Taking a plant extract for something the label does not specify?!

Taking a plant extract for something the label does not specify?

Okay, so my friend did some research on acne, and he said:

"These are foods and herbs we're talking about here! Not medicine! They aren't designed for a specific use. Saw palmetto is marketed for helping the prostate, but it is not limited to that.

And how does it help the prostate? It limits the amount of dihydrotestosterone in the body. This synergistically benefits your acne!

Remember, most people in the medical industry have been trained to think in the mindset of 'you must treat a specific problem specifically.' In other words, theres one medicine designed to treat one problem.

However, in natural healing, overall health prevents and fights disease. Your body has the ability to cure itself without the use of medecine. Remember, you're alive! Not some machine that needs to be repaired by using medecine. Therefor, anything that supports your body's ability to repair itself will help with a wide range of diseases.

4 weeks ago
This includes food. Most people don't think of food as medicine (or poison for that matter). What I meant was that saw palmetto is an herb. It benefits most of your body when you take it, not just the prostate. Specifically, its function is to lower dihydrotestosterone in the body, and anything that is being negatively affected by too much dihydrotestosterone will benefit.

So my question is, is he correct?

The label of saw palmetto extract is specified for prostate health, but could it really help acne and all that stuff?

Sounds like you have a wise friend. What he says is basically correct. There's not much to add - he's said it all. Herbs are far more complex than drugs, and their effects are quite wide ranging as they help balance teh body rather than control it as pharmaceuticals do.

Herbs and food are very similar (there is a huge overlap between them).

Hippocrates, considered to be the father of modern medicine, said "Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food" or words to that effect.

Food and herbs make great medicine because they nourish the whole body, and are not created just to treat specific diseases. In fact they work best when they are used according to holistic principles, rather than using particular herbs/foods for a particular condition. For example, three people with a cold (1 diagnosis) could present with quite different symptoms. Using herbs and foods, they would all be treated differently, as opposed to allopathic (orthodox) medicine they would all be treated teh same because they had the same diagnosis. Consequently, saying a herb is good for a particular condition is a very limited way of presenting that herb - it doesn't really tell you its capabilities.

Hope this helps, and wish you all the best. Hang on to that friend - he sounds wise.