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The Acacia Naturopathic Method

Hormone, thyroid, gut and metabolic care in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Dr. Bonnie Brock is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor and Registered Dietitian, trained at Cornell University, Tulane University and in university hospital medicine before earning her naturopathic medical doctorate.

You should feel better than this. Your energy, your sleep, your weight and your drive all answer to your endocrine system, the glands that make your hormones. When that system isn't optimized, everything downstream goes with it.

We find what has been missed, and we treat it.

Book an appointment(480) 702-1537

The Acacia Naturopathic Method

Most of my patients arrive with two practitioners and two sets of advice that don't always agree. A conventional doctor on one side, an integrative or functional medicine provider on the other, and you stuck in the middle. I developed the Acacia Naturopathic Method to bring both sides into one plan, built by one doctor expertly trained in conventional and natural medicine.

I started my career in conventional medicine. I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences from Cornell University and a Master of Public Health degree from Tulane University, then trained as a Registered Dietitian at Tulane University Medical Center and worked in hospital medicine for several years, primarily in gastroenterology.

Those years in the hospital let me see behind the curtain of conventional medicine. I watched patients leave with a prescription for their symptoms and no plan for why they got sick in the first place, and I knew I wanted to offer them something more. When I chose to practice natural medicine, it was important to me to get the same depth of training I already had in conventional medicine. So I left the hospital and spent five years earning a doctorate at an accredited naturopathic medical school. I passed board exams in the biomedical and clinical sciences, then additional specialty boards in pharmacology (prescription medications), parenteral medicine (treatments given by IV or injection) and minor surgery.

A naturopathic medical doctor going through lab results with a patient at her desk
Going through labs together, which is where most plans here start.

Many practitioners learn natural medicine through weekend certification courses. I chose the full doctorate. That decision shapes every visit. I know when a supplement is enough, and I know when it isn't. If you need a prescription, I write it. If you need nutrition, peptides, hormones or lifestyle changes, I build that plan instead.

Everything I learned in the hospital, in my doctoral training and in more than 30 years of practice became the Acacia Naturopathic Method. It's how I evaluate, test and treat, and it's the training program every provider on Acacia's naturopathic team completes, from our Naturopathic Medical Doctors to our nursing staff.

Every provider on Acacia's naturopathic team is trained in the Acacia Naturopathic Method. You get the same approach whoever you see.

What we treat

Menopause and perimenopause

Perimenopause rarely announces itself. It frays you, one thread at a time. You're a little more anxious. You sleep a little less. You snap at your kids faster than you used to. You roll over in bed instead of reaching for your partner. Ten pounds settle around your middle, where your weight never used to go. Your period turns unpredictable, and your mood follows it. Add hot flashes, night sweats, brain fog and muscle you're losing faster than you should.

Each thread on its own is easy to dismiss. Together, they unravel you, and many women don't get help until they've already crashed.

I help you catch the fraying early. We match what your symptoms are telling you to what your bloodwork shows, then treat at the first loose thread instead of waiting for everything to fall apart.

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Thyroid and autoimmune

Hashimoto's (an autoimmune condition where the immune system attacks the thyroid) turns up in weight-loss workups more often than people expect, but only when your practitioner knows to look for it. It's one of the most common causes of hypothyroidism (an underactive thyroid), which often shows up as fatigue, weight gain, hair thinning, low libido, feeling cold and feeling inflamed.

Layer thyroid dysfunction on top of perimenopause and you have a perfect storm. The symptoms overlap and amplify each other, and it's a one-two punch that's hard to recover from on your own.

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Weight and metabolism

When weight won't move despite your best efforts, your body is usually telling you something. That's why the thyroid, hormone and nervous system workup always comes before the plan.

Weight has two sides, and I treat both. The metabolic side includes insulin resistance (when your cells stop responding well to insulin, the hormone that moves sugar out of your blood), prediabetes and high cholesterol, and sometimes calls for GLP-1 medication. The other side is your relationship with food: food noise (the constant mental chatter about food), emotional eating, years of dieting and the way weight gets tangled up with how you see and value yourself.

I've practiced the non-diet approach to weight management for more than 30 years, including as the Registered Dietitian at a women's weight management retreat and on an inpatient eating disorder unit, and I've lived this relationship with food myself. My office is a place to have that deep conversation without judgment, whether your goal is losing weight, making peace with food or both.

