Today we’d like to introduce you to David Getoff.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I began studying nutrition and health simply because it interested me, in my late teens and early 20’s in New York City where I grew up. I never had any intention of using this knowledge professionally any more than a kid who helps his parents paint his room or helps his dad tune their cars intends to become a painter or a mechanic. It was just interesting to learn how much our diet and various nutrients had been proven to have demonstrable effects on human health. I even took a 16-week college course for non-credit entitled Nutrition Against Disease.
Actually, I had left college (CCNY) with only 45 credits, when it became clear that they were not teaching me anything I felt that I needed to know. I went back and received my degree decades later because it was required before I could sit for the board certification exam in clinical nutrition which I badly wanted.
I have always become bored easily and so I ended up having numerous occupations throughout my life. Each time I was good enough at something that it no longer challenged me, I needed to move on. These occupations have included: paste-up artist at an offset lithographer before we had computers to do that; cook in a seafood restaurant; audio-video set up technician traveling around the U.S to set up shows for Aniforms corporation; salesman and Bonsai tree trainer at Bonsai Plants in the flower district in lower Manhattan; licensed locksmith; professional photographer; SCUBA instructor and SCUBA store manager; owner of a beer bar for 10 months (bad idea); non credentialed electrical design engineer and consultant for CAIG labs and OAL Associates: 60 minute photo store salesman then manager; licensed home maintenance and electrical contractor; and now, finally a board-certified clinical nutritionist, traditional naturopath, author and educator. I finally have (for the past 30 years) been in an occupation which has so many different and varied parts that I cannot become bored. I love helping people improve their health and lecturing to a student or at scientific conferences to further educate the public or health professionals.
Has it been a smooth road?
I wouldn’t call them struggles, just roadblocks or some extra friction or just my boredom issue which was always solved by a more interesting challenging occupation change. My greatest challenge came in 2007. I was lecturing on diet against cancer as the county was evacuating the houses in my area (two days before the fire got to the area). I had been told not to worry and then they evacuated 2 days early and would not let me back to save anything!!!!!!! That means everything I have ever owned that was not in my car was burned to the ground (see the photo I included). Not the best way to get rid of stuff. Due to massive insurance fraud by all the major insurance companies, no better than in the previous fires of 2003, we were not able to rebuild. We lived in a rental for about 18 months before buying a foreclosure from the bank. For about four months, I was not working and then I rose from the ashes like a good little Phoenix and started up my practice again. It really helps to love life and to love what you do. I even put up an information only website on insurance frauds to help people properly check their insurance and it is www.Insurance-Frauds.org. Luckily, my business insurance company was fantastic and did their job admirably. The “things” I miss the most after this total destruction are: some original artwork, including some that had been traded to me by patients for my services. A 6 foot hand-carved African statue of a giraffe that we named Twiga as that meant giraffe in some language: some fantastic hand made photo books with really creative captions that my cats gave me for my 40th and 50th birthdays (with some help from their mom; and a showcase filled with photography trophies and competition marksmanship medals from my time on the City College of New York varsity rifle team. I also feel very sad that many thousands of slides and negatives of my family are gone as well as my wife’s family photo albums. We were given them to keep as we were viewed as the most stable couple. One more thing was a wood and leather plaque that a customer from my bar made for me.He embossed a star of David into the leather and put a single letter into and between some of the star points so that it spelled out our names together LINDAVID.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I specialize in helping people and families improve their health from whatever their issues may be. I always say that if a practitioner is truly holistic, they should never specialize, as the body knows what to do if we give it the tools and remove the roadblocks. These include bad food, the wrong foods, Inadequate nutrients of many kinds and past and current body burden from exposures to toxic chemicals and wireless frequencies.
Unlike many who claim to be holistic by using herbs and supplements instead of drugs, I truly want to get to the actual causes and remove them. This involves liver and kidney support and lots of special products that slowly and carefully detoxify the body’s tissues of chemical and heavy metals. Of course, I also have to teach everyone where the poisons are in their environment as well as in their home and body care products so that these can be changed for safer products.
I teach WAY more about a healthy diet than anyone I have met. I require a 7-day diet log along with my other extensive intake forms and they have to view a 3+ hour video of mine on healthy eating principles before their initial consultation which still lasts 3 to 5 hours.
I also very much love teaching my 10-week Attaining Optimal Health course for the past 25+ years and lecturing at scientific conferences. I am also very proud of a course that I developed and taught for a number of years at San Diego State, Grossmont College and Palomar college through their adult education departments. I titled it Everyday Home Repairs for Women Only. While I was doing home repairs over 30 years ago, I became very bothered by the fact that women clients had continually been taken advantage of by unethical or simply ignorant tradespeople. Faucets, toilets and shower valves that they were told needed to be replaced (costly) I simply repaired and put back into excellent condition for far less. There were many things having to do with electricity, locks, plumbing, etc., about which they had been given poor information, to try to sell them things they didn’t need. I designed a 6-week course to teach women about sinks, toilets, faucets, outlets and switches, adhesives, wall anchors for different applications, etc. I proposed the course to the adult ed department of those three colleges, hoping that maybe one would get back to me with approval. I was not prepared for the fact that they all called back and said when can you start?
I taught all three right up until I switched over to a full-time health and wellness practice. I used to bring copies of the college catalogs with my new class listed, to plumbing and electrical annual expositions like Electric West to show to manufacturers while asking for donations. Moen and Delta sent me faucets for the students to take apart and reassemble. One company shipped me an entire plastic fully functional toilet that I used to explain what each part did so as to understand what needed to be repaired.. A tool company sent me a dozen screwdrivers and wrenches. Yet another sent me a dozen multi-meters to use to teach them to test electrical issues. I had a blast. The women will never be taken advantage of again and can decide if they want to do any of the repairs themselves, or simply know exactly what needs to be fixed when the repair person arrives.” Lady you need a new toilet” might now be responded to with, NO! I only need a new ballcock and if you try to sell me anything else I will report you to the department of consumer affairs and the contractors’ state license board. When I announced at each college that this will be the last class as I am going into health counseling full time, two very different things occurred. The first was that the current students were bummed as they already had mentioned the class to many friends and neighbors. The second was that many asked me for an appointment, telling me that if I knew anywhere near as much about health and nutrition, their family needed my help. I was flabbergasted and happy at the same time, and that was the beginning of my 30-year current private practice.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I actually feel that those who are honest, ethical and very skilled at what they do, can develop a good business anywhere there are enough people needing their services. We have far too few really good people in every single occupation. That being said, the laws in California allow me to do what I do while in some states I might have to change a number of things about the way I practice. In addition, after spending 21 years in Manhattan and another six in Brooklyn back in New York, I dearly love our weather here and I hope that someday, I will be able to rebuild on my 8 acres in Deerhorn Valley southeast of Jamul.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://naturopath4you.com/
- Phone: 619-441-8700
- Email: naturopath4you@gmail.com
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
