subject: Natural Health Products [print this page] Theres a lot of talk about natural health products, but not a lot of understanding. What are they? What do they do? What is a natural health product and why would I want one?
The Broad View
Broadly speaking, natural health products come in the form of supplements designed to make up for a deficiency in vitamins or minerals that you may have and contribute to overall better health. However, each product is said to provide a specific health benefit of its own. For example, Citricidal is supposed to support healthy gut flora, stomach and intestines among other benefits.
Regulation
Sadly, due to doubts over the level of scientific evidence available in support of natural health products, legislation exists preventing sellers from specifically stating many uses beyond broad health benefits. As such, the layman can get quickly confused when looking around a natural health shop.
This is largely due to controversy over homeopathic remedies where an essential ingredient is put through a series of dilutions until only a trace, or nothing, is left in the solution. However, the more responsible natural health suppliers will have put their products through rigorous scientific testing that shouldnt be any more doubted than pharmaceutical experiments.
Products
Generally speaking, the defining characteristic of a natural health product is that it is made from natural ingredients and is said to be beneficial for your health. They come in many forms, among which are the standard vitamins minerals type that you would expect, but there are a great many uses for them. Ive mentioned Citricidal grapefruit seed extract which alongside its benefits for digestive health, can be used for minor skin irritations, itchy scalps, as a throat gargle and even domestic uses such as sanitising toothbrushes and chopping boards!
Veganism and Vegetarianism
Of course, one of the principle reasons for turning to natural health products is that many of them are vegan and vegetarian, made as they are from all natural ingredients, and most companies selling them are likely to be against animal testing. It also feeds into the current vogue for organic, fair trade and eco-friendly products, which natural health sellers are all well aware of and so will be careful not to alienate these markets.
Similarly, natural health products appeal to those who are concerned with what they put in their bodies and like to stay away as much as possible from synthetic products and supplements, preferring to stick to what nature can provide. Again, these are often the same people as vegans and vegetarians, so expect many of the products to be at least vegetarian.
