Naturopathy, or “natural medicine,” is one of the most important branches of alternative medicine, exerting an influence far beyond the actual numbers of its formal practitioners. Popularized by medical practitioner Benedict Lust at the beginning of the twentieth century, naturopathy’s immediate roots go back to the spa treatments of nineteenth-century Germany, but its founding principles are in the writings of Hippocrates and other healers of the ancient world.

Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health, 2022. 3p.