If It Has No Side Effects, It Probably Won’t Work.
If a drug, supplement, or treatment actually works, it carries not only benefits, but risks as well. This is why FDA-approved drugs contain, for example, leaflets listing their side effects. But in sketchy wellness procedures, this is rarely the case.
As practice shows, advantages without any disadvantages or risks are declared either:
- Lying
- Or does nothing.
Most homeopathic remedies, including almost all “cold medicines” for toddlers , are plain old water . Their supporters are happy to explain that homeopathic medicines have no side effects, so they are completely safe.
But in fact, it turns out that some homeopathic products contain a significant amount of their active ingredient , enough to supposedly kill babies. Muscle-building supplements have a similar paradox: many do nothing, but some contain unknown stimulants, hormones, or metabolic-boosting drugs.
One of the sellers at the Goop summit put forward a theory about the health benefits of products. ( Goop- approved products are exaggerated and often useless or harmful .) I asked her about the side effects right after she ran her finger through the ingredients and benefits of products like Sex Dust and Sun Potion Reishi and told me why. they are good. … She explained that your body takes what it needs and leaves the rest. If something doesn’t apply to you, you simply won’t get that benefit. She dismissed the idea that the supplement could be harmful. This was not in line with Goop’s philosophy of trying everything to see what might work for you.
On the other hand, every time my kids get vaccines at check-ups, I get an information sheet to take home that goes into too much detail about all the terrible but very rare things that can happen. I know that even without a sheet, my oldest child will have a sore arm, and the child may become irritable or even feverish for the rest of the day. I vaccinate them because the benefits outweigh the risks. I don’t just inject whatever I find into my children’s bloodstream and watch what happens.
Of course, real drugs and treatments are not necessarily dangerous . Sometimes the side effects are mild, such as pain in the arm. In other cases, the risk is rare or only affects people with certain other medical conditions. For example, over-the-counter drugs like Tylenol and Ibuprofen carry little risk. We still take them. But you can read all about them on the package insert.
Despite the side effects, these drugs are good for most people in most cases. Few real therapies have zero side effects: possibly vitamin C if you are taking the normal dose. (Large sums can cause nausea and more .) If someone tries to sell you something with zero risk and zero side effects, they are either lying or selling something useless.