What exactly is herbal alternative medicine?
Sort of a complicated question, but I’ll do my best to address it. You ask how, if a herbal product contains a chemical that produces an effect on the physiology, how is that different from a drug? The answer is it’s really not from an academic standpoint. From a legal standpoint, there’s quite a bit of difference. But the net effect is a chemical modification of biology – that’s a drug. Quite a few drugs, perhaps even most, have their origins as plant alkaloids. Indeed, even some of the most widely used OTC and prescription drugs are exactly chemicals that are found in plants. From a legal standpoint, the difference is that what is called a drug must go through specific stages before it is made available. It must be studied, developed, subjected to in-vitro and animal model testing. The manufacturer must demonstrate in peer reviewed literature that the compound is both efficacious and ‘safe’. The standard of safety varies depending on what the drug is designed to treat. Something like
