Natural

I read the labels when I shop for food. Unfortunately some of the labels require a degree in chemistry to determine what the actual ingredients are in a large percentage of supposedly edible food available in the local supermarkets.

One of the most misleading terms for ingredients listed on some labels is 'natural'. Natural for what? The food and drug industry seems to think that telling us everything is natural will somehow convince us that their products are good for us. When a label proclaims the product has 'all natural ingredients' my skeptic sense perks up. If there is anything listed that I have never heard of, I have to wonder who determines if it is natural or not.

I can tell you that although some things may be 'natural', it doesn't mean it's necessarily better to eat or drink. Take for instance bottled water. Well, it is all natural, but is it better? The water from every faucet in my house is also 'all natural'. A very well known purveyor of bottled water has recently confessed the water they sell is tap water, although they claim it has been filtered. Since I have a filter in my fridge for water and ice, is the bottled water better?

To really get nit-picky, bacteria and germs are 'natural', but I don't plan to knowing consume some of them known to kill people. Animal waste is 'natural'. A great many poisons know to kill humans are 'natural'. There are minerals that are 'natural', like lead and mercury. These natural things can kill you!

There is an entire industry of 'Natural Health' products. More than likely some of them are better for you than many of the 'Ask your Doctor' medicines that are being advertised in every conceivable way. However the only thing we know for sure about some of these 'natural' medicines is the fact that every alternative medicine purveyor is trying to get you to purchase them with some very outlandish claims that include everything from curing cancer to world peace. (OK, I made up the 'world peace' part, but you get my drift.)

I just wish that the word 'natural' could be replaced with this phrase, 'naturally occurring and maybe it is good for you or maybe not'. Pay your money and take your chances!

Martha