Products and information mentioned in these pages have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not meant to diagnose, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease. If you have a health condition see your physician. Also, bear in mind that information presented in these pages about any product does not necessarily represent any claim made by the manufacturer of these products but is the opinion solely of the proprietor of this web site based upon his research.

What does this mean?

The FDA exists ostensibly to protect the public from worthless or dangerous health products. It is meant to be the first, last and only word on this subject. An exemption was recently made for natural health products. The products listed here are all natural products. They have not, therefore, been evaluated by the FDA for safety or efficacy. Nor does the FDA have the legal right to censor information anymore. However, they have all been the subject of various clinical or laboratory studies on animals or humans with results that may be applicable to human health. Moreover, they are the subject of many anecdotal testimonials and are generally safe for most people. No substance, natural or drug, can be guaranteed to work in everyone nor can they be considered absolutely safe. The reason for this is that everyone is biologically unique. Sleeping pills wake some people up! Rest assured, though, that unlike prescription drugs that kill five times as many people every year from side effects than die from auto accidents, the FDA is hard at work looking for someone killed by a nutraceutical.

Remember, although anecdotes are case histories when a definite link between a therapy and its results are obtained, getting well is also complicated. Just because a substance is taken and health is restored doesn't necessarily mean that the substance is the cause. Many diseases are self-limiting. In fact, most people get better, especially with minor infectious diseases. Some, like Multiple Sclerosis, tend to go into remissions and reappear later. Others, like herpes, appear in attacks that subside in time.

"Cures" can be due to other things including other conventional treatments (though this is rare in chronic or degenerative illness) or the placebo effect. The placebo effect is worth noting. We get a tape from some MLM company or other almost weekly asking us to join up. The tape is always full of miraculous cures that were effected shortly after taking the product, no matter what it is. If everyone used MLM products apparently no one would be ill. As a rule of thumb, the faster the cure, the more likely it is that the placebo effect is responsible. Remember, real healing takes time. The body needs time to repair damage and put its house in order. Natural healing is an ongoing process. Do not dabble with a substance for a week or a month and then become disappointed that an overnight cure didn't take place. Make a plan and stick to it.

What these tapes never tell you is how the patient fared a few months down the line. In general, only double-blind or population studies can prove that a substance has an effect on a disease and that is what the FDA looks for. Remember, though, that human beings are complicated and multi-dimensional. You never quite know what is going to work and the employment of every agency available that does no harm is worth trying. If the placebo effect can be amplified by hypnosis, for example, then it is the result that counts, not the method. Remember also, that in folk medicine or the great traditional medical systems of China or India, for example, the therapeutic value of substances were not determined by double-blind studies. They were discovered by trying out herbs and other natural substances and finding out what worked for the patient by experience. That approach is still valid.