holistic and educative approach to patient care.
Join us as we delve into Dr. Denys Tsveiuk’s transformative journey from medical practice to naturopathy, and his dedication to treating patients by focusing on the underlying causes of health issues.
1. Could you share a bit about your journey into naturopathy/nutrition? What inspired you to pursue this field?
I was introduced into the field of naturopathy from the childhood years by my grandmother. Although working at a pharmacy, she emphasized an importance of herbs and other naturopathic remedies as primary tools for prevention and support of a wide range of health conditions. Later, I went on pursuing a degree in medicine, graduating with an MD degree. Even though it provided me with a strong foundation in pre-clinical sciences, I realized that clinical patient care is focused on symptom management without addressing the root causes. I have seen patients are often left in despair with a long list of medications and lack of understanding how to deal with side effects. In my free time, I started reading more about nutrition to fill the gap in my knowledge as there was no nutrition course in the medical school. Upon hundreds of hours of self-education, my search took me to pursuing a diploma in Naturopathic Nutrition from the leading College of Naturopathic Medicine in the UK. This finally allowed me to work with my clients in a way I always wanted to work – by educating them about the importance of addressing the root cause.
2. How do you approach treatment plans for your patients? What role do you believe natural supplements play in these plans?
I always start with foundations – healthy meal plan, sufficient water intake, sleep routine, emotional health, stress management, and healthy living environment. People often don’t pay attention to one or more of those areas, which is why my focus is educating my clients about importance of those pillars of health, as I call them, and support them on their health journey. Natural supplements are usually at the cornerstone of my treatment plans. I often tell my clients that there is no disease caused by medication deficiency, but many of them are caused by nutrient deficiency and underlined imbalances in the body due to chronic inflammatory processes. While healthy food and lifestyle are important, natural supplements significantly speed up the progress toward better health. I often see in my clients that ensuring supplement personalization helps restore and maintain optimal health and wellbeing, significantly increasing overall quality of life as well as physical and mental performance.
3. In your view, how important is a holistic approach to health and wellness, and how do you integrate this into your practice?
For me, the holistic approach to health and wellness means that I consider complex interconnections between the mind and body. I often emphasize the role of thoughts and beliefs and their impact on nervous, endocrine, and immune system functioning. The beauty of holistic approach is that it views the body as a whole without considering body organ systems in isolation. This, for example, helps explain that nutrition plays a crucial role in susceptibility to infections via the effect of food on immune system function. Holistic approach also integrates different methods and techniques that act synergistically to improve health and wellness. For example, nutrition is usually complemented with stress management techniques, herbs, natural supplements, and physical activity.
4. What are some common health issues you encounter in your practice? How do you address these with natural therapies?
I work with a wide range of health issues, but the most common ones include cardiovascular problems, thyroid issues, metabolic dysfunctions, as well as a number of broad health complaints, such as low energy, fatigue, depressive symptoms, low libido, and poor cognitive functioning. Again, I always start with foundations – nutrition, water intake, sleep, stress level. Many of those health issues have underlying nutrient deficiency as a root cause, which is why I start with optimizing my clients’ nutrient intake via food and personalized supplement regimen. Stress management techniques are also crucial ones. Oftentimes, nutrition therapy is not fully successful without lowering perceived stress level.
5. How do you perceive the connection between gut health and overall wellness? Could you share your insights on this?
Regardless of the health issues my clients come to me with, they usually have digestive problems to a certain extent. Interestingly, the symptoms of other disorders often start to improve when we address the digestive complaints first. It’s difficult to overestimate the role of gut health in overall wellness. Since gut is the primary point of contact with food antigens and infections, it houses majority of immune cells and even has its own nervous system. Considering extensive communication pathways between the gut and other body systems, digestive health plays a major role prevention of a majority of chronic health issues.
6. What general dietary and nutrition advice do you often find yourself giving to your patients?
The most common general dietary and nutrition advice that I often give to most of my patients is to establish a four-hour pause between meals. When reviewing food diaries, I often find that people eat every other hour. In most cases, those foods are sugar loaded snacks. Furthermore, their main meals are not nutrient-dense, which increases sugar cravings and “snacking behavior”. When we establish clear “no-food” pauses together with improving the nutrient content of the main meals, my patients gradually start to notice they experience less cravings and the need to snack throughout a day.
7. When introducing supplements into a patient’s regimen, what key factors do you consider?
There are several important factors that I consider when introducing supplements into a patient’s regimen, including underlying digestive issues, medical conditions, medications, preferred supplement form, pairing with other supplements, stress levels, and lifestyle. The best positive effect comes from careful consideration of all those factors, which helps to highly personalize supplement regimen.
8. Without disclosing personal details, could you share a memorable success story from your practice involving natural treatments?
I’ve recently worked on a case of adenoiditis with frequent ear infections in a four-year old child with a congenital sensorineural hearing loss. While the parents opted for the removal of adenoids due to fear of hear impairment, we were able to completely eliminate the fluid (exudate) from the ear before the surgery by only using natural supplements and herbal preparations with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial actions alongside the dietary and nutrition protocol. This allowed to avoid surgical drainage and greatly reduced the volume of operation.
9. What are some challenges you face in the field of naturopathy/nutrition, and how do you overcome them?
The most common challenge is people’s lack of belief in the effectiveness of naturopathic treatments and lack of understanding how they work in the body. While the mechanism of action of drugs is often very targeted, the way naturopathic modalities work in the body is usually very broad with multiple affects. Also, medications usually produce much faster effect when compared to dietary modifications or supplements. Therefore, natural approaches to health need more time and commitment to get perceived health improvements. I often find my patient’s success stories highly appealing to any new patient. I always communicate the time and amount of efforts and dedication that an individual needs to put in to improve health issues and/or prevent chronic health conditions.
10. Where do you see the future of naturopathy and functional medicine heading?
I believe the future of naturopathy and functional medicine is in integration of modern, science-backed research and testing methods with ancient naturopathic modalities. I see the future as a high level of personalization based on individual genetic data as well as specialized microbiome testing. Lastly, I envision the future of naturopathy in a rapidly developing field of psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology, which is a system that explains the complex interactions between the mind and nervous, endocrine, and immune system and their role in disease development.
11. What personal wellness practices or routines do you follow to maintain your own health?
There are quite a few, but I find yoga, sleep, and supplement regimen to be the most important. As a busy father of three children, I find yoga to be the most effective way for maintaining my physical activity level, reducing stress, and improving my daily productivity. Sleep is a cornerstone in my personal health routine: I often go to bed between 9 and 10 pm and wake up between 5-6 am. I also feel a strong support of my supplement regimen tailored to my priority health needs.
12. Finally, what advice would you give to individuals aspiring to enter the field of naturopathy or nutrition?
I would recommend becoming a role model for your patients. Your patients will subconsciously follow your advice with stronger commitment when they see you live by what you preach.
Connect with Dr. Denys Tsveiuk
To learn more about Dr. Denys Tsveiuk’s work and to stay updated with his latest insights and offerings, we invite you to visit his website and follow him on social media:
Website: https://integrative-health-solutions.co.uk/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denys-tsveiuk-md/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/integrative.health.solutions/
Dr. Denys Tsveiuk welcomes engagement and interaction on these platforms and is keen to share his expertise and knowledge with a wider audience.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this interview are solely those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CanXida. The content provided is for informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Readers are encouraged to consult their healthcare provider for any health-related questions or concerns.