Is A Natural Product Really A Natural Product?
Over the last twenty years, we have gained a greater appreciation of our surroundings and health. For many of us, this means buying natural products as much as possible. The lack of natural product guidelines has result in a debate of what exactly is 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.
It seems rather obvious that defining natural products on an atomic scale is not going to work. After all, the same elements that comprise the monitor you are reading this on make up the coffee you may be drinking.
Any discussion of natural products at the atomic scale clearly is not going to work of us. We mentally can divide an orange from a car door, but where do we make the distinction when defining a natural product?
A general consensus has started to form on this issue. Many now argue that a natural product is one that a living organism, plant or animal, produces without being influenced by man. Now this sounds more like it.
Although a bit vague, this definition has some logic to it. If we apply it, we can see clearly that an apple is a natural product and a car door is not. An apple tree needs no help from us while car doors do not grow on trees.
The line between natural and artificial products is rarely so clear. Aspirin is a great example. This miracle drug comes from Willow bark. That is as natural as it can be. Of course, we pop one of a million uniform, processed aspirin pills, not bark.
So much for our clean definition of natural products. On one hand, the aspirin we take is clearly natural because it comes from Willow bark. On the other hand, it is clearly processed and mixed with other chemicals to make the pills we actually consume.
For many people, the proper definition of a natural product is one that is produced by a biological organism that is not processed in a manner that fundamentally changes its chemical composition.
An apple is clearly a natural product. Picking, refining and mixing with high fructose corn syrup, chemical colors and preservatives to create canned apple juice drinks is arguably not.
Where we ultimately draw the line? It is really a personal question in many ways. Whatever your views, it is important that you not rely excessively on natural product claims for things you see in the store. Check out the ingredients to really make a determination.
The soaps you buy are full of nasty toxic chemicals.
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