A naturopathic doctor for the Triangle, and by video.
Low energy, poor sleep, stress that follows you home, a way of eating that never sticks. Dr. Werness looks for the root causes with you and helps you build habits that last, alongside your own doctor.
Your answers stay in your browser until you choose to share them. Education, not medical advice.
On the farm, early October.
“We have a soil too. The soil that we have as human beings is the food we eat, thoughts we think, the water we drink, the microbes in our gut.”
What can a naturopathic doctor help you work on?
Most people come with one of these. Each one connects to the others, which is why the first conversation looks at your whole week, not one symptom.
Fatigue and low energy
Tired before the day starts, or a crash every afternoon.
Stress and your nervous system
A body that stays on alert long after the day is over.
Sleep and daily rhythm
Waking at 3 a.m., or never waking rested.
Digestion and eating
A way of eating you can actually keep, built on whole food.
Steady blood sugar habits
Food, movement and sleep habits for steadier energy. Not diabetes care: your doctor manages blood sugar conditions.
Staying strong as you age
Moving, eating and resting for the decades ahead.
Dr. Werness works alongside your own doctor. He does not replace your medical care, and he never asks anyone to change a medicine on their own.
Root causes, not one symptom at a time.
A naturopathic doctor looks at how food, sleep, stress, movement, time outside and the people around you work together. The aim is to find what is draining you, then change a few things that matter, in an order you can keep.
If you have been looking at functional medicine, the two share a lot. Here is how they differ, and what a naturopathic doctor actually does.
How does the free check-in work?
Seven plain questions about an ordinary week. Dr. Werness thinks of health the way he thinks of his farm: five plots that feed each other. Your answers draw your own map, with the place to begin.
Soil
What you eat, and how you eat it
Roots
Stress and your nervous system
Rhythm
Sleep and daily energy
Ground
Time outside and moving your body
Circle
The people in your corner
What happens after the check-in?
- Walk
Seven questions
Plain ones, about a normal week, starting with what made you look for help.
- See
Your garden map
A drawing of your five plots, with the driest ground and the greenest side by side, and one practice to start with.
- Choose
Two doors, same weight
Take the map home by email, or talk it over with Dr. Werness. Either is a fine place to stop.
Email me my map
Your map, plus seven short practices, one a day for a week.
Talk with Dr. Werness
Free, 20 minutes. Pick a day and a time right after your map.
Some answers point you to your own doctor first. That is on purpose.
Yours until you say otherwise.
They stay in your browser
Your answers live on your own device until you choose to email your map or ask for a call.
Urgent answers are never saved
If you tell the check-in something urgent, it points you to help and keeps nothing.
No ad trackers
No ad pixels. Our analytics counts visits with every ad feature off and never sees an answer. Ask us to delete what we hold and we confirm when it is done.
Who is Dr. Maurice Werness, ND?
Dr. Werness is a naturopathic doctor trained at Bastyr University in Seattle, and a founding board member of the Institute for Natural Medicine. He has worked in natural medicine for more than thirty years, focused on food, sleep, stress and daily habits. He lives near Durham, North Carolina, and grows much of what he eats on his own farm.
In the video he tells how, in his late twenties, he ran himself into the ground and could not get out of bed. He tells it as his own story, and that is all it is.
- Degree
- Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND), Bastyr University, Seattle
- Experience
- More than thirty years in natural medicine
- Community
- Founding board member, Institute for Natural Medicine (1993)
Questions people ask first
Is this medical advice?
No. The check-in and the videos are general education about food, calm and nature. They do not replace care from your own doctor.
What does a naturopathic doctor do?
A naturopathic doctor looks at your health as a whole: what you eat, how you sleep, how you handle stress, how you move and who supports you. Together you find what is draining you and build habits that last, alongside your own doctor. Read the full answer.
Is this the same as functional medicine?
They share a root cause approach. Functional medicine is a framework that many kinds of clinicians use. Naturopathic medicine is its own four-year doctoral training. See how they compare.
Do you see people in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill?
Dr. Werness is based near Durham and works with people across the Triangle, including Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Cary. Consultations also happen by video.
Who is Dr. Werness?
A naturopathic doctor trained at Bastyr University in Seattle, with more than thirty years in natural medicine. He was a founding board member of the Institute for Natural Medicine in 1993, and he grows much of what he eats on his own farm.
What if I already see a doctor?
Good. Dr. Werness works alongside the other doctors in your life, and the check-in asks about them. Never stop or change a medicine without the doctor who prescribed it.
What happens on the call?
It lasts about 20 minutes, by video or phone. Dr. Werness has read your map. You talk about what you want to try first and whether working together fits. It is not a medical visit, it is not emergency care, and there is no obligation.
What does it cost?
The Garden Check-in and the seven days of small practices are free. We talk about the investment on the conversation, before you decide anything.
What happens to my answers?
They stay in your browser while you answer. No answer is sent unless you choose to send it. We only count, without any answer, how many people start and finish the check-in. If you send them, only Dr. Werness and his team read them. We do not sell them, share them with advertisers or use them to follow you around the web, and you can ask us to delete them at any time. Read the health data policy.
Why does the check-in ask what I could invest?
It helps Dr. Werness decide whether to suggest a conversation, so nobody’s time is wasted. It does not change your map, and it is not a quote. You can answer that you would rather decide after hearing the details.