About
Sandy Watts
Registered Naturopath, Medical Herbalist, Clinical Nutritionist
Sandy is a degree-qualified Naturopath and Medical Herbalist (BNHM) and qualified Clinical Nutritionist (Dip Nutrition) with nine years of clinical experience, with special interest in gut and immune health, stress and anxiety, sleep problems, weight management and metabolic health including type 2 diabetes.
How I work
Clients come to me with a range of health concerns and conditions, across a wide span of ages and life stages, wishing to achieve optimal wellness.
In today’s busy modern world, we face unprecedented biological stressors which can wreak havoc with our health and wellbeing. I love helping tired, stressed clients improve their sleep and energy levels, better manage stress, and reach and maintain a healthy weight for them – achieving a healthy, happy life balance!
I’m passionate about gut health. I believe that good digestive health is a key factor in staying healthy and enhancing personal wellbeing, and that most, if not all disease begins in the gut. Factors such as stress, medications, alcohol, pollution in the environment, the amount and type of exercise we do, and the food we eat can all greatly impact our digestive health, so a key focus with my clients is to optimise gut health.
As a Metascan practitioner I regularly use the latest (Quadscan) Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) medical device in consultations to design programmes specifically for clients’ individual needs, then track progress. The Metascan assessment is quick, painless, and provides body composition measurements, giving insight into important aspects of health including cellular health and fluid distribution.
- Bachelor of Naturopathic and Herbal Medicine, Wellpark College of Natural Therapies, Auckland (Graduated 2016)
- Graduated Top of Class, Recipient of Both the ‘Academic Excellence’ Award and the ‘John Carter’ (Clinicals) Award in 2016
- Member, Naturopaths and Medical Herbalists of New Zealand (NMHNZ)
- Recipient, NZAMH ‘Graduate of the Year’ Award 2016 at NZAMH Annual Conference, Christchurch
- Diploma of Nutrition, Wellpark College of Natural Therapies, Auckland (Graduated 2018)
- Fitgenes accredited practitioner, July 2018
- Metascan (body composition analysis) certified practitioner, November 2018.
NZAMH Graduate of the Year award was based on a case study competition. My case report formed a key requirement of my final year of study and was completed alongside clinical training at Wellpark College of Natural Therapies.
I presented the case study at both the NZAMH and Naturopaths and Herbalist Association of Australia (NHAA) annual conferences.
I have a particular interest in type 2 diabetes. Naturopathy offers a unique approach, and naturopathic management can bring about positive change and improved health outcomes for people with type 2 diabetes, even those with longstanding diabetes.
Naturopathic medicine can complement and support conventional care, and significantly improve diabetes control, reducing the risk of complications such as chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and diabetic retinopathy.
As well as helping people find the drivers of chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, I’m especially interested in preventing these diseases from occurring in the first place! Our busy modern lifestyles mean we face a new set of health challenges. I love empowering my clients to enhance their health and vitality to ensure healthy ageing – to live a long, healthy happy life!
In November, 2018 I completed the Metascan (body composition analysis) practitioner training programme in Brisbane, Australia. As a naturopath and Metascan practitioner, I regularly use a scientifically validated test known as Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) in my clinic, which enables me to design programmes specifically for my clients’ individual needs to support healthy ageing.
The idea that our environment, as well as our genes, determines our longevity and quality of life also really interests me. In other words diet and lifestyle can hugely influence our personal health and wellbeing. Our genes are not necessarily our destiny. These fields are known as nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics. As an accredited Fitgenes practitioner I can extend what I do as a naturopath, and provide an even more personalised treatment and wellness plan, based on your unique genetic profile.
I love empowering people to pursue and achieve their individual health goals.
Seeing a naturopath in 2012 helped me to make some dietary and lifestyle changes that made a huge positive difference to my health, and also led me to a change of career.
I was inspired to learn more, so I went on to study naturopathic and herbal medicine for three years, and become a naturopath, gaining insight and knowledge to protect and improve my health, as well as my family’s.
After finishing my degree in 2015, I set up my home-based clinic and herbal dispensary on the Shore, and thoroughly enjoyed being able to share what I’d learned with others and empowering my clients to improve their health and wellbeing.
July 2020 marked the beginning of a new chapter, with a move to Omaha. After spending 20 years holidaying at Omaha, we’re now permanent residents. I’m excited and all set up in my home-based naturopathy clinic and herbal dispensary, and I’m happy to be meeting and working with the lovely people up here! Sandy also commutes regularly to Takapuna, where she practises from on a Tuesday. Phone or email Sandy to book a consultation.
A naturopathic approach to health and wellbeing addresses the underlying causes of ill health and supports the body's ability to heal.
Naturopathic medicine can complement and support conventional care. I’m very happy to work alongside your GP and other healthcare providers in a co-ordinated, integrative, holistic way that gives you, at the centre, control over your health.
