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I didn't say that just because something was toxic it was "un-natural" and because something is not toxic it is natural. I said the difference between a natural substance and something "un-natural" is whether or not it is a naturally occurring substance, as in, found naturally in nature. In the case of the natural wormer debate, there might be substances which occur naturally that have some weak properties to deworm, but will not produce the same effect as a human made chemical dewormer. 

It is the same with some of my patients who use herbal substances for health purposes. Garlic supplements may help to lower blood pressure (a natural product), but they are not going to produce the same response as a "human made" ACE inhibitor such as Lisinopril (not naturally occuring).

On 4/11/07, heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <heidi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> A natural thing is something that is used in it's "natural" form, such as
> cranberry juice to treat or prevent UTIs. The main difference is the
> level
> to which humans have messed around with the substance to make it into
> a form
> that doesn't occur naturally.
>
> Natural products can have positive benefits, as they often have weak
> substances that illicit a response, but they can't have the power of
> "un-natural" altered substances. Also, natural substances are often
> unregulated.


I can think of several "natural" substances that, when consumed in their "natural" form are highly toxic and very deadly, and have no useful or positive effects at all.  A few bites of the root of a water hemlock is enough to kill a one-ton bull.  I've had the unpleasant experience of finding half a dozen cows dead in one small patch of the variety of larkspur that grows in creek bottoms.  I nearly lost a classmate when I was in elementary school because he consumed a little bit of a toxic plant that grows around here--I think it was henbane, but don't recall for sure.  In some instances, critters can get enough cyanide from naturally occurring fruit pits to be lethal.

No, it doesn't take humans "messing around" with many substances to make them toxic--they just come that way "naturally..."

Heidi