Natural healing encompasses alternative remedies and treatments such as: acupressure and acupuncture to balance qi (chi); aromatherapy and ayurveda therapies / massage, chakra healing, meditation, yoga / oriental arts; homeopathy, naturopathy and holistic / psychosomatic medicine; Native American cures, TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) herbal remedies; natural health supplements including amino acid and protein powders; weight loss pills / drinks from traditional South American or Asian plants; detoxification and body cleansing formulas, as well as “ancient” or “traditional” techniques / preparations and cures (used to treat everything from common ailments to serious diseases), considered by millions to be genuine alternatives to pharmaceutical products and modern medical treatments.

The question is: do natural health supplements, herbal remedies, and traditional natural healing techniques actually work?

The short easy answer is YES, natural healing techniques do sometimes work for some people some of the time, and certain natural health supplements do offer positive results for some individuals.

Cleansing the body by drinking water and imbibing lots of fresh juices as well as eating a diet consisting of whole vegetables, legumes, grains and fruits (and less processed, refined or chemically-laden pre-packaged foods) is simply good common sense.

Choosing to reduce illness and increase energy through exercises like yoga, and undergoing therapeutic stimulation such as with massage to promote better circulation and boost the body’s natural defense mechanisms, is recommended by natural healers as well as medical professionals.

Natural healing therapies like acupressure can offer a short-term feeling of well-being by stimulating neurotransmitters like endorphins / serotonin, and traditional acupuncture treatments (although needles must be disposable ones) can offer temporary benefits (such as placebo-induced pain relief) for those who trust their practitioners.

If natural treatments and supplements sometimes work, why are they not recognized as “cures” by those in scientific fields or with modern medical training?

First, the reasons why many natural healing practices sometimes work for some people has to do with the “placebo effect” – a power that shouldn’t be underestimated or overlooked – indeed the mind, and perception, plays an important role in the human sense of well-being and physical health.

With developments in neuropsychology, and the aid of functional neuroimaging technology, it may become easier to measure the relationship between brain activity caused by thought (belief) and/or physical stimulation. Through fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) it’s now possible to see measurable alterations in cerebral blood flow as it pertains to neural activity – which means that we can look at how the body reacts and responds to specific thoughts / beliefs.

To explain The Placebo Effect, and demonstrate what areas of the brain are responsible for it, here’s a video from Stanford School of Medicine where Dr. Sean Mackey (chief of the Pain Management Division) shows us a real life example:

Nevertheless, the placebo effect alone can’t be relied upon as a form of treatment due to its unpredictability. It’s not a trusted means to treat serious diseases or life-threatening conditions that require surgical intervention or active ingredients with proven pharmacological action and predictable biological effects.

Don’t herbs and natural remedies have pharmacological properties?

Yes. But herbal formulas used in natural health supplements often are made with non-standardized blends of ingredients (and how can an ounce of herb X grown in the Himalayas be compared with herb Y grown in Arizona). Natural healing techniques don’t offer predictable outcomes for specific ailments or conditions because they can’t be tested in controlled environments using standardized protocols due to their personalized nature. If ingredients in natural remedies aren’t standard and natural healing therapies can’t be tested accurately, patients who choose these therapies or treatments, and have serious diseases or life threatening conditions, may place themselves in the precarious position of, unwittingly, depending on the placebo effect, which is, at best, unreliable.

Although humorous, and designed to entertain, the point that magician Brian Brushwood makes, in his lecture/show, demonstrates the power (and dangers) of relying on the placebo effect and/or belief-based natural healing therapies. Watch part 12 of the 14 part series on “Scams, Sasquatch and the Supernatural”. This video is entitled: “The Placebo Effect and Psychic Surgery”:

But…don’t natural healing techniques and or herbal formulas and natural health supplements REALLY work – not just through a placebo effect?

Not all natural therapies or traditional remedies are equal. Although some advocates of “natural” products and treatments (as well as those who use them to obtain better health in chemical-free ways) believe them to be alternatives to pharmaceutical medications or modern medical procedures, there’s still a need to prove their effectiveness. This is accomplished in three main ways. How do they stand up to an analysis? Let’s see:

1. Ancient Wisdom - by referring to ancient medical texts, astrological charts, oral legends, traditional mysticism and superstition-based beliefs, handed down through the centuries (often during hundreds or thousands of years).

Many people feel that due to their prolonged existence (perdurability), and vast number of believers, this provides evidence that they are indeed “ancient wisdom” that has been overlooked by science.

