Posted 4/13/2019 9:32 AM (GMT -5)
Asbestos, Arsenic, Snake Venom, Botulism, Mercury, Poison Ivey, Crude Oil, Natural Gas are all natural and can kill you. Don't assume going 'all natural' is better for you than taking a pharmaceutical. The out of pocket expenses for complimentary & alternative medicine (CAM) products and services in 2007 was $34B. So those leery of taking pharmaceuticals because of any profit-motivation should not give CAM a free pass.
FDA governs prescription and over-the-counter medicine and requires evidence of effectiveness, safety and quality control in manufacturing
Vitamins, minerals and dietary supplements are governed by the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1964 which means these products can exist on the market without proven effectiveness and safety
Consider liver and kidney toxicity risks and know that ginger, garlic and gingko have been associated with serious bleeding and those and others have serious herb-drug interactions.
Most drugs are extracted or chemically derived from plants or natural sources like plants and micro-organisms.
I'm just an engineer who has no preference. And, my desk drawers and pantry used to be full of CAM stuff, alternative products et al. I'm not ignorant to believe that it seems obviously better to drink a kale, turmeric, blueberry, yogurt smoothy than take a steroid; just wanted to write this for the newbies who might not have thought of this.
tell your doctor everything to ensure no harmful interactions and don't get scammed by the Cure-All's and quick fixes