The Alternative Health Gazette

Conflicts with modern medicine

Many people decide to try an herbal remedy for the first time, based on recommendations from friends, family members, information they’ve read, or TV commercials. Sometimes they mistakenly think that herbal remedies are miracle cures, and unfortunately some marketing tactics only serve to try and reinforce that belief. Herbs are not miracle cures for everything though. There is an effective herbal remedy for almost any health condition you can think of, but there is more to the “cure” than just taking a pill.

Like prescription based medications though, herbal supplements can come with side effects. Most herbal supplements in fact, can be used for a wide variety of complaints. Instead of buying sepate pills for individual complaints like you do when buying synthetic medications, often times you can buy one or two general herbs to take care of multiple things at once.

Most people don’t realize the herbs will do more than one thing though. So they pick an herb for one reason and use, not knowing that it may be doing other things inside them too. A powerful natural antibiotic known as Goldenseal for instance, is also a natural source of insulin. As such, it can be probelmatic for anyone who takes synthetic insulin, or for anyone who has hypoglycemia: a.k.a. low blood sugar problems.

Herbs can also cause conflicts with synthetic medications you may be taking too. In the example above, if you take Goldenseal while also taking insulin shots, you run the risk of overdosing on insulin and having your blood sugar drop down too low.

If you’re taking certain presription allergy or diet medications, you run the risk of causing problems if you also take an herbal supplement known as Ginseng. Ginseng is often taken for energy boosts and to increase sexual libido, but it’s natural energy boosting properties can cause a problem when you’re taking certain medications, or even if you drink a lot of caffeinated products too.

Kelp is an herb used for a wide variety of things. This herb can be used as a general nutritional supplement for instance, or to help make your hair, skin and nails healthier. It’s also an excellent herb for women to use while on their menstrual periods, because it’s naturally high in iron and can help prevent the woman from becoming anemic.

Kelp is also a natural diuretic however, so if you’re taking prescription based water pills, you run the risk of becoming overly dehydrated by taking Kelp at the same time.

Again these are just a few examples out of hundreds, but they make a very important point. It’s critical for you to know as much about an herbal supplement or remedy as you can when taking it, because you may need to explain what it does to your doctor if they want to prescribe medications for you.

Note: Some statements in this article may not be approved by the FDA. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as professional medical advice.

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