For an example of a ancient natural healing system based on chakras, join expert Cristy Nix (from Stone Blessings, who’s an intuitive visionary, artist, spiritual teacher, speaker and healer of people and pets) who explains “Chakra Symbols & Meanings”:

The hypothesis that ancient sources of wisdom / mystical natural (and/or supernatural) powers exist, and that modern men and women can tap into such sources of health and vitality (without regard for what’s been discovered in anatomy, molecular biology, genetics, chemistry or neuropsychology), sometimes leads to extreme views, namely: that scientific researchers (and profit-driven pharmaceutical companies) deliberately suppress information about natural healing products and herbal remedies and don’t want people to know the TRUTH – that traditional herb X or ancient treatment Y actually cures breast cancer, HIV, leukemia, glaucoma, diabetes, liver / kidney /cardiovascular diseases, obesity and other conditions.

Here’s an enlightening discussion called: “Medical Industry Expose” from Truth Brigade Radio:

Without understanding the arduous efforts of trained scientists who spend their lives in (often poorly-funded) laboratories questing for scientific breakthroughs, thereafter submitting reports of findings to scientific / medical journals to undergo rigorous peer-reviews, then the lengthy testing processes (that must conform to standardized protocols) in order to get a single pharmaceutical product, medical device or new treatment approved for safe public use, it’s easy to jump onto the conspiracy theory bandwagon. Such theories often revolve around how health organizations, scientific communities, medical professionals and pharmaceutical manufacturers (around the world) have all banded together in a conspiracy to keep humanity sick – meanwhile spending millions rigorously testing products that eventually everyone takes for granted, like antibiotics (without which most of us wouldn’t be alive), and little things like small pox and polio vaccines (the Sabin’s vaccine was licensed in 1962, after nearly 10 years of testing; and smallpox “considered to be the most deadly and persistent human pathogenic disease” was eradicated in 1977 due to a massive worldwide vaccination campaign funded by the World Health Organization.)

2. Personal Testimonials – by offering personal testimonials about how a certain herbal remedy, natural healing treatment, health supplement, weight loss system or energy-boosting therapy helped a specific condition, restored vitality, caused fast weight loss or even cured a serious disease.

Genuine experiences, offered as testimonials, provide one of the primary means to authenticate the effectiveness of natural health supplements, healing products and alternative treatments. “I believe”, “it changed my life” and “it worked for me” are often the only evidence offered in support of natural healing therapies and remedies.

3. Clinical Studies – by using modern scientific and medical terminology to explain how and why a particular remedy treatment, therapy or product works even if the original remedy/treatment has always been attributed to a mystical force or ancient practice.

The use of clinical studies (which may or may not be randomized double-blind controlled trials) are used to evaluate supplements and natural healing techniques but provide inconclusive evidence due to two important factors:

• a clinical trial must submit to standard scientific protocol and therefore personalized procedures or treatments, which have too many uncontrollable variables, where dosages aren’t exact, treatments have slight variations, and where factors such as participant diets, exercise and seemingly unrelated health conditions that are not be accounted for or monitored, but have a high possibility of influencing the outcome, don’t offer valid evidence.
• if clinical trial participants in control groups receiving a placebo (product or ‘sham’ treatment) demonstrate benefits that are high, equal to, or greater than the percentage of participants who benefit from the ‘actual’ treatment, supplement or technique, then (no matter how many participants benefited from the ‘real’ thing) the results must be considered inconclusive or be taken as proof that the placebo effect was of more significance than any single natural “ingredient” or specific procedure.

Here’s a remarkable video about a “Scientifically proven therapy that enables the body to cure itself of Cancer, Heart Disease, AIDS, diabetes, Asthma, Arthritis, And Virtually All Diseases.” It’s a “scientifically proven natural therapy that creates an environment within the body where disease cannot thrive…” It’s the One Minute Cure Secret for All Diseases”:

When a new pharmaceutical product, medical device or therapeutic treatment is being tested (using standardized protocol), if a high percentage of participants receiving a placebo show benefits, even if the percentage of those who benefit from the “real” treatment is slightly higher, the product will probably not leave the laboratory until undergoing further evaluations. And, should the placebo group benefit equally or more, whatever product or treatment was being testing will probably slink away quietly and certainly will not be touted as a ‘cure”. Why? Because if the main ingredient is “belief” – in other words a placebo effect – the product or treatment itself doesn’t work

Alternative Medicine for Cancer Patients Versus Chemotherapy

When it comes to help for incurable diseases, terminal patients may seek alternative therapies in an attempt to put every method available to work in their favor – including the power of placebo, natural healing therapies and various forms of natural health supplements. Why? Take into account what the Wikipedia article states on the “History of Cancer Chemotherapy”, under the heading, “Effectiveness”:

“The discovery that certain toxic chemicals administered in combination can cure certain cancers ranks as one of the greatest in modern medicine. Childhood ALL, testicular cancer, and Hodgkins disease, previously universally fatal, are now generally curable diseases. Conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy has shown the ability to cure some cancers, including testicular cancer, Hodgkin disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and some leukemias. It has also proved effective in the adjuvant setting, in reducing the risk of recurrence after surgery for high-risk breast cancer, colon cancer, and lung cancer, among others.”