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Gut and digestive health

Digestive symptoms rarely stay in the gut. Left untreated, they pull thyroid function, mood, joint pain and nutrient absorption along with them.

I began studying the gut in the 1990s, on the intestinal transplant team at Tulane University Medical Center. The gut holds the largest concentration of immune tissue in the body and is home to the microbiome (the community of bacteria and other organisms living in your gut), which is why its problems reach into mood, brain health, skin and more.

I think of the gut like the deep ocean, mapped in places and still largely uncharted, so I keep up with the research and test thoroughly. That means conventional and functional testing, including stool analysis, SIBO breath tests (for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, when bacteria build up where they don't belong), food sensitivity testing and imaging when needed.

Patients most often come to me for bloating, reflux, constipation, diarrhea, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome, a pattern of cramping and irregular bowel habits), SIBO and food sensitivities.

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Men's health

Testosterone runs your drive. It shapes not only your sex drive, but also the motivation to answer that email, fix the door handle you've walked past for a month, finish the back nine or push through your last set at the gym. When those start slipping, low testosterone is often part of the reason.

By the time it affects sexual function, there's usually more ground to make up. I'd rather track your numbers, read them against your symptoms and not just the range, and step in early.

Many clinics stop at testosterone replacement. I offer more options: TRT, enclomiphene (a medication that signals your body to make more of its own testosterone), peptides and botanical medicine. Each one is evidence-based and matched to your labs, your goals and your stage of life.

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Women's health

Women's health here covers every stage of life.

  • Routine care: annual exams, pap smears and mammogram orders.
  • Fertility and pregnancy: support for women trying to conceive, and prenatal nutrition visits with a Registered Dietitian.
  • Vaginal and sexual health: bacterial vaginosis (BV, a common imbalance of vaginal bacteria), confidential testing for sexually transmitted infections, and vaginal dryness and painful sex.
  • Midlife and beyond: vaginal atrophy (thinning of the vaginal tissue after estrogen drops), stress incontinence (leaking when you cough, laugh or lift) and vaginal rejuvenation with our in-office laser.

Vaginal rejuvenation

Prevention

I run extensive lab panels and read them in context. I don't wait for a result to turn abnormal. I look back through your past results to spot trends, so I can catch a number drifting the wrong way while it's still easier to address.

Knowing your numbers

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How we treat

Every plan starts from your labs and your symptoms. From there, I choose the tools that fit your body and your life.

Lab and functional testing and analysis. Comprehensive bloodwork, plus functional testing (specialized tests of hormones, gut function and nutrients) when standard panels aren't answering the question, all read against your history and your symptoms.

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT). Hormones with the same structure as the ones your body makes, prescribed from your labs and your symptoms. I don't set a dose and leave it. I adjust it as your symptoms change and your levels build. BHRT here includes:

Peptide therapy. Peptides are short chains of amino acids that send specific signals in the body. I prescribe them sensibly and source them safely, using them for recovery, metabolic support and hormonal signaling where the evidence supports them.

Medical weight loss. I prescribe current GLP-1 medications (a class of drugs that reduce appetite and help regulate blood sugar), including semaglutide and tirzepatide, in injectable or oral form. Depending on what works best for you, I prescribe through your insurance, through LillyDirect or through a licensed compounding pharmacy. Everyone on the program gets weekly check-ins at no extra charge.

IV therapy. Vitamins, minerals, fluids and NAD+ (a coenzyme your cells use to make energy) delivered directly into a vein, given in the office by our Registered Nurse.

Vaginal laser therapy. A non-invasive laser treatment for dryness, atrophy, laxity and stress incontinence.

Prescription medication. When a conventional medication is the right answer, I prescribe it, from thyroid hormone and metformin (a medication that improves how your body handles blood sugar) to antibiotics.

Nutrition and smart supplementation. A comprehensive nutrient panel, using both blood and urine, measures your levels of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids. As a Registered Dietitian, I turn those results into a detailed nutrition plan that starts with food, then add supplements only where your results show you need them. I check everything you take for overlap, so your total intake of each nutrient makes sense and your plan is one you can keep up with.

