swtlady wrote...

How do you determine what dose of herbs is "therapeutic" unless you
perform an FDA-approved clinical trial?  I also wonder why it is
that a particular therapeutic value of an herb remains unknown until
an expensive synthetic pharmaceutical is released, and several months
later some "all-natural" herbal concoction is discovered to work as
well as the artificial drug that cost billions of dollars to develop.
There are herbal equivalents of Rogaine, Viagra, Prozac, etc., and
you mention natural counterparts to Ritalin and Valium above.

You are full of sh.t, and I dare you to consume your own all-natural
herbal concoctions on a daily basis.  While several specific herbs do
have scientifically-proven health benefits, the herbal remedy industry
is a scam and which is why it is always lobbying to keep the FDA from
regulating its products because they can't be proven safe AND effective.
Then you use the FDA's positive reputation to endorse your manufacturing
facility, which simply means your little factory was inspected to make
sure there weren't any visible rats or cockroaches and that employees
washed their hands after using the restroom.  And while the FDA can't
prevent you from selling your hygienic snake oil, the FTC does have the
power to prevent you from making false health claims for it.

I believe in science.  If an herb has therapeutic value, then the effect
can be demonstrated in a standard experiment with experimental and
control groups.  Then the active components can be isolated and extracted
or synthesized and tested again and sold as an FDA-approved drug.  Then
you can claim your herb tea cures baldness, obesity, and impotence.