I think folks often confuse naturopathic and homeopathic stuff.
This is quite probably the problem, but companies like Cold Eeze putting it on their box makes the line quite murky.
Regardless of what anyone is thinking of taking - even if prescribed - I always recommend people look into it first using only reputable sources. I know people who took prescription meds at the wrong time because they were never told when to take it (with food, etc). Simple research answers many questions - or at least lets folks know what they’re dealing with for pros/cons.
Medicines marketed as homeopathic sometimes are not, as noted earlier in this thread. Another case in point: I have arnica gel which did help with bruises somewhat, and I noticed it lists the ingredient as a proper homeopathic solution of arnica “in a base of witch hazel”. Witch hazel is known to contain ingredients that help reduce bruises and swelling.
If you get a milk thistle homeopathic remedy, and it actually has milk thistle in it, you’ve been cheated. If you believe homeopathy, then you should expect your reputable supplier of homeopathic drugs to give you drugs diluted to zero. Zero is the claimed effective dose for milk thistle (and everything else), for homeopaths.
I suppose it’s because we live rural, but a quick survey of adults I’m around has had everyone lump everything non-prescription under homeopathic. It can take a bit longer for some words to reach here I guess. I need to ask med school lad how he defines it because I’m curious.
I wonder if the surveys listed in the link above checked first to make sure everyone was on the same wavelength with how the word is defined. Oodles of people I know use anything from supplements to essential oils. I’m not sure anyone at all believes in the “less is more” theory.
In theory I can educate those around me about the differences via my job, but my last day at school is tomorrow and it’s not a “class” day. It’s 100% a “fun” day so it won’t come up this year except for the discussions I’ve already had. In those folks called the NIH definition “witch doctoring.”
Interesting thing to learn today though!
@“Cardinal Fang” I trust Consumer Labs to have done thorough reports on whether what they test is what it’s supposed to be. At some point, one has to trust someone. Since Milk Thistle comes from Europe I can hardly make/get it myself as I can with ginger. They came up with two suppliers that contained what the label said. The rest did not. I doubt I’ve been cheated, but those buying the other suppliers probably are.
I remember reading that Georgetown U hospital had used a medicine derived from milk thistle several years ago when the autumn was very rainy and several people had been poisoned by mushrooms they ate growing wild.
I also remember reading about a woman who won a lawsuit when she completely lost her sense of smell after regularly using homeopathic nasal spray.
Lack of rigorous testing, and assumptions that something can do no harm because it’s not pharmaceutical, are the problems.
One take away med school lad had from his “ongoing studies” course (probably about supplements with the current language usage) is “Don’t buy any that come from China.” I suspect that eliminates many on Wally World’s shelves, but haven’t looked myself to see.
Milk thistle may or may not be a good treatment for some diseases. That’s not my point. Homeopaths believe that the right dosage of a substance is zero, zip, nada. They take the substance, then dilute it repeatedly until there is none of it left-- none, not one molecule-- and then they give you the water or whatever they used to dilute away the substance. If that sounds like nonsense, it’s because it is nonsense. Homeopathy is nonsense.
Homeopaths tell stories about “water memory.” There is no such thing as water memory.
So if you are given a homeopathic remedy and it actually has a detectable amount of the substance, that is prima facie evidence that the homeopathic dilution wasn’t done right.
There are many natural or herbal remedies that work. Hey, chicken soup actually helps for a cold. But homeopathic remedies do nothing, because they are nothing. Expensive nothing.
Yes, I’ve checked off my “Learn something new every day” box with the official definition of homeopathic compared to how it is used all over by many people in my area (far broader definition in my area). Folks on CC have more knowledge than I did on that one. Perhaps it’s taught better in other areas. For me, around here, I would need to teach a bunch of people the correct definition if I choose to. Quite honestly, I probably won’t except among school kids if it comes up.
