Refuting dietary myths
As human beings we have come a long, long way. We no longer wear
animal skins, worship fire or use garlic cloves to keep away
werewolves. But have humans in this brave New Millennium of ours
progressed very much further when it comes to the strange, weird and
often potentially dangerous ideas relating to food, diet, health and
disease that are doing the rounds?
Dangerous ideas
One of the most dangerous ideas that has taken root in modern life,
is the firm, unshakeable belief in the beneficial and curative
properties of diet aids, supplements and herbal mixtures obtained
from plants. As long as it says: “Natural or Herbal”, the public
automatically add: “Then it must be good for me!”
Plant products are beneficial
Of course, plant remedies can be beneficial. Of course we can obtain
great healing power from eating fresh foods, especially fruit,
vegetables, grains, cereals, legumes and nuts, all of which are
derived from the plant world.
Plant products can also be harmful
But we need to keep in mind that some plant products can be just as
harmful as anything produced in a laboratory, if not more so.
Remember that human beings used plant extracts for hundreds and
thousands of years as medicines and that some of these extracts from
roots, shoots, bark, seeds and nuts, were highly toxic. A good
example is Belladonna: Extracts of Belladonna contain an alkaloid
which is highly toxic, hence the alternative name for Belladonna,
which is Deadly Nightshade. When Belladonna is used in minute
amounts, it relaxes smooth muscles and can be used to treat biliary
and renal colic. If used in large amounts it acts as an anaesthetic,
and if taken in excess it can really be deadly, as its name implies.
Faulty thinking
Modern humans seem to be disenchanted with the products of
Pharmacology and Medicine and have turned back to ancient remedies,
some of which can be extremely harmful. The logic generally goes
like this:
“I am overweight. I have tried dieting and have taken a few
slimming pills produced by big Pharmaceutical Companies. I have not
lost weight. I read an ad or an article in the popular press about a
herbal slimming pill or drink and because the ad states that this
slimming product ‘is natural and herbal’, I am totally convinced
that it is 100% safe, that it won’t have any side-effects and that
it will furthermore help me to achieve effortless weight-loss.
Because the magic words ‘natural and herbal’ have been uttered, I
expect a miracle and am prepared to spend lots of money on this
product and will carry on taking it, even when I notice that it is
not having the desired effect or that I am developing strange and
unpleasant signs and symptoms.”
Why are plant products not 100% safe?
Plant products used in slimming pills and supplements to cure
everything from baldness to bunions and work miracles, are often not
safe for the following important reasons:
- Many of these herbal products contain the same chemicals as
pharmaceutical products, e.g. Chinese Green Tea has been hailed
as a cure-all for many different conditions, but it is primarily
used to treat atopic patients who suffer from serious skin
ailments. Researchers analysed Green Tea extract and found that
it contains corticosteroids, just like the pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories
that have been used in the West to treat these conditions for
many years. Anyone taking Chinese Green Tea is therefore
consuming corticosteroids on a regular basis, which may, or may
not be a good thing.
- The medicinal content of many of these herbal products is
not uniform. It stands to reason that a product made in a
pharmaceutical factory where stringent quality control is
enforced will contain the same amount of a compound such as
cortisone in every pill. In contrast, the medicinal content of
herbal medicines can vary alarmingly from batch to batch and
even from pill to pill. Let’s say you are taking Chinese Green
Tea for arthritis and the present packet of tea contains 10% of
the healing corticosteroid, and the next packet you buy contains
50% corticosteroid, then your treatment will be anything but
uniform and the results will also be erratic.
- The microbiological and hygiene standards used for some
herbal products leave much to be desired. Don’t get me wrong -
there are excellent manufacturers of herbal products and
remedies in this country, who apply the highest levels of
quality control and hygiene during production. But in recent
years, South Africa is being flooded with hundreds, if not
thousands, of new and exotic plant and herbal products from all
over the world. There is no guarantee that when you buy these
products from the East or those which are manufactured in
someone’s backyard, the products are clean, sterile and not
contaminated with microbes, bacteria, fungi or yeasts which will
make you ill.
- Often too little research is done on a new herbal product to
guarantee that it actually is going to do what it promises to
do. The SA market is also currently being drowned with herbal
products that contain strange and wonderful ingredients which
have never been properly tested to find out if they can really
reduce blood cholesterol, make you fertile, prevent hot flushes,
etc, etc. An example of such disturbing incidents occurred a few
years ago. Cancer patients started taking laetrile which was
produced from apricot or peach pips. Because this was touted as
a ‘safe, natural and herbal medicine’, people suffering from
cancer bought these pills in large quantities and firmly
believed that their cancer would be cured. In many cases the
patients did not continue with their standard treatment and
deteriorated rapidly. Investigations later showed that laetrile
did not cure cancer and because of its cyanide content, was
actually potentially toxic to healthy body cells instead.
What you can do
If you are considering using a herbal diet pill, supplement or
supposed cure-all, then at least try to do the following:
- Buy products from reputable manufacturers who use stringent
quality and hygiene control in their factories
- Check out the fantastic claims made in ads and popular
articles by asking your doctor, dietitian or pharmacist if any
of these claims have been proven
- Be sceptical and use your common sense. Any product that
promises miracles is a con. Sit down and think before you buy a
herbal magic potion to ‘Help you lose 10kg in a week’ or ‘Burn
fat’, or ‘Detoxify the body’, or ‘Cure cancer’. Do you really
believe that one extract will do all these things? If you think
about it carefully, your common sense should tell you that the
answer is ‘No’.
- If you experience any strange side-effects or if the product
does not have the desired effect, stop taking it!
- Always remember that just because some ad links the words
‘Natural or herbal’ to a product, this is NOT a guarantee of
safety or efficacy.
- (Dr I.V. van Heerden, registered dietician)