My ABC Radio Talk About Natural Medicine. Here’s What I Said, and What I Didn’t Get to Finish✨
Issue: Thousands of Australians have been paying full price for naturopathy, western herbal medicine, yoga, Pilates, tai chi, shiatsu, and the Alexander technique. Since 2019, they have chosen to invest, without private health insurance rebates. They use these therapies as their primary form of healthcare.
Problem: The 2019 removal of these modalities from rebate eligibility was based on a narrow interpretation of evidence that did not account for traditional evidence. The whole-system naturopathic care, or the growing body of research on gut health, epigenetics, and preventive medicine.
Solution: After seven years of advocacy by professional associations including ATMS, seven modalities have been reinstated. Rebates are now progressively becoming available, but you need to check with your specific health fund, as implementation varies.
Key insight: The science was always there. What changed was the willingness to recognise it. And for those of us who have been practicing evidence-based natural medicine for decades, that recognition matters.
The early morning call
At 6:40 on a Monday morning in May, I walked into the ABC Radio Hobart studio for a live interview with breakfast presenter Rik Goddard.
It was Natural Medicine Week. I was going to discuss the reinstatement of seven natural therapy modalities to private health insurance rebates. My thirty years of practice distilled into a ten-minute conversation on local radio.
I had said yes before I could think myself out of it.
What I did not know was that the interview would turn into one of the most clarifying professional experiences I have had in decades. Not because it was smooth. Because it was not.
The skeptical interviewer and why I am glad he pushed back
Rik Goddard is a good broadcaster. He asked sharp questions, challenged the evidence, stumbled over the word “microbiome” even after I corrected him. And brought a healthy skepticism to the conversation that, honestly, natural medicine practitioners need to be ready for.
He questioned the evidence base, and asked what distinguished western herbal medicine from other herbal medicine. Rik wanted to understand why the Alexander technique (a postural modality), belonged on a health rebate list. His tone suggested he was not yet convinced.
And here is what I want you to understand: that skepticism is useful. It is useful because it forces precision. It forces practitioners to articulate the science, not just the philosophy. And it gives the listening audience, the people at home who might be quietly curious about natural medicine but need a credible voice to trust.
So, I spoke clearly about the evidence.
I talked about my background in biomedical science. Ten years working in pathology, studying cells, cancer, and inflammation at a cellular level. I explained that naturopathy does not work because of belief. It works because nutrients, herbs, and lifestyle interventions create measurable changes in epigenetic expression, gut wall integrity, and systemic inflammation.
I talked about the gut. The immune system residing there. Serotonin being produced there. The leaky gut wall allowing toxins into the bloodstream and creating inflammation that becomes the foundation of so many chronic conditions. The mainstream medicine world now validates what naturopaths have treated for decades.
The connection between gut health and serotonin production is explored in depth in the Serotonin Depletion post.
I talked about why 63% of Australians are already choosing complementary medicine, not as a last resort, but as a first response. Because people intuitively understand that supporting health before illness takes hold is more intelligent than waiting until the medical system becomes necessary.
The gut is the core of everything. Your immune system is there, your serotonin, your joy. If you are stressed, it creates imbalance in the gut biome, more inflammation, more bloating. Toxins that leak from the gut, that should stay within the bowel go into other parts of the body. That is what we always treat. And it is good now that there is enough scientific evidence to say YES, we were on track.”
— Mariangela Parodi, Naturopath & Energy Healer, ABC Radio Hobart, May 2026
The caller who said what I could not
After the interview, a man called in to the program.
He did not like the “woo woo” framing of the conversation from Rik. He was direct about it. And then he explained why: naturopathic treatment had created a life-changing turnaround for his depression. Not woo woo, not placebo, but a real, sustained shift in his mental health through natural medicine.
He said what every practitioner knows and what mainstream media rarely gets to hear: these modalities work. They work on real people with real conditions. And when they work, they change lives in ways that are not adequately captured by a narrow evidence framework.
My clients who listened sent messages afterward.
