Not to tail post here, but has the term "natural remedies" really been defined here?
It can mean many different things. Just saying.

That's the point. Some people hear those words and can't help but run screaming for the hills, desperate to wash off the dirty hippie cooties.

I'm all for the ones that have been tested and proven. Untested doesn't mean disproven, but it does mean unproven. And if you scroll back, you'll find that my initial post on this thread was in response to "untested home remedies".

Unfortunately, the FDA doesn't regulate them, so there are still some problems. There is no differentiation on the shelves between the ones that are tested and proven, the ones that are untested, and the ones that have been tested and proven useless. So unless you've got the NIH site up on your smartphone as you go down that aisle, you can't tell.
The economic reality is that the herbal supplement industry has deliberately avoided being treated as food or drug, despite being sold as something for people to ingest, in order to avoid the requirement that their products be tested. Happily, in 2007 the FDA was given the authority to check that the products at least contain the ingredients on the label. So that's a plus. I'm not sure how homeopathy fits into that, though, as they don't contain any of the ingredient.
It's my point too. There's no differentiation on the "natural remedies" shelves between tested and untested remedies, or even between effective and ineffective tested products.

The normal state of the alternative medicine industry is equivalent to when the FDA system fails.

It's also a question of severity. When an herbal supplement fails, the result is: nothing. When a drug fails, we discover it because people are suffering severe side effects and even death. Oh, and sometimes they suffer those when the drug is working too.

There is at least one differentiation: untested substances must put a disclaimer that the FDA has not tested it and it is "not intended to treat, diagnose, or prevent any disease."

Well. That's not entirely the case. There are some herbal remedies which can have a very serious impact on health if not taken carefully and under medical supervision. I can't remember the name of it now, but I know there's one that can cause quite serious liver and kidney problems, if they used where an underlying problem already exists (I think this is mainly a problem with undiagnosed existing conditions).

I don't know how you classify things over there, but if it's been tested and must be taken "under medical supervision" then it's not the kind of thing HM is talking about. The FDA does have authority over the safety of dietary supplements, BTW, they just have less-restrictive guidelines than full-blown "drugs."

...because people with a diagnosed existing condition such as heart disease or liver disease definitely wouldn't smoke or drink. Would they? :D

lol well yeah.

How do you know? That hasn't been tested either. "Natural" doesn't mean "harmless". The only way to be sure something has no side effects is if it has no effects.
"Wink wink, nudge nudge. But go ahead and use it for your disease anyway."
I won't speak for Dana, but she did say "can have a very serious impact on health if not taken carefully and under medical supervision", not "must be taken under medical supervision", which have different meanings, especially if we take "must" to mean by law.

I'm not sure how much authority the FDA has over dietary supplement safety. All I've seen is that they can verify that they actually contain the listed ingredients.

From here:

Actually a lot of alternative remedies work great. Ginger DOES help nausea. I don't know if it works for chemo, but in general, it works. Pot does work for chemo though. It's really stupid that it's illegal.

But apparently it works great on puffy eyes. At least that's what models say. :D

Chinese and Ayurvedic Medicine have been tested and proved for over 5000 years.

Are you talking about ephedra, maybe? I know a few people died from it when they didn't follow directions. Like, one guy took 20-something pills within a 24 hour period, and you aren't supposed to exceed 6 or 8 in a 24 hour period. Another guy took a bunch and then went to football (or maybe it was baseball) practice in the hot sun and died.

I think sometimes people do stupid shit, and they pay the price. Should a natural plant substance be banned because some people are idiots? I think not. But there should be a severe warning on the label.

Yes. And Chinese medicine offered for the relief of eczema can have a negative impact on kidneys. Also....define proved? The jury is still very much out on acupuncture...and really, I think the less said about ground up tiger penis and rhino horn the better.