Dr. Michael Smith: Carolinas Natural Health Center – matthewsminthillweekly.com

MATTHEWS – Many can remember unpleasant visits to their doctor, filled with explanations they did not understand and prescriptions that may not have led to long-lasting results. At Carolinas Natural Health Center, Dr. Michael Smith and his team aim to create a holistic health experience.

Dr. Smith is trained as a naturopathic doctor. While his medical training is the same as that of a family medicine practitioner, he does not practice medicine. Instead, he and his team approach illness in a different way.

“A medical doctor is trained to look at you through a lens of disease,” Dr. Smith said. “They want to see what disease you have and what treatment or drug you need. [Naturopathic doctors] are trained to look at you through a lens of health. We look at what’s wrong, what’s the root cause and how to make the right changes to resolve that.”

The team at Carolinas Natural Health Center aims to help patients regain their health instead of covering up symptoms with prescribed medication. Dr. Smith said medical treatment and prescriptions are necessary, but health needs to be approached holistically.

“We have a system that focuses on continuing to manage your sickness,” Dr. Smith said. “And that’s never going to get you well. You’re never going to experience health in that system. There’s a time and place for those pills, but the truth is, there’s no drug in the world that improves health.”

Dr. Smith’s passion for wellness began when he was growing up as an athlete. Dr. Smith said he experienced the effects of nutrition on his performance and felt fascinated by the difference it made in his personal health journey.

Dr. Smith studied naturopathic health in Arizona, which eventually brought him to Charlotte, where he saw a need for naturopathic doctors. He opened his practice in Matthews 15 years ago.

“Many people had never heard of us, but many had been looking for us,” Dr. Smith said. “They just didn’t know what they were looking for or what to call it. They wanted health, but didn’t know what kind of practitioner to go to try and get that.”

At his practice, Dr. Smith and his team want to empower their patients to make healthy changes in their lives that will optimize their health on a long-term basis.

Since opening, Dr. Smith said his practice has helped thousands regain their health and even sometimes reverse their diseases. He said his team also has provided patients with a better understanding of how to take care of themselves.

While most doctor appointments have patients in and out the door with a physician only seeing them for a short time, Dr. Smith said he takes the time to speak to each of his patients and hear their concerns. This way, he can create a personalized plan to help them get to a better state of health.

Dr. Smith provides patients with free educational tools, from seminars to online presentations, that teach them about health from a holistic perspective. He then sits down with patients to get a complete wellness evaluation, finding out what is wrong, where they are right now and where they want to go. From there, he helps them understand how to achieve their goals.

By creating a blueprint, Dr. Smith explains what it will take and how to get there instead of leaving patients to figure it out on their own. He identifies the root cause of their health problems and creates a solid foundation for patients to build upon so they can optimize their wellness long-term and prevent future diseases.

“People want health and they’re trying certain things, and sometimes they see some improvements, but they’re not sustainable because they haven’t really created the solid foundation that they need to be able to maintain that state of optimal wellness in our body,” Dr. Smith said.

Dr. Smith gives them the tools for sustainable results in a five-pillar comprehensive plan that consists of detoxing, nutrition, fitness, hormones and mentorship. Each plays a key part in optimal health, according to Dr. Smith.

The aspect that most sets Dr. Smith and his team apart is the mentorship. Dr. Smith said he works with clients step by step, day by day to ensure they can be successful in their health journey. He said the most common mistake is tackling too much at once. To help patients, he takes things very slowly so they can build up to their goals.

“This is not just about helping somebody for a few months,” Dr. Smith said. “I want to help someone be on the right path for the rest of their life … We really care and we want to make certain that we understand what their real struggles and obstacles are. We want to make sure that they have the support that’s necessary to be successful.”

He has seen many clients achieve success through his practice. Dr. Smith said one of his 81-year-old patients said there were three significant milestones in her life: meeting her husband, landing a sales job in a male-dominated industry and meeting Dr. Smith and his team. Dr. Smith said he helped her regain her energy and love for life.

“A lot of times, what we see is people limiting themselves because of their health symptoms,” Dr. Smith said. “People aren’t living out their true purpose because they don’t have the health to do so… And they continue to see their doctor in the healthcare system and there’s a time and place for that, but what they just get is another patch or Band-Aid or prescription that is not fixing the problem. And that’s what frustrates me.”

Beyond directly impacting his patients, Dr. Smith has seen the impact his work has had on the people in his patients’ lives.

Dr. Smith said he and his team separate themselves and have become successful because of their passion for their work and the people they work with.

“Our practice is that we care about the people we work with,” Dr. Smith said. “We put our heart and our soul into this. We see the difference we make in peoples’ lives.”

Want to learn more?

Carolinas Natural Health Center is located at 1114 Sam Newell Road, Suite A, Matthews. Call 704-708-4404 or visit www.caro linasnaturalhealth.com for details.

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