One wrote: “Thank you for elegantly putting him in his place. You spoke really well. Rik definitely has a great deal to learn about this.”
I appreciated that, but honestly, what I felt most was gratitude for the platform. For the opportunity to speak to thousands of people in Hobart and Tasmania who might be wondering whether to try naturopathy and who now have a clearer picture of what it actually is.
What the reinstatement actually means
Seven modalities are now back on the private health insurance rebate list in Australia. Naturopathy, western herbal medicine, yoga, Pilates, tai chi, shiatsu, and the Alexander technique were all reinstated. Following a seven-year advocacy campaign by professional associations, including ATMS, of which I have been a member of since 2002, and now am a Fellow. Source: Australian Traditional Medicine Society, atms.com.au, April 2025.
The reinstatement was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council and announced by Chief Medical Officer Professor Michael Kidd AO. A significant acknowledgement that the evidence base for these therapies is sufficient to warrant government recognition.
As I wrote in the ATMS Legends blog post, this feels like professional vindication after a difficult seven years. Many of my peers were significantly impacted by the 2019 delisting. I was fortunate that my multidimensional approach meant my practice was not disrupted in the same way. But the injustice of the delisting was real, and the reinstatement matters.
What this means practically for you:
Rebates are not yet available with every health fund. The two largest, Medibank Private and BUPA are still evaluating the government’s decision. Smaller funds have already adopted the changes and are issuing rebates.
The most important step you can take right now is to contact your specific health fund and ask directly whether they cover naturopathy and which other reinstated modalities are now claimable. And check whether the practitioner you see holds the appropriate professional registration with a recognised association.
Science and spirit, the bridge I have been building for 30 years
Toward the end of the interview, Rik asked me directly: are science and healing the same thing?
I said: I see them as the same. I bridge both.
This is the core of what I have been doing for thirty years, and what the Alkymia Method™ formalises. Not science or spirit. Not naturopathy or energy medicine. Both. Because the women I work with need both.
Many of our emotions trigger inflammation in the body. Physics shows us that everything comes down to the atomic and electron level. How the body functions metabolically is connected to how it functions energetically. Herbs, nutrients, emotions, and meditation are all tools that rebalance the same system at different levels.
This is not woo woo. This is whole-person medicine. And after thirty years of practice, watching women restore their nervous systems, rewrite their cellular blueprints, and reclaim their vitality. I am more certain of it than ever.
Listen to the interview
The full ABC Radio Hobart breakfast show from May 2026 is available to listen to here. I come in at 1 hour and 9 minutes.
Listen on ABC Radio — Breakfast with Rik Goddard
If this conversation has made you curious about naturopathy? About what a whole-person approach to your health could look like when science and spirit work together, I would love to hear from you.
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Continue reading, Media and personal story:
- Honoured as an ATMS Legend — 30 years of bridging science and soul
- I Hid Half of Myself for 20 Years — the Canvas Rebel interview
- Women Inspiring Women — on leading from lived experience
With radiant love and steady presence,
Rewrite your cellular and soul blueprint, gifts, health & biz
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Mariangela Parodi BAppSc, ND
Mariangela Parodi BAppSc, ND is a Naturopath & Energy Healer based in Hobart, Tasmania. Specialising in nervous system recovery for women when exhaustion, overwhelm, or depletion no longer responds to rest. With over 30 years of experience in biomedical science, naturopathy, energy medicine, and shamanic healing. She bridges science and spirit to restore the body’s innate intelligence and rewrite the cellular blueprint.
The creator of the Alkymia Method™, a sacred fusion of naturopathy, energy medicine, and shamanic healing. #1 international bestselling author of The Mystic Woman’s Compass. Mariangela guides heart-centred healers and conscious leaders to transmute exhaustion, illness, and spiritual disconnection into sovereignty, vitality, and luminous purpose.
ATMS Fellow | Spiritual Biz Award Recipient | Featured in Aspire Magazine, Canvas Rebel, Hobart Magazine & Spiritual Biz Magazine | The Legends Series Podcast. Hobart & Online | alkymia.com.au
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