One of the main reasons that there is little said about natural health care products as that there is little regulation over them and no financial incentive for companies to continue research into their effectiveness. According to the Food and Drug Administration, many of the natural products, made with plants and herbs are considered food items and not under the regulatory eye of the government, that controls pharmaceuticals. Even products made to instigate colon cleansing can be formulated and sold without any government regulation as long as the ingredients are all natural. 

On one hand, this can be a bonus for those who believe in the use of natural products as it tends to keep the prices lower as their cost is based on market demands. As more people begin turning to natural health products, unwilling to pay the higher costs of prescription drugs the pharmaceutical companies are rallying for the government to place stricter regulations on makers of natural health care products, seeking to make them prove their worth before they can be sold to the public. Reasons for using natural products, in addition to the lower price, also includes the lack of side effects. For example, a natural product used for sinus relief will not cause an increase in blood pressure as some of the synthetic drugs can do. 

The major producers of natural health care products perform due diligence in their formulas insuring their products are safe for human consumption and sell them as natural health care products based on their own investigation. While doctors and hospitals are bound to provide legitimate help for their patients, they are reluctant to prescribe natural health products due to a lack of government oversight of the testing of these products. Persons suffering from problems as innocuous as constipation will be handed a prescription because the natural products, although cheaper and equally effective, have not gone through any long-term studies to prove their effectiveness. 

Drug trials do not come cheap but natural health products whose ingredients do grow on trees so to speak, cannot have their formulas patented and companies are reluctant to put them through any long-term trials to prove their value. Recouping their money would be next to impossible as once the proof is available, their work is not protected by patents and any other company could duplicate the formula. Women suffering the effects of menopause could vastly benefit from some of the natural phytoestrogens found in plants, but their doctors will not suggest them because there are no government approved studies that show they work. 

While currently there are no regulations on the use of botanicals, considered to be food items as supplements, as more people begin to use natural health care products to replace all the chemicals they have been ingesting, the government just might step in and require they be proven to work as advertised. People suffering from insomnia for example may use natural products to ease pain and anxiety that are causing them to lose sleep, but since their effectiveness has not been studied they cannot be advertised as a sleep aid.