Botanical medicine. Plant-based medicines chosen for a specific reason, with little overlap and a clear explanation of what each one is for.

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Your patient journey

I made a deliberate choice to keep your care flexible. You're in control: book a single visit, see how we work together, and decide what comes next. That lets our relationship as doctor and patient grow organically, at its own pace.

Your first visit

We spend about an hour together going over your history, your symptoms and the treatments you've already tried, then build an extensive lab panel based on what we discussed. Your blood is often drawn the same day by our Registered Nurse, here in the office.

Your review of findings

Once your results are back, we go through them together. I take the time to break complicated medicine down into language that makes sense, and you won't be rushed. I answer every question, then we build your plan, which may include nutrition, hormones, peptides, prescription medication or other therapies. Questions that come up after your visit can go through our front desk, and we'll make sure they're answered.

Ongoing care

You decide how often we meet. Some patients check in a few times a year. Others want closer support while they start a new treatment.

The Optimized Club

For patients who want more, there's the Optimized Club. Once we've built a working relationship and it makes sense for you, membership offers concierge-style care: monthly appointments, quarterly lab review, wholesale pricing on hormones, peptides and supplements, and direct access to me between visits. It's there when you're ready. It's never required to get started.

Who treats you

Dr. Bonnie Brock, NMD, RD, is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor and Registered Dietitian, and teaches integrative medicine at the university level. Blood draws, injections and IV therapy are handled by Jodi Taylor, RN, our Registered Nurse.

If pain is part of the picture, our chiropractic team works from the same chart, so you never have to repeat your history.

Meet the team on our about page.

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Common questions

I've already tried a naturopath and it didn't work. Why would this be different?
I'm trained in both conventional and naturopathic medicine, and as a Naturopathic Medical Doctor I'm licensed to order the full workup and to prescribe. Your plan can include prescription medication, hormones, botanicals and nutrition, whichever your situation calls for. If you left somewhere with a long supplement list and no explanation, you'll find a different experience here. You'll know why each part of your plan is there.
My labs came back normal but I feel terrible. Can you help?
This is the most common reason people book with me. A reference range describes where most of the population falls, and the bottom edge of normal is a different clinical situation from the middle. I look at where your numbers sit inside that range, order functional testing when standard panels aren't answering the question, and treat the pattern across your numbers.
Is a Naturopathic Medical Doctor a real doctor?
Yes. A Naturopathic Medical Doctor completes an accredited naturopathic medical doctorate, passes national board exams and is licensed by the state. In Arizona, that license covers diagnosis, ordering and interpreting laboratory testing, and prescribing. I'm also a Registered Dietitian, so the doctor and the dietitian on your case are the same person.
Do you prescribe medication or only supplements?
Both. I prescribe conventional medications when they're the right answer, and use botanical medicine, peptides, vitamins and minerals where those are enough.
Do I have to buy a package to see you?
No. You can book a single visit and pay as you go. If we work well together and you want more support, the Optimized Club is available later.
Do you take insurance?
We aren't in network with insurance companies. We accept credit card, debit card, HSA and FSA cards for payment at the time of service.
Your insurance can still help. If your plan covers lab work, I order your labs through your insurance. Because I'm also a Registered Dietitian, and many plans cover dietitian services, we can give you a superbill (an itemized receipt you submit to your insurance company) to request reimbursement. Most prescriptions, including weight loss medications, can also be filled through your insurance. Functional testing is ordered only when it meaningfully changes your case, and it's billed to you at cost, with no markup.
What does co-managed care mean?
Your case is held by more than one doctor at the same time. Your Naturopathic Medical Doctor handles lab work, hormones, prescribing and nutrition, and if pain is present, a chiropractic physician helps with the structural side. Same chart, same plan, so you aren't repeating your history in two buildings.
Can I use Acacia as my primary care practice?
Primary care is available for established patients. Start with an initial visit and we'll talk about whether ongoing primary care is the right fit.

Book an appointment

Your initial visit is about 60 minutes and includes a full history, a review of what you've already tried and a lab panel built around what we discuss.

Before you come in, email your most recent bloodwork and a list of everything you're currently taking, supplements included, to info@acacianaturalmedicine.com.

Book an appointment(480) 702-1537

We're here when you're ready.