Milk thistle - as a supplement - is still being studied with conflicting results, but it’s generally considered safe (just double checked with Mayo’s site) and considering for multiple years my own bilirubin number was a wee bit high, but it has been in the normal range ever since 6 months post starting it, I’m giving it credit - assuming normal range is actually better for my body. 'Tis always possible my liver just aging fixed itself, of course, and the number changing is a coincidence. I don’t plan to stop taking it to see without a really good reason.
I learned about it when a doctor (MD - oncologist) suggested it for my mom if she wanted to try it. Cancer had spread to her liver from her esophagus. Might help. Probably won’t hurt. She’s lived for 2 1/2 years now after being told she had less than a year. I’m not giving credit for that to milk thistle. I give credit to her not being a smoker or heavy drinker. But, it doesn’t seem like the milk thistle hurt. When I looked it up for her I mused about trying it myself to see if it might help - pure curiosity at that point. It sure seemed to.
Though there is that placebo effect too (which I seriously doubt affected how my liver works, but hey, who knows?).
Walmart are not the only ones. Hmmmm. My grocery store pharmacy has them right alongside the real meds and so does CVS.
I was using the word “homeopathy” incorrectly. I guess what I should have used instead was ‘naturopathy’ because no, I’ve never had ‘nothing’ water. I have in fact used natural products (at times) vs pharmaceuticals with good success.
Naturapathic just really means “medical treatments that have not yet gone through any rigorous testing, so they may help you, harm you, or have no effect”. Aspirin works, penicillin works, digitalis works. On the other hand, butter on burns is a really bad idea, as is drinking alcohol when sick, or using vinegar to get rid of head lice.
What can I say about people who say that conventional medicine poisons people, yet have no problem with selling “belladonna” as medication, without a warning label? For those who are not familiar with plants, belladona is more commonly and aptly known as “deadly nightshade”. Of course, homeopathic “remedies” dilute it so much that it would be difficult to find two molecules of atropine to rub together in one of their bottles, but naturopathic preparations can have enough to seriously harm a person.
Oh, I highly recommend Tim Minchin’s animated Youtube video “Storm” (a bit NSFW). I’m not sure about linking it, but it will be a top result in a Google query of Tim Minchin Storm Video.
None of these stores should be selling homeopathic products in ANY section because they are fraudulent and the stores are perpetrating, and profiting from, fraud. Why this nonsense hasn’t been cracked down on by state or federal law is beyond me. Must be a powerful lobby out there.
@MommaJ Nutrition Action addresses that for Homeopathy and unregulated supplements (which often don’t have in them what they claim to on the label). Yes, it’s a powerful lobby coupled with people who use them and don’t want gov’t interference.
We’ve mused (in my family and when I bring it up in class) that we’re in the wrong business as we could probably make more $$ creating some sort of concoction, making claims about it that appeal to the masses, and selling it. We live on a mostly organic farm. We are right on the edge of a natural creek. We have a pond on our property. We have pretty much all the things folks look for if we word it correctly.
Can’t fathom doing it though - no more than we could pick up and sell Pet Rocks. How many folks bought those?
Hmm, if we threw in some “Health Rocks…” 
Well, I am in a relevant professional area and would really like to write a popular, beneficial (and profitable) nutrition and diet book. But I am far too rational and modest to make a success of it. The more outrageous and ridiculous your claims, the better the book will sell. The celebrity nutritionist/ celebrity doctor phenomenon, coupled with widespread support for pseudoscience, demonstrates this quite clearly.
The placebo effect gives the patient the impression that they are getting better, or it may improve their impression of the severity of their symptoms; in some cases, it actually does eliminate some of the symptoms of their condition, but it doesn’t actually cure people of disease.
The use of products that are really placebos instead of genuine treatment is an important issue in situations where it’s important to treat the underlying disease, not just try to relieve symptoms.
