Why Natural Remedies Are Ignored by Science (It’s Not Because They Don’t Work)
- Debbie
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
In this article:
Have you ever noticed that whenever you Google a natural remedy, the verdict is almost always the same:
“There’s not enough evidence.”
“More research is needed.”
“Studies are inconclusive.”
It can feel frustrating — especially if you’ve seen a remedy work for yourself, or if you know it’s been effectively used for centuries in traditional medicine.
So why is there so little scientific proof?
The short answer: money, patents, and the way the system is built.
Research Follows the Money: Why Pharma Studies Get Funded
Running a top-quality clinical trial — the kind doctors take seriously — isn't cheap. You need large numbers of participants, good controls (placebo, blinding), and years of follow-up to get results that are considered reliable.
That’s where pharmaceutical companies come in. They invest in research because they know they’ll make a return when they sell the drug. Why? Because they can patent it. A patent gives them exclusive rights to sell a medicine for about 20 years, which means no competitors and high profits.
With a natural remedy — like chamomile, turmeric, or peppermint — you can’t patent the plant itself. It’s freely available to everyone. Without the possibility of owning it and making huge profits, there’s little financial incentive to fund large trials.
That’s why remedies people have trusted for thousands of years often end up with tiny pilot studies or no trials at all.
The Patent Game: How Big Pharma Keeps Profits Flowing
Once a drug’s patent expires, anyone can make a cheaper “generic” version. At that point, profits drop dramatically.
To stop this, many companies use a tactic called “evergreening.” This means they make tiny changes to the drug so it can be patented again — even though it works basically the same way.
Examples:
When the heartburn drug Prilosec (omeprazole) was about to lose its patent, AstraZeneca launched Nexium (esomeprazole). Chemically, they’re almost identical — one is just a slightly “purified” version of the other — but Nexium was patented as a new drug and sold at a much higher price.
Other examples include switching a pill into a capsule, changing the release speed, or altering the dose — all tweaks that let a company file for a new patent.
This system keeps the money flowing for pharmaceuticals. Natural remedies, on the other hand, can’t be tweaked and repackaged in the same way — so no one is queuing up to fund big trials for them.
Who Decides What Counts as Scientific Evidence?
Another problem is that the same industry that funds most of the research also helps decide what counts as “valid science.”
The gold standard for medical research is the randomised controlled trial (RCT). That means:
Hundreds or thousands of participants
A placebo group (who get a fake treatment)
“Blinding” (so no one knows who’s getting what)
Long follow-up
Consistent formulations and doses
These studies are important — but they’re also incredibly expensive and designed with pharmaceuticals in mind. Herbalists or small independent researchers simply can’t afford them.
So what about all the anecdotal evidence? Centuries of use? Millions of people reporting the same benefits? That gets dismissed as “unscientific.”
Take turmeric as an example:
Millions of people use it for joint pain and inflammation.
It’s been part of Ayurvedic medicine for over 2,000 years.
Small studies and meta-analyses (where scientists pool several studies together) suggest curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, works about as well as some anti-inflammatory drugs for arthritis pain — with fewer side effects. (see source)
And yet, because the studies are smaller, shorter, and less standardised than drug trials, mainstream medicine still says: “Not enough proof.”
Chamomile for sleep, peppermint oil for digestion, echinacea for colds — all have similar stories. Widespread use, small studies showing benefits, but still written off because they don’t meet the pharma-funded model of evidence.
Why Natural Remedies Get Ignored by Research
From a naturopathic perspective, there are also other reasons natural remedies fall through the cracks:
They’re tailored to the individual. Natural medicine is often personalised. What works for one person might be adjusted for another. Clinical trials, however, require everyone to take the exact same thing in the exact same way.
Plants work in synergy. A single herb might contain hundreds of compounds that work together. Pharmaceutical research usually tries to isolate one chemical. But separating it often misses the “whole plant” effect.
Prevention is hard to measure. Natural remedies often shine in prevention — helping people stay well over the long term. But how do you measure an illness that didn’t happen? That would require huge, expensive studies over decades — and again, there’s no profit incentive to fund them.
Subtle, slower effects. Pharmaceuticals often act fast and hit hard by flooding the body with a single strong molecule. This makes results easy to measure in short trials. But it also puts pressure on the liver and kidneys and can cause severe side effects. Natural remedies work more gradually — supporting digestion, metabolism, and homeostasis (the body’s ability to keep itself balanced). That makes them gentler and safer, but also harder to measure in a short-term trial.
