More and more consumers are using complementary medicines. Jill Reid tells you where to go for safe advice on alternative therapies and supplements.

After I was diagnosed with a stomach complaint, I went in search of some natural remedies. Health store staff advised peppermint oil; the nutritional consultant recommended a non-dairy diet and the Traditional Chinese Herbalist gave me a special concoction of herbs straight off the boat from China. Surely my stomach would be better in no time.

In fact, it got markedly worse.

The sales person, the nutritional consultant and the Traditional Chinese Herbalist all gave me medical advice which was very bad indeed. And what's worse is that while none of them have received any recognised degree or training, all are allowed to dispense potentially harmful, even fatal, advice and medicines without any controls or regulations whatsoever.

After seeing my GP, I discovered just why my stomach problem had worsened. The peppermint oil, although good for some stomach conditions, is very bad for hiatus hernia, which I have. The health store staff evidently didn't know that.

In addition, the other advice was dubious at best. The nutritional consultant suggested I eliminate dairy products from my diet without questioning my family history of osteoporosis, which my mother, grandmother and several aunts have.

Safety last
And the Traditional Chinese Herbalist offered Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which has not had to undergo any pharmacological testing. It could prove to be dangerous or even lethal. Sound far-fetched? Tell that to the two British and 70 Belgian women who developed kidney damage caused by a TCM preparation. And there have been numerous reports in the US and Europe of liver damage and heart attacks leading to death, all linked to TCM.

While the complementary therapy industry is happy for consumers to think of supplements and herbal remedies as powerful medicine, they don't want the government to think that way. Most people assume that natural remedies are regulated in the same way as pharmaceuticals, but in reality, supplements are regulated in the same way as food.

If you want to sell carrots to the public, you don't have to prove that they are safe. It is assumed that all carrots are safe to eat. If someone gets sick because of your carrots, the government may then require tests to determine why.

As far as legislation is concerned, supplements and herbal remedies are carrots, not medicines. Injury has to happen before any testing is done to determine if the remedy is safe.

'One of the big arguments put forward by the Health Food Manufacturers' Association is that it would put many small companies out of business if they had to accept the same standards as the drug industry,' points out Catherine Collins, Chief Dietician at St George's Hospital in London. 'But why shouldn't they? If you produce a potentially toxic product, it shouldn't be on the market.'

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.