Natural products have been trusted for centuries to ease pain, boost immunity, and restore balance to the body. Yet, modern medicine often highlights rare adverse reports while overlooking the vast history of safe, beneficial use. It’s time to reframe the conversation and recognize that “natural” doesn’t always mean unsafe.
A commentary published in MedScape raises important concerns about the potential risks of herbal and dietary supplements. It highlights cases of liver injury linked to commonly used natural products such as turmeric, green tea extract, kava, and black cohosh, and points out the challenges of diagnosing herbal-induced liver injury (HILI). While these concerns deserve acknowledgment, the critique warrants balance. The risks presented are anecdotal at best, and they should be weighed against the centuries of real-world human experience showing the benefits of natural products for preventing, treating, and managing a wide diversity of diseases.
The article notes a rise in reports of liver injury linked to supplements, but the data comes from retrospective registries and small-scale reports that cannot definitively establish causality. Many of these cases are confounded by contamination, improper dosing, multi-ingredient blends, or interactions with prescription medications. In other words, the risks described are largely anecdotal and not supported by systematic, large-scale prospective studies.
In contrast, natural products and herbal remedies have been used safely across cultures for thousands of years. Traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, and indigenous healing practices rely heavily on botanicals, with countless individuals benefiting from them over generations. While modern medicine demands randomized controlled trials to validate safety and efficacy, it is unreasonable to dismiss the enormous body of real world human experience demonstrating the therapeutic value of natural remedies.
Turmeric, for example, is highlighted in the article as a potential cause of liver injury. Yet, turmeric has been consumed as food and medicine for centuries, with well-documented anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and metabolic health benefits. Green tea extract, another cited culprit, has been studied extensively for cardiovascular and metabolic support. Even kava and black cohosh, when used correctly and in traditional formulations, have shown therapeutic effects. The reality is that adverse events, though possible, are exceedingly rare compared to the vast number of people who use these products safely every day. Just because the true risk-benefit ratios of natural products have not been quantified using modern scientific methods does not mean their benefits are “uncertain.” Instead, it reflects the limitations of applying only contemporary research standards to products that have been validated by centuries of real-world use.
Where genuine risks exist, they often stem not from the botanicals themselves, but from issues of adulteration, over-concentration, or misuse. The dietary supplement industry in the U.S. indeed suffers from inconsistent regulation and quality control, which underscores the need for stronger oversight, transparency in labeling, and consumer education. Rather than casting doubt on natural products as inherently dangerous, a more constructive approach is to ensure that they are manufactured, marketed, and consumed responsibly.
The article’s title, “Natural Isn’t Always Safe,” is true on its face — nothing, whether synthetic or natural, is universally safe. However, the critique misses an equally important truth: “Natural Isn’t Always Unsafe Either.” For every rare case of herbal-induced liver injury, there are countless more examples of natural products enhancing health, reducing symptoms, and supporting wellness where conventional medicine may fall short.
Natural products are pharmacologically active agents, and like any therapy, they require respect, appropriate use, and quality assurance. But to frame them primarily as a risk to liver health overlooks the much larger story: centuries of safe and beneficial use across human history. Instead of dismissing natural remedies based on anecdotal adverse reports, the medical community should integrate traditional knowledge with modern science to create a balanced, evidence-informed approach that safeguards patients while honoring the real-world benefits of nature’s medicine chest.
