“Against constipation”, “Against heartburn”, “Against “nerves””, “Against sexual vitality” … Who doesn’t know the herbal stand at the medieval market, where there is a precise and effective solution for every health problem. With no more scrutiny or patterns of consumption than what the vendor “dictates” you to do, his eloquence and vibe are enough to make you take not one but several bags of herbs (because you started asking for something for knee pain and ended up ended up talking about all your complaints).
Eye, all my respects to phytotherapy. Of course, we find active ingredients in plants that, in controlled doses, develop specific biological effects and that, extracted from plants or synthesized in the laboratory, actually form the basis of numerous medicines. But these formulations, calculated to the millimeter, are far from the “serve what you want” of some plants, which may contain the same compounds but in unknown concentrations, depending on the stress suffered by the plant, the growing conditions, the soil , the water , the time of gathering and a thousand other stories (if they are what they claim to be).
Magic in the supermarket
There is no need to wait for similar claims on the market of the patron saint’s festivals: a walk through your supermarket is enough. Of course, you will not see herbs on the shelves without a rhyme or reason, but more subtle and refined formats, for something there is a marketing department and another R&D department capable of any product – even, to put it bluntly , turning any monstrosity into an impressive food that fills needs you didn’t know you had.
Botanicals with obvious health benefits are used as a claim for almost all types of products. Of course in classic dosage forms such as infusions, refined with little-known ingredients and including statements about their properties; Mentions that can range from the discreet “relax” to the destroyer – “What dare I not say, García? This is marketing and we came here to play” – “Fat Burner”. And as for your imagination: “immunity”, “calm”, “emptying” Done: magical foods to solve complex health problems. They also perfectly fulfill their function of creating the “halo effect”: I can eat badly because I make up for it with my relaxing cup of infusion, possibly on a stupid Saturday in the Plaza Mayor after a few nuggets with coke and the third whisky.
Next, we’ll identify some of the plants that fill those shelves and see what the science says about their abilities.
Echinacea
Supposedly it is the key to not having a cold all winter. It is claimed to improve natural defenses or soften the mouth and throat (among other properties). It was concluded by Cochrane, a recognized scientific body, that it has not shown any benefit in treating the common cold and that although there may be a beneficial effect, it is not clinically relevant: we are very sorry for those who bought this tea.
propolis
It is not a botanical compound but a material made by bees that they use to build their hives. Properties are attributed to it as “help for the upper respiratory tract” or “help in the cold season”, which is often reinterpreted as “support of the body’s defences”. According to Medline, it could be effective for treating sores and sores in the mouth in some cases — when wounds occur caused by drugs used to treat cancer — but with certain conditions of use (oral administration or douching).
ponytail
The king of diuretics also ensures that it helps keep hair and nails in perfect magazine condition. According to Medline, while it’s used for many purposes, there isn’t enough reliable information to know if it’s useful.
Green tea
The supposedly infallible ally in weight loss, although it’s also said to improve circulation. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, affiliated with the American Institute of Health, points out that “despite the fact that many studies have been conducted on green tea and its extracts, there are no conclusions as to whether it is suitable for these people is useful or not goals with those that are used”.
guarana
Another supposed tool for weight control and “activating the fat metabolism”. It is also indicated to improve immunity, suppress hunger or eliminate fatigue; The latter could be thanks to the effects of caffeine (guaranine is nothing more than the caffeine of this plant). According to Medline, “While there is interest in using guarana for many purposes, there is not enough reliable information to know if it is useful.”
Ginkgo biloba
It is claimed to help maintain mental well-being, memory and cognitive function. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health states that there is no conclusive evidence that it is useful for any health condition. Another infusion that we hope is good because it’s not useful, it’s not useful either.
Beyond the infusions
We also have plant extracts that are freely marketed in formats such as pills, tablets, ampoules, powder and other similar forms. Although they boast supposed properties, they are not considered medicines – which imposes strict restrictions on their placing on the market – but rather food supplements, which is why food law applies to them. This, as explained in this study, is not without controversy, since there are different interpretations in this regard: the difference would be that the drug must exert an effect of improving, correcting or modifying physiological functions, and these properties could be transferred to some supplemented botanicals.
In fact, a product may be classified as a dietary supplement in one EU country and the same substance is classified as a medicinal product in another. But let’s pretend this is not the case and these are dietary supplements without any controversy. Its packaging promises to detox, cleanse and prepare us for next Madrid Fashion Week, because for how ruthless they are in their statements, I wouldn’t settle for less.
But what’s new is that they’re also used in foods where you wouldn’t expect “balm balm” or “propolis,” like instant cocoa with ¾ parts sugar, or chocolate — not to mention cocoa butter — with 25% sugar.
