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Herbs and supplements – our clearest picture of ‘risk’ to date

The first thing a person usually asks when they consider using herbal medicine or taking supplements for the first time is – “Is it safe?” It’s a reasonable question, and the answer, invariably, is yes.

Nevertheless there are amongst us anti-anything-remotely-alternative pundits who make a tidy living out disinformation campaigns (lies to you and me) that promote the message that natural remedies are somehow risky or downright dangerous.

Apart from being frustrating, this shows how easily our perception of risk becomes distorted, especially when it comes to health.

A new definitive work by the Alliance for Natural Health (and funded by UK health and beauty brand, Neal’s Yard Remedies) helps set the record straight.

This fascinating infographic – which includes clear comparisons of the risk of death from several risky and not-so-risky activities, in both an easy-to-read bubble chart and a more traditional bar chart format – has been published by our friends at the Alliance for Natural Health International and is also available on our website.

Risk is always difficult to quantify but the fully referenced data here sends a clear message.

The risk of dying from taking a food supplement is around 300,000 times less than you face from preventable medical injuries in UK hospitals (and the risk of death in hospital is on the same scale as that of being deployed in military service to Afghanistan and Iraq!). It’s 62,000 times less than your risk of a fatal adverse reaction to conventional drugs. It’s 1,700 times less than the risk of death from a bicycle accident!

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other leading health authorities remind us that the most devastating chronic diseases, notably heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis, are largely preventable through sensible lifestyle choices, not drugs.

If you want to stay well take your health into your own hands; take your vitamins, use your herbal remedies. There’s decades of evidence to suggest they can keep you out of hospital – and doing that may well save your life!

Pat Thomas, Editor