Home | Health & Longevity | Healthy Meals
Natural products have become a big hit these days. Most of us think it is a good idea to avoid putting toxic chemicals in our body, so natural products fit a great bill. The problem, of course, is how we define natural. Ultimately, we and the things we buy are simply a collection of atoms. If we focus on the atomic scale, most everything is essentially a natural product. This is true even for the might Twinkie and its never rotting filling. If we think through the atomic issue, we quickly see the problematic nature of the natural product debate on this scale. The same elements that make up the hood of your car are found in an apple. They are just arranged differently. This issue clearly cannot be handled on the atomic level. The issue is obviously not the atoms in a product, but something else. This something else is most like our elusive dividing point in the great natural product debate. One definition steps up from the atomic level and looks at the biological. It says that a natural product is any substance that is produced by a living organism found in nature. In this case, organism includes both animals and plants. Clearly, this is a definition that is at least workable from a practical point of view. Watermelons are clearly a substance produced by a biological organism while no Twinkie plant exists on this planet. What about aspirin? Aspirin comes from willow bark. Clearly, this meets our definition of substance from a natural organism. The problem, of course, is the active element is stripped from the bark and heavily processed before ending up as a pill. So, is aspirin a natural product or not? Even in pill form, it is still the essential extract from the bark that is the active ingredient. On the other hand, the processing clearly alters that extract significantly. Have a headache yet? Take an aspirin! You will need one to define a natural product. Most now suggest it is a substance produced by a plant or animal that is not chemically altered by us humans in a manner that changes its natural qualities. For instance, an ear of corn is clearly a natural product. Submerging it in water to remove dirt, bugs, leaves and the like clearly is not an issue when it comes to defining it. Altering the genetics of the plant to produce more corn, however, is. The one thing that is clear in the natural product debate is that nothing is clear. Ultimately, how you answer the question is a personal matter. When shopping, however, take natural product claims with a grain of salt and read the labels closely.
Article Source: http://www.approvedarticles.com
Please Rate this Article
5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5
Not yet Rated
