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If It’s Natural, It’s Good

It’s the biggest buzzword in nutrition: natural. After decades of super-processed, test-tube grown, science-hacked food and meds, we’re a society that’s going all-natural with our health. Alternative healing methods have become popular. A renaissance of interest in Chinese medicine is in vogue. And natural remedies are the new mania in healing and health.

The turn isn’t all bad. A heavy dependency upon doctors and meds was just that—a dependency. They use one means of healing, but it is by no means the only one. There is something to be said about other forms of treatment, but one must be careful regarding the all-natural trend. Here are three sub-myths of the natural myth.

• If it’s natural, it will work better. This is not necessarily the case. Often, scientists manufacture products that mimic naturally occurring chemicals, enzymes, or acids in an effort to treat diseases and health conditions. The fact that they are manufactured, however, does not mean that they are less effective or that they are dangerous. Often times, it means that they have built-in mechanisms that make them either more effective or safe. In fact, what many people do not realize is that the ‘natural’ form of that diet pill that they are going to take, is indeed a very processed bit of medicine. In order to make it clean, palatable, packaged, and transported, it must undergo a great deal of processing. It may not be quite as natural as you thought.

• If it’s natural, it’s safe. Since it was used for millennia, and tested-and-tried by long-living primitive natives, it’s got to be safe. So goes the thinking that leads to this myth. But have you ever thought about the fact that cocaine is made from the leaves of the coca plant? That doesn’t make cocaine any safer or less addictive. The same is true for poisonous mushrooms, poison ivy, stinging nettles, and the variety of other dangerous (but natural) plants or herbs. Natural doesn’t equal safe.

• If it’s natural, it won’t have any side effects. Big mistake. The reason you take a supplement or natural solution is because it has an effect on your body. If it has an effect, it can probably have a side effect, too. No herb, drug, or supplement merely affects only one component of your body. Your body is an integrated whole, and even natural remedies have side effects.

So, exercise a little bit of careful reflection next time you encounter the “natural” myth. Natural can be good, but it can also have a medley of not-so-goods, that are helpful to keep in mind.

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