in Health / Nutrition (submitted 2012-06-29)
Pure herbs are not prescription drugs. Consumers should be aware that these herbs are not meant to cure chronic ailments. These can be used for cooking, household functions or supplementary products which can help people to stay fit, thin and active. However, you should disabuse your mind that herbs can cure any disease.
However, people expect that these natural products do not contain any harmful side effects. Herbs can be purchased without the prescriptions of doctors. Such products can be grown even in your own backyards and are not aided by chemical fertilizers.
The FDA and Herbal Products
Millions of people have already resorted to supposed “herbal medicines” and other “natural remedies” with the conviction that these are effective and safer than standard medicines. The reality is that most information that was made available to consumers regarding these treatments in the tri-media and on the web has been confusing. It is not based on the quality of scientific proof made mandatory by the Food and Drug Administration for approval of normal prescription and over-the-counter medications. There are new sources of information that can help the public make informed decisions and allow you to talk about with your physician about the benefits and hazards of natural remedies.
• The active ingredients of herbal remedies consist of chemicals which are comparable to ordinary medications. There is still no scientific foundation for the assertion that the natural medicines that have been popularized are much safer than their conventional counterparts. In fact, some traditional herbal substances have been found out to cause hazardous and even deadly side effects.
• Herbal remedies have not been regulated as drugs by the FDA. The composition of herbal supplements remains inconsistent and may be tainted by prescription medicines or noxious metals.
The FDA Regulates Prescription and Over-the-Counter Medications
The Food and Drug Administration has taken proper steps to regulate medicines that are prescribed by physicians and purchased over the counter. This agency requires test just to make sure that these products will benefit the medical conditions being targeted. On the contrary, manufacturers of herbal drugs are not asked to conduct safety research prior to distributing natural products.
Regulated prescription and over-the-counter drugs are described as purified compounds. This indicates that these have been tested to establish safe dosages. Each dose must be the same as other doses. On the other hand, herbal remedies can be different from another bottle of the same remedy. Government agencies and consumer organizations have declared recently that certain contents of herbal products do not complement ingredients listed on the labels. Extracts can also contain unsafe chemicals such as insect killers, lead or mercury that can definitely cause much harm to human beings. What is even more worrying is that some manufacturers of botanicals include drugs in their purportedly natural preparations.
While some people still presume that these remedies are safe as said by some history books, encyclopedia and websites, you should now be aware of the truth. Pure herbs are pure but understand the truth about herbal products as well.
Article source: http://goarticles.com/article/What-Should-Consumers-Know-About-Pure-Herbs/6679800/
