1 · Natural ≠ safe
Natural is not a safety category: the liver and kidneys recognize molecular structure, and toxicity depends on dose, metabolic pathway, individual variation and exposure duration.'Natural' is a marketing concept, not a safety category. The most toxic compounds in nature are natural: botulinum toxin, ricin, aconitine, strychnine, tetrodotoxin.The liver and kidneys recognize molecular structures, not 'natural' or 'synthetic' labels. Whether a compound is toxic depends on:
Dose (Paracelsus: all things are poison, dose determines)Metabolic pathway (whether reactive metabolites form)Individual variation (CYP450 polymorphisms, HLA type)Exposure duration (acute vs chronic)
Chinese herbs are not side-effect-free — their side effects are under-studied, not absent. Traditional use does not equal safety: traditional use also includes herbs abandoned for toxicity (cinnabar contains mercury, realgar contains arsenic).