This is why FDA issued a warning about homeopathic asthma remedies a while back: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-warns-consumers-about-potential-health-risks-over-counter-asthma-products-labeled-homeopathic
Asthma is one of the diseases for which it’s important to treat the underlying disease, not just the symptoms. You can get in a lot of trouble substituting ineffective treatments for real asthma medicine.
@Nrdsb4 I fully agree with you.
I just live with enough stuff (not related to the two supplements, but related to the brain tumor and/or radiation) that I sometimes tell folks in conversation when it comes up that it’d be nice to have a cure - even if it were a placebo effect, I wouldn’t care. I’d just be thankful. I get a laugh. Same thing with that post.
Placebos can fix stress induced things, but things that show up on blood tests or MRIs aren’t stress caused - not that I know of anyway.
Ironically enough, I had a lady try to convince me I needed to use essential oils today - to fix those brain tumor effects (which affected part of what I could do in school today - hence why I was talking with her). I passed. I can’t fathom how anyone thinks EOs could solve anything for me TBH. Maybe those “Health Rocks” could? 
@MWolf , I do totally agree that products that are truly homeopathic are ridiculous, in theory and in practice. But these days many products that are NOT dilute ARE still labeled homeopathic, perhaps because there isn’t a certification process. My husband uses Arnica gel all over his back and shoulders every day, and I made fun of him for it, Since it was clearly labeled “homeopathic “.Then I looked at it, and it was actually 6% Arnica,
and then I tried it on my stiff neck, and surprise, it actually made it feel better. The effect was about the same as taking an Advil. I was surprised. I don’t use it though - because it can raise blood pressure in the same way that NSAIDs can. So that is an actual measurable effect, and it was in the list of “substances that can raise blood pressure “ that I got from my cardio. And it is marketed as homeopathic. Doesn’t matter what the theory of homeopathy is, the reality is that the word is used to market many products, some of which have actual effect, good and bad. My daughter’s ophthalmologist prescribes daily atropine 1% solution for myopia until the eyes stop growing. That is a good use of Belladonna - and the original reason for the name. It dilates the eyes, which was considered quite beautiful. Pretty woman. Bella donna.
@Creekland do NOT get me started on the EO people. The willful ignorance makes me crazy. There is a “mom” economy, where moms participate in various MLM businesses, and in order to be socially included, it is general practice to go to the pampered chef parties, the jewelry parties, the home goods parties, the cosmetics parties, and to order things from the Mom who becomes the go-to in your friend group for that item. I pretty much solidified my outcast status by not only refusing to order from “the oil lady” - despite her pitch about having been a nurse and giving it all up after seeing the suffering inflicted on her father by the medical establishment during his battle with cancer blah blah blah. Seriously, using your DEAD DAD to shill your products?
My real issue was her ignorance. My daughter had pneumonia twice a year during preschool, and this woman gave me her spiel then said “They are completely natural, not chemicals, you can just rub some peppermint oil on her feet and temples, and put some in a diffuser…” I said they ARE chemicals.
“No, they are 100% natural” I told her Everything is chemical, and there are 10 natural things growing in my yard right now that will kill you. Essential oils are volatile organic compound, which are chemicals. VOCs DO have effects. Some are BAD. Some are used as paint strippers (orange oil). Peppermint oil contains menthol, and it works in the same way that cough medicine works, by relaxing the muscles in the airways. Which Is BAD for young children, and peppermint oil is not to be used by any route in children under the age of 6, exactly like those cold medicines, because it can cause dangerous respiratory suppression. Especially if the dosage is “rub some on the soles of the feet and temples”.
She was surprised and refused to believe me, and said that she had used peppermint oil on her children since they were babies. I said, then you are lucky, but you really should know more this stuff before you tell people to use it on their kids”
If you want GOOD information in the use of EOs, you need to look for an aromatherapist. They are quite powerful and do have effects, but because they are powerful, it’s important to know how to use them safely.
Wow, that was a rant. Sorry folks.