It’s interesting how people have different perspectives. For example mine happens to be the exact opposite - “I never want to take any ‘natural’ supplement, but medicine, gimme, gimme, gimme”.
“Natural” is a strange concept. Arsenic is “natural”, so is snake venom and any number of plant poisons. And many of the “natural” supplements are extracts of substances in plants or massively concentrated select ingredients that would never occur in nature at those doses - highly “unnatural”.
Apart from marketing, “natural” really means very little - and the little that it does mean, is all very, very, very bad. When I see “natural”, I immediately distrust it - here is why…
“Natural” supplements, means these are some poorly characterized, poorly studied molecules that occur in random amounts in a plant, that you really don’t know what they are doing. A plant extract is often just a collection of thousands of different chemicals which have never been studied. You are taking it on faith that somehow this random collection is going to have a good health effect. Often that is not the case, as thousands of cases of all kinds of negative outcomes and even deaths, liver failure, organ failure, poisonings and overdoses all come from “natural” supplements, which - alert - are not cleared or regulated by the FDA. You are playing russian roulette with your health. “Natural” supplements to me are mystery pills in a bottle.
Here is a fact - the vast majority of these have never been properly studied. At best, there are some small trials, often by the seller or interested parties, often poorly designed studies that form the basis of various health claims - which must then, to keep it legal, have a disclaimer that they are not designed to treat any condition… which somehow gets ignored by the consumer, SMH.
Now contrast that with medications. A medication, before it gets approved by the FDA or any health regulatory agency in the developed world, must undergo extensive trials with multiple stages - phases designed to prove that the medication is SAFE for humans - which a “natural” supplement doesn’t do, or is required to do. Pharma companies spend billions developing a drug. A “natural” supplement can be some guy stuffing god knows what into pill boxes in his garage. Next, it must be determined that there is a positive health outcome - so not an equivalent of a sugar pill or “natural” supplement where you have to take it on faith that it works. Then there are clinical trials with large numbers of subjects which tell us the real world effects of the medication. The medications are all under scrutiny from medical researchers, from doctors in practice and from patients - there are databases where side effects are reported and followed for years. None of this is true for “natural” supplements - all you hear are “testimonials” often paid for, anecdotal tales and then they can make the news when someone tragically dies or is severely injured… just no controls at all. And medications must list in great detail all the possible side effects, even the very rare ones. Not true of “natural” supplements. And when the medication is manufactured, it is manufactured to exacting specifications and under the scrutiny of the appropriate regulatory agency, the FDA. When you get the medication, you are assured that you are getting exactly what is says on the packaging, at the dose specified. Meanwhile, none of this is true for “natural” supplements, and in fact repeated investigations have shown that often the vast majority of what is sold in supplements has either none of the claimed ingredient, a harmful ingredient or an ingredient at some random dose. It’s absolute Wild West, completely unregulated - the regulatory agencies only get involved when people start dying.
Does this mean that all medication is safe? Nope. There’s always a risk. But at least we have a mechanism for control. You have no idea what it is that’s in your “natural” supplement. I like medications because I have a certain amount of assureance that I know what I am getting. And I can carefully read extensive studies of these medications and then make my decision. I have none of these tools with “natural” supplements.
To me, the analogy is between buying alcohol from a well-known and regulated and subject to the law manufacturer in a legal store. That’s medication. It might be good or bad for me, but I know what I am getting. Meanwhile, someone tells me, “nah, I avoid those stores and manufacturers, I prefer that one guy in a dark alley who can hook me up with a homebrew moonshine made somewhere that no regulatory agency has access to, but it’s good, trust me bro”. I have no faith that the hooch from the dodgy guy won’t leave me blind. I know what I’m getting from Seagram or Johnny Walker bought at the supermarket. Both want to make money, but only one is held accountable, and consequently has to maintain standards and safety. Do you see why when I hear “natural” - I flee as fast as legs can carry me, and meanwhile, I will carefuly consider medication from an established provider?
My point is not to say that my approach is better than your approach. It is to simply present a case of why having the opposite approach has its own logic. I’m not trying to convince you of anything, just provide another way of looking at things, the final choice is always up to the individual. YMMV.
