Personally, I find going shopping for botanicals absolutely overwhelming. And I think this is, in large part, due to it can be really confusing. If you go to a natural food store or a supplement shop, you'll see rows and rows of products with labels like supplement or natural, herbal, botanical. I think this is just downright confusing and this is going to be confusing for our patients as well. One of my goals for this particular lesson is to help clear up some of this confusion. We're going to wade through all these terms, try to clearly define what's a dietary supplement, what's a natural medicine and how botanical medicine fits into the landscape of all this. According to the US federal government, a dietary supplement is a manufactured product containing various types of dietary ingredients. Including vitamins, minerals, herbs, botanicals, extracts and/or concentrates. The supplements are usually taken by mouth via tablet, capsule, powder, soft gel, gel cap, or liquid. A key part of the definition of a dietary supplement is that it's intended to be taken in addition to, not as a replacement for food. If you've ever taken a multivitamin before, this is a perfect example of a dietary supplement. You wouldn't take the multivitamin in place of food. You simply take it to make up for any vitamin or mineral deficiencies that you may not be getting from the food that you eat. As you can see, a dietary supplement is an extremely broad term. Botanicals fall under this umbrella, along with many other substances. Which of the following statements is true regarding the definition of dietary supplements? United States federal legislation classifies herbal medicine as dietary supplements. This classification may be different in other countries around the world. Regulation of herbal medicine in the United States will be covered more in depth during week two. In the field of medicine, there is unfortunately no single definition or consensus as to what constitutes natural medication. This can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Generally speaking, however, it refers to medicines that are not artificial. This is a term that can be very misleading, however, especially in the world of product marketing and advertising. You may see a product with the label, all natural, only to flip it over and see items like sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate listed in the ingredients. These are not natural items, but actually, industrial chemicals that serve as artificial preservatives. For these reasons, it's best to opt for using the term herbal or botanical when referencing medicines, as opposed to using the term natural. A better use of the word natural is to describe an approach to medicine. For example, a patient may ask you, is there a natural approach to treat my hypertension? To be clear, natural approach is not limited exclusively to the use of botanicals. Natural approaches may also diet, exercise, meditation, etc. However, it is language that patients are familiar with and understand. And this can be a great way to open up a conversation about the use of botanical medicines with your patient. Keep the following definitions and terminology in mind as we move forward in this class. Dietary supplements are manufactured products intended to be taken in addition to food. It's best to use the term herbal or botanical medicine. Whereas natural can be used to describe your approach to medicine. For example, I take a natural approach and prefer to use botanicals for symptom management, when possible.