It’s wonderful, because this crazy fantasy solves the perennial dichotomy we consumers face: we’re crazy about ultra-tasty, ultra-sugary, and ultra-perpetuated foods – thanks, Laura Caorsi, for the term – but we are us fully aware of our health they are not doing the right thing. Ready! A fetish ingredient with healthy properties is incorporated and everything is compensated. It’s a classic strategy and we’ve talked about it before in this article, but with a twist, in that she doesn’t use isolated nutrients or common ingredients in her recipes – or at least ones the consumer is already familiar with – but rather different herbs that , that are already accompanied by a good reputation due to their nature as “natural” and with which much more ambitious claims can be used because their regulation is, how shall I put it?, a chestnut.
Can health claims be made freely?
No. As you already know, statements such as “supports your immune system” or “contributes to normal mental function” are health claims and must be authorized in order to be displayed. These claims are based on the presence of isolated nutrients or ingredients – vitamins, minerals, fiber, oat beta-glucans, etc. – so if a food contains a regulated amount of, say, vitamin B6, it can effectively be said to help your immunity, it contributes to Contributes to your psychological function, it reduces tiredness and fatigue or one of the 10 legal claims for this vitamin. And so up to 267 allegations.
The approval process implies that the company wishing to make the statement must submit an application and provide the scientific evidence supporting that statement. The European Food Safety Authority evaluates these studies and issues an opinion stating whether the claim is actually scientifically based or not sufficiently supported. From there, the European Commission approves the declaration or not: a controlled and guaranteed process.
But the regulations governing this already have some important loopholes: an incredible one is the ability to make health claims on any food, no matter how nutritionally harmful it might be; That’s why you see iron-fortified chocolate buns “contributing to children’s cognitive development.” In fairness, the rule was well intentioned as it was intended to prevent this from happening by including foods in nutrient profiles and preventing the clearly unhealthy from using those claims, but that ranking hasn’t been done yet (and we’re almost 15 years late) . But even in its application it shows a second error. Remember I told you that mentions have to be authorized in order to be made? Well, there are exceptions.
made law…
Here comes the trick. After all, does the artichoke really help with liver detoxification while promoting weight loss? Each of these claims, and thousands of others—yes, thousands—attributed to plants abound with impunity in dietary supplements and foods containing them (you’ve already seen examples) simply because of the difficulty of evaluating these purported properties.
As explained in this Science Direct study, testing the beneficial effects of many nutrients is relatively easy. In fact, many of them have no spectacular use, but are simply necessary for physiological functions, and that’s enough to be taken as a statement; for example “calcium contributes to the normal maintenance of bones”. In the case of herbal compounds, demonstrating a link between ingestion and beneficial effects is much more complicated. For this reason, EFSA systematically issued negative opinions at the beginning of the arrival of the applications, considering that the “traditional use” was not sufficient evidence to confirm the properties, leading the European Commission to paralyze the procedure and “suspend” the requests. “.
In 2012, a list of 2,000 outstanding declarations was published, which can continue to be used taking advantage of the transition period provided for in the regulations. In this document you can see all the petitions with the relative explanations: I can tell you that they are priceless and I challenge you to find the most absurd one. I admit that mimosa’s ability to “nourish the uterus” and “balance menstrual flow” won me over.
In the European Union, they are aware that this is a leak, but unfortunately they do not excel in responsiveness. In 2015, as part of its REFIT program – a system to review and simplify legislation – the European Commission launched a process to assess the standard that governs these disclosures, with a focus on the two legs that are lagging: Nutritional profiles and information about the plants. The assessment was completed in 2020 and recognizes that, as it stands today, consumers may buy products with phytosanitary claims wrongly believing that those properties are scientifically proven and risk-assessed when they are NOT.
A persistent scam
The European Commission recognizes nothing less than consumer vulnerability and potential deception; And it doesn’t stop there. It also states that “the food industry has benefited from the current situation as it has been able to continue to use health claims related to botanicals without having conducted clinical studies to substantiate the use of those claims.” They are not anarcho-bolivarian anti-capitalists attacking a food industry that sells products with claims without evidence. It is the European Commission who accuses this situation of unfair competition against the pharmaceutical industry, which has to meet much stricter requirements in order to sell the same plants with similar declarations.
The suggestion they make to fix this mess isn’t easy, as it suggests “taking a walk” to see if the concept of “traditional use” serves as a guarantee of effectiveness – which EFSA, the highest scientific body in the EU, had rejected and also reviewed the rules on traditional herbal medicines as they may overlap and the same plant or botanical compound can be treated as a food and medicine at the same time. Bad arrangement.
What can you do while this situation persists? know the game If a label draws your attention to a specific ingredient—exotics take the cake—if it makes promises you’d like to keep, if it sounds too good to be true…keep it out of the cart. It’s just a device that appeals to your magical thinking to influence your food choices. The foods that suit you, such as fruit, vegetables, legumes or nuts, carry no claims.