Could complementary therapies be bad for you?

Accredited advice
So who can you turn to for advice? This is one of the major problems faced by the consumer. Few of the 'professionals' offering advice have actually received any recognised training.

The first, and perhaps most dangerous, source of information for many people is the staff in health food stores. In 1999, Which? magazine sent undercover researchers to health food shops to test the quality of advice available. According to the article, 'Generally, the staff in the health food shops we visited failed to ask the necessary basic questions about existing medical conditions.' In 11 of 15 shops visited by one researcher, the staff gave either no advice or bad advice. Health store staff are there to make sales, not provide medical advice.

Your naturopath may have loads of impressive-looking diplomas on the wall and letters after her name. Surely she knows what she is talking about? Unfortunately, even people who sound like they are qualified often aren't.

Every reader of this article could call herself a nutritional therapist, clinical nutritionist, diet counsellor or naturopath. These terms mean nothing and are not state- protected like Doctor, State-registered Dietician (SRD) or Registered Nutritionist (R Nutr). Bear in mind that many of the 'diplomas' displayed by complementary therapists are not recognised by any UK university board and your therapist could have studied anywhere from a few days to a few years to receive them.

For unbiased advice, your best sources are doctors, pharmacists, SRDs and herbalists. The only pitfall is that anyone can call themselves a herbalist. To ensure that yours is qualified, check to see if they are members of one of the respected herbal organisations, such as the National Institute of Medical Herbalists.

While doctors and pharmacists may not have a particular interest in complementary medicine, they can offer advice on the dangers of interactions and overdoses in particular. Boots pharmacists have all received training in complementary health and have this year taken a special herbal medicines course, which specifically trains them to be aware of herb/drug and herb/herb interactions.

The best advice though, is to think twice before you take the advice of someone claiming to be an expert and do your own research before taking any medicine or making drastic lifestyle changes.

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