The story behind Balsam Natural Health
Ranee Hearst
Registered Naturopath & NZ Registered Nutritionist
In nature we find balance.
When it comes to our health, equilibrium is the goal too. By considering the whole self, and looking beyond symptoms to causes, we see where an intervention can restore harmony.
Balsam is a natural health care clinic based in Christchurch, New Zealand. Integrating naturopathic health care with nutrition and lifestyle guidance, Balsam offers personalised health care that enables people to grow and thrive.
Led by natural health expert Ranee Hearst, Balsam Natural Health offers both one-to-one consultations and group workshops in Canterbury and online.
Meet Ranee
I’m a qualified naturopath, medical herbalist and NZ-registered nutritionist with a profound commitment to transforming lives. I do this through naturopathic care and personalised, sustainable nutrition plans.
I support my clients in resolving health issues at their roots, prescribing appropriate supplements and medicinal herbs and creating treatment plans to help people improve their health and wellbeing. My primary interest is in guiding women over 40 on a journey to balance hormones, maintain a healthy weight and alleviate menopause symptoms.
I believe in keeping wellness accessible and achievable. I don’t want to overload people with irrelevant or overly complex information that they can’t use – holistic health is about creating a sustainable lifestyle that helps people achieve their personal health goals and live with vitality.
The knowledge and experience I’ve accumulated through years as a New Zealand registered nutritionist inform my practice, while qualifications in naturopathy and medical herbalism qualification ensure high standards for your healthcare.
My goal is to guide and support you through your health challenges and to provide you with the information and solutions you need to achieve a state of balance and harmony.
Qualifications and expertise
Ranee Hearst has significant expertise in helping women navigate the changes that come with midlife, particularly during the transformative stages of menopause.
Bachelor of Science (Biochemistry and Biological Science) - University of Canterbury
Graduate Diploma Human Nutrition - Ara Institute of Canterbury
Advanced diploma in Health Sciences (Naturopathy and Nutrition) – Naturopathic College of New Zealand
New Zealand Registered Nutritionist
Registered Naturopath
Member of the Nutrition Society of New Zealand
Member of the Naturopaths and Medical Herbalists of New Zealand (Inc)
Member of the New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists
My approach
I approach treatment as a partnership. Together, we’ll get to the root of your health issues and create a plan to resolve them.
I approach treatment holistically, considering not only the physical but also the emotional and mental aspects of wellbeing. Rather than being passive recipients of treatment, clients actively take control of their healthcare with my support. Every individual is unique, and I pride myself on creating customised plans that align with each person’s lifestyle, preferences and health goals.
Providing effective health guidance is about far more than finding ‘symptoms and solutions’. Throughout history, people have always been served best when they can clearly see the big picture and confidently act within the small details. This is the foundation of my holistic practice at Balsam.
Principles of naturopathic medicine
Naturopathic medicine focuses on natural, non-invasive therapies to treat illness and improve health. Combining age-old knowledge and new medical breakthroughs, naturopathy views and treats the body as an integrated whole and seeks to boost the body’s innate ability to heal itself.
There are six guiding principles of naturopathy:
Do no harm – find the least invasive and most gentle treatment option
Healing power of nature – harness the body’s inherent wisdom to heal itself and recognise the value of nature
Identify and treat the cause – identify and treat the root cause, not just the symptoms
The physician as teacher – help to improve health literacy to empower people to attain and maintain optimum health
Treat the whole person – recognise the interconnected impact of body, environment and lifestyle on health
Prevention – recognise that it is better to prevent illness and suffering wherever possible
The naturopathic model of healing
The naturopathic model of healing provides a framework to help our body heal itself. This begins with nutrition and looking at how we nourish our bodies. However, when faced with a health challenge like menopause, gut health problems or immune diseases, we need more than good nutrition to help our bodies heal.
More than simply seeing disease as an entity that’s separate from the person, naturopathic medicine works on a model that views disease as a process of disturbance and recovery. This model works on the idea that:
The universe is ordered, intelligent, wise and benign
Health is a constant and natural state of being
Ill health is a response to a disturbance within the body
The removal of the disturbing factors can help the body return to its natural (healthy) state
Intervention should be gentle and involve as little force as necessary to stimulate self-healing mechanisms.
This model is a gentle, holistic form of therapy that treats the whole person rather than going into battle with the disease as though it is a separate entity.
