Natural vs. Artificial Part 2: All-Natural Resources!

I was going to save this for the end of this series, but I think it's worth saying now -- even though I may seem to be critical of them, I don't think there's anything wrong with all-natural food/products/remedies! In fact, my point in this series (which I'll try to explain better in the next post) is that, in terms of what they are and what they do to you, there is no difference between "natural" biomolecules and "artificial" biomolecules. Neither is better, neither is worse. They are just all part of one large set of substances that have a huge range of good and bad effects (including very good effects and very bad effects) on biological life forms such as ourselves.

Again... natural remedies can be great! What is frustrating is when people (who are either misinformed or downright unscrupulous) present various "all-natural folk remedies" as (1) effective, if it has already been firmly established that they are not, (2) more effective than they actually are, (3) effective in cases where the patient has a serious health issue that requires true medical care, or (4) effective, when the remedy is actually itself dangerous. (For example, this article discusses several cases of injuries and deaths that have occurred due to the actions of naturopathic "doctors".)

So, what's the Average, non-med-school-educated Joe to do? Clearly he shouldn't run to the doctor for every minor ache, pain, or sniffle. Ideally, he'd want to be able to intelligently wade through the flood of natural-treatment claims and advertisements to find some simple, effective, affordable home remedies for what ails him. Are there any resources that provide evidence-based, scientifically-proven recommendations for supplements and remedies? I'm so glad you asked!


NATURAL-TREATMENT RESOURCES:

• If you prefer books over online resources, you should definitely check out the The Mayo Clinic Book of Home Remedies (just released, October 2010). Besides providing a description of each ailment and some great home treatments to try, it also explains when it's probably time to seek professional medical help. It provides solid recommendations on diet and exercise, favors treatments that are supported by published studies, and avoids "alternative" treatments that have been proven to be ineffective. 

• Naturaldatabase.com is hands-down the best, most professional "natural-remedy" website I've found, containing "unbiased, scientific clinical information on complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies." Although it is designed for health care professionals, and parts of the (massive) database are only accessible by subscription, the Clinical Management Series is an incredible (free!) resource. From ADHD and asthma to PMS and UTI's, you can find the most commonly used natural medicines for various conditions, how the medicines work, a natural medicine recommendation chart that compares effectiveness vs. safety, and a veritable deluge of links to relevant literature.

• Another fun online resource I've come across is an interactive graphic (at informationisbeautiful.net) summarizing the "scientific evidence for popular health supplements." Each bubble represents a supplement -- hover over the bubble to see the condition that it is used to treat. The nearer the bubble is to the top, the better the evidence for the effectiveness of that supplement for that condition. For example, fish oil is a fantastic treatment for high blood pressure, and cranberry really does help urinary tract infections. Even better, click the bubble to jump to a relevant key study. It's especially useful for comparing the evidence for different treatments for a specific ailment... for example if you use the pop-out menu to select arthritis, you see that your best bet is to start by trying devil's claw, rather than chrondroitin.

• Finally, personalhealthzone.com, though certainly not as thorough as the database at Naturaldatabase.com, seems to be a great free resource for finding side effects of a multitude of herbs, vitamins, and supplements. For example, that devil's claw that is recommended for arthritis should be avoided if you've got ulcers, or if taking warfarin, anticoagulant, or antiplatelet therapies. And check out the warnings on St. John's wort... 

So, by all means, try to take advantage of some simple remedies for your health issues, before scurrying off to the doctor's office! But be wary of your source... the internet gives us lots of information at our fingertips, but not all of it is good information. I think that the resources above are some good places to start looking.


Kudos to Amy R. and Dave W. for pointing out some of these sites!

We all see it on packages every day, from food to herbal supplements to beauty products: All-natural! Organic ingredients! No preservatives! No artificial flavors or colors! No chemical additives! The message, stated explicitly or just implied, is simple: Natural products are good for you; artificial chemicals are bad for you.

This is the standard line from proponents of naturopathy, herbal remedies, and all-natural supplements. For example, Chris Kilham, self-proclaimed "traditional, plant-based Medicine Hunter" says that “My goal is to have more people using safe, effective, proven, healthful herbs, and fewer people using toxic, overly expensive, marginally effective, potentially lethal pharmaceutical drugs.” Or there's this book: Natural Cures and Gentle Medicines That Work Better Than Dangerous Drugs or Risky Surgery. Or these folks, who ask "If you knew natural ingredients and natural remedies would solve your health problems and do it without harmful side effects.. Why would you ever want to use harmful drugs that have many negative side-effects?"

These are major, widely-held misconceptions... that "natural" substances are inherently good and "healthy," while "unnatural" substances are obviously "bad" and "unhealthy."

In this post, I just want to quickly tackle the concept that "natural things are obviously healthy" -- the idea that the "All Natural!" logo on your potato chip bag, or orange juice carton, or herbal supplement bottle obviously means "good!"



I think most people will admit, if they think about it for a moment, that just because something comes from "nature" doesn't mean it's going to automatically be healthy and wonderful. The natural world is absolutely FULL of "natural" ingredients that will kill you or at least ruin your day: cyanide, strychnine, arsenic, hemlock, cocaine, opium, most mushrooms, "poison" oak/ivy... Even plants we regularly cultivate for food are chock-full of toxic poisons: the foliage from tomatoes and potatoes, the berries of asparagus, the leaves of rhubarb, the seeds of apples. And all those examples were just a sampling of poisonous vegetation -- we're not even getting into the "all-natural" poisons found in animals or insects or microorganisms....

The temptation, then, is to think of natural substances in two distinct categories: harmful or helpful. Those that will poison you (cyanide, strychnine...), and those that make you healthy (vitamins or antioxidants, for example). But even this is a vast oversimplification of how things work in nature. Even essential nutrients like vitamins -- some of which we must consume to survive -- are toxic at the wrong levels, or to the wrong person at the wrong time.  Too much potassium leads to dangerous heart palpitations. Too much fiber can actually cause constipation and serious intestinal blockages, rather than relieve it. Overdosing on various vitamins can lead to nerve damage, liver failure, osteoporosis, skin problems, hair loss, dehydration, vomiting, birth defects... etc etc. (Here are some great resources for checking the side effects of many herbs, supplements, and vitamins.)

On the other hand, even the deadliest poisons can be helpful or life-saving, if given to the right person, at the right time, in just the right dose. Cyanide, for example, can be used to rapidly lower someone's blood pressure in an emergency medical situation. Strychnine (in tiny doses) was formerly used as a laxative and for other stomach ailments. Hemlock has been used as a sedative (though the line between the dose of hemlock that would induce "sedation" and one that would induce "death" is very narrow...).

My point in discussing all of these examples ad nauseum is this: "all-natural" substances can't be put into black and white categories! They are a million shades of grey, with varying good and bad effects depending on the body's needs at a given moment. In fact, our bodies are so massively complex, with intricately intertwined systems, that it's actually incredibly difficult for anything to be 100% bad or 100% good. Clearly, just because something is "all-natural" doesn't necessarily make it good for you! 


And that's why those "all-natural" labels drive me crazy. Sure, they're just an advertising gimmick. But they are a glimpse into the mindset of the average American shopper -- that those "all-natural" products somehow have an inherent advantage over the other products with their preservatives and "artificial chemicals."

In this post, I wanted to lay some basic groundwork by showing that all-natural doesn't mean all-good. Of course, you may still be thinking to yourself... ok, maybe all-natural substances aren't all good... but surely they're better than un-natural, man-made substances!  Next, I'll tackle this distinction between "natural" and "artificial"... how different are they, really? Check back for the answer. Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.