Case Studies That Show Promise
Even though natural remedies don’t have the same scale of research, here’s what smaller studies and reviews have found:
Turmeric/curcumin for arthritis: A review of 8 clinical trials found turmeric reduced pain and stiffness in osteoarthritis, working about as well as some anti-inflammatory drugs, but with fewer side effects. (see source)
Turmeric for metabolic health: A 2025 analysis found turmeric reduced body weight, waist size, and fat percentage in people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. (see source)
Antioxidant effects: Other studies show turmeric boosts the body’s antioxidant capacity (its ability to fight free radicals) and lowers markers of inflammation. (see source)
Turmeric is just one example. In recent years, a growing number of natural remedies have begun to show measurable benefits in small clinical studies and reviews. Herbs such as St John’s Wort (for mild to moderate depression), garlic (for blood pressure and cholesterol), ginger (for nausea and inflammation), peppermint oil (for irritable bowel symptoms), and valerian (for sleep) have all shown positive effects in controlled trials.
These studies are often smaller, shorter, and less well-funded than pharmaceutical research, which means they rarely change medical guidelines on their own. But taken together — alongside centuries of traditional use and widespread anecdotal reports — they suggest that many natural remedies are far more effective than mainstream science currently acknowledges.
So, Do Natural Remedies Work Without the Research?
It’s not that natural remedies don’t work — it’s that the system isn’t set up to prove they do. The lack of “gold-standard” evidence usually reflects a lack of funding and profit potential, not a lack of effectiveness.
That doesn’t mean we should believe every claim we see online. Critical thinking is important. But it does mean we shouldn’t dismiss remedies that have stood the test of time simply because they haven’t had millions poured into trials.
Healing has never been just about patents and profit. Sometimes it’s about listening — to our bodies, to traditions, and to the patterns that repeat across cultures and generations.
That kind of wisdom can't be patented.
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Summary & FAQs: Natural Remedies and Evidence
1. Why do natural remedies seem to lack scientific evidence?
Not because they don’t work, but because high-quality clinical research is extremely expensive. Studies tend to happen only when there’s a strong financial incentive — usually the ability to patent and sell a product. Most natural remedies can’t be patented, so they’re rarely funded at the scale required to meet pharmaceutical research standards.
2. Does “lack of evidence” mean natural remedies are ineffective?
No. “Lack of evidence” usually means a lack of large, well-funded trials — not proof that something doesn’t work. In many cases, smaller studies, traditional use, and widespread real-world experience all point in the same direction, but haven’t been enough to trigger large-scale research.
3. Why are pharmaceutical drugs researched so much more thoroughly?
Because pharmaceutical companies can patent drugs and make a return on their investment. When a patent is about to expire, companies often make small changes to an existing drug so it can be patented again — a practice known as evergreening. This creates a strong financial motive to keep funding research, marketing, and new versions of the same treatments.
4. Why doesn’t anecdotal or traditional evidence count in mainstream medicine?
Modern medical science prioritises randomised controlled trials, which are designed to minimise bias but are also expensive and rigid. Anecdotal evidence, even when it comes from millions of people or centuries of use, is considered low-quality because it doesn’t fit this model — even though it often aligns with findings from smaller clinical studies.
5. Are there any scientific studies supporting natural remedies?
Yes. Many natural remedies — including turmeric, ginger, garlic, peppermint oil, St John’s Wort, and valerian — have shown positive effects in controlled trials and systematic reviews. However, these studies are often smaller, shorter, or less standardised than pharmaceutical trials, so their findings are usually described as “promising” rather than definitive.
6. Why are natural remedies harder to study than drugs?
Natural remedies often work gradually, support overall balance in the body, and are tailored to the individual. Plants also contain many active compounds that work together, rather than one isolated chemical. These factors make them harder to test using the same methods designed for fast-acting, single-molecule drugs.
7. What’s the takeaway for people and practitioners?
The current evidence gap around natural remedies reflects how research is funded and structured — not a lack of potential benefit. This doesn’t mean natural remedies should replace medical treatment, or be used uncritically. But it does mean they deserve more serious attention, better research models, and a more nuanced conversation than “there’s no evidence, so they don’t work.”
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