The article continues, “The overall impact of chemotherapy on cancer survival can be difficult to estimate…,” and “cancer remains a major cause of illness and death, and conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy has proved unable to cure most cancers after they have metastasized.” Which is why patients who can’t reasonably expect a favorable result from medical treatments, such as chemotherapy, have every right to explore all available options. Some of those options may soon include better cancer treatments directly to tumors using nanotechnology. Chris Landry, professor of chemistry at the University of Vermont, in this video on “Nanotechnology’s Role in Fighting Cancer” explains:

In cases where patients don’t have untreatable or terminal diseases, but are seriously ill or have chronic conditions (that can effectively be treated my modern procedures), some individuals may still be tempted to choose alternative therapies, herbal remedies or placebo-effect solutions believing that “natural” excludes science and modern medicine. This is an interesting twist considering that the Collins English Dictionary defines “science” as being “the systematic study of the nature and behaviour of the material and physical universe, based on observation, experiment, and measurement, and the formulation of laws to describe these facts in general terms.” Furthermore, as reported in The Guardian (in March of 2009), Britain’s Science Council redefined the word with this elegant phrase: “Science is the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.” Therefore, it seems appropriate for everyone considering natural healing as alternative treatment for serious health conditions to ask this important (albeit long) question:

If physics, natural sciences, fossil records and DNA have proven that mystical forces and supernatural beings are not the best explanation for life as we know it, and if discoveries in molecular biology, genetics and advances in pharmacological and bacteriological fields have (in just the last 100 years) reduced infant mortality rates and brought about cures and effective treatments for disease to the point that human life expectancy has (about) doubled (from 30 – 45 years in the early 20th century to 79.4 in the UK, and 78.3 in the United States according to the United Nations 2005-2010 records) then, why are millions of people intent on retrogressing to superstitious traditional or ancient natural healing methods developed prior to knowing about the circulatory system, the role of viruses and bacteria, to natural health supplements and herbal cures developed in eras when mortality rates were high and life expectancy was half what it is now?

Conclusions:

Based on the evidence available, it’s possible to conclude that:

1. seeking an acupressure, acupuncture or ayurveda massage treatment may be a “feel-good” means to treat sore muscles or relieve stress-induced pain
2. that meditation may be excellent for relaxation and stress relief
3. that yoga may be a good form of low-impact exercise to improve flexibility and muscle tone
4. that instead of focusing on supplementing the body with vitamins, minerals and proteins, it’s recommended to get essential amino acids, nutrients and fiber from a diet of fresh whole foods (plus adequate hydration)
5. that hydrating the body with water, fruit and vegetable juice, while eating fresh vegetables and a low-fat meal plan, can stimulate weight loss (where diabetes, thyroid dysfunction or other health conditions are not the cause), but that juice therapies / detoxification procedures should not be considered a means to cure specific diseases
6. that natural healing therapists, who patiently take the time to listen to personal issues and offer individual treatments may provide emotionally satisfying placebo effects which may be beneficial for non-life threatening conditions (or patients who seek comfort)
7. that treating serious conditions and life-threatening diseases (for which there are effective modern treatments) shouldn’t be left solely to natural healing therapies and unreliable placebo effects. It’s imperative to seek medical advice, tested treatments, medications with proven active ingredients (taking advantage of ALL sources of health and well-being available), because to ignore modern scientific discoveries, in favor of ancient remedies based on mystical energies, could be fatal.

Final Note:

Powerful Natural Healing / Psychoactive Plants / Ancient Shaman Techniques:

It must be noted that that there are many plants with extremely powerful pharmacological properties that act upon the central nervous system and, in very physical and measurable ways, alter how the brain functions – not through any kind of belief-driven placebo effect. Natural psychoactive drugs and traditional plant preparations made with psychopharmaceutical or psychotropic plant ingredients, including peyote, certain mushrooms, and natural healing techniques using ayahuasca (employed by the indigenous Urarina shamans of Peru) produce well-documented hallucinogenic (and perhaps curative) results through physical, perceptual and consciousness altering experiences. However, since these plants, and their derivatives, are not available in over-the-counter natural health supplements or in commercial preparations (and in many countries are controlled substances), this post has not delved into their potential beneficial or harmful qualities. (The subject of natural psychopharmaceutical and psychotropic plants, and their use in natural healing, may be explored in future Effective Human posts.) We leave you with just one sample of an interesting documentary (which in the original version is quite lengthy) just to wet your appetite:

Ayahuasca Shamans

The complete documentary is a 7 part series, is available ( in a version with a variety of language subtitles, including Polish) on You Tube – with the first part entitled: Inne ?wiaty – Ayahuasca (Napisy PL) 1/7: