[kirsten90]

I've been reading about homeopathy (not just for weight loss, but also for other conditions) and I was wondering if anyone here had used it? And was it successful? It seems controversial - A lot of people think it doesn't work, while others swear by it, so I'm curious. Am keen to hear stories on whether it's worked or you (or not) for any condition - not just weight loss.

[TurboMammoth]

Hmmm.

Homeopathy is such a controversial area! I have college degree and master degree in science (pharmacology and cell biology), therefore, my opinion on homeopathy is not the most nice and gently one.

Every cells of tissues and organs can be triggered by pharmaceuticals, natural or things secreted by your own body, as hormons for example. Responses to such components depends of the concentration at the specific time of exposure, and usually the effects will follow a pattern of sigmoidal function (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmoid_function). If the concentration is just too low, there is not much chance that the changes will trigger a physiological change that can be measure, or felt in the case of something you eat/add to your diet.

But people do claim to feel the effects of homeopathy. How's that? Personaly, I think it is coming from the placebo effect. You think you're taking something, and the body reacts. After all, brain and emotions can triggers physiological changes! Homeopathy got really trendy at some point, but sadly I think it is just companies making money over people I'm not really interested in paying for placebo effect.

A teacher during my pharmacology degree was comparing homeopathy to this situation. Take a pill, throw it in the river. Then ask someone who are standing 500 meters down the river to get a glass of the water flowing. You've just turned your pill into a homeopathy remedy

There is also the fact that (it depends from where you are from though) in Canada, for example, homeopathy products are not subject to the same regulation as usual pills. Meaning : they can put everything they want in that and are not subject to examination of quality assurance test, which is tricky to me.

[sparklegirl07]

Turbomammoth, I'm not sure I agree. There's a decent amount of research regarding herbs and herb-drug interactions that show clinical significance - so it's unlikely that its all placebo effect

I do agree that lack of regulation is a major concern though...

[Palestrina]

I'm not a fan of conventional medicine so yes I do like homeopathic products.

[TurboMammoth]

Originally Posted by sparklegirl07

Turbomammoth, I'm not sure I agree. There's a decent amount of research regarding herbs and herb-drug interactions that show clinical significance - so it's unlikely that its all placebo effect

I do agree that lack of regulation is a major concern though...

I did not say that herbs and other natural products do not have clinical significance. As you said, there is many research on that. For exemple, ginger is well known to be quite effective in the prevention of nausea.

But there is a big difference between the use of a natural product and the use of a homeopathic product. Homeopathy is not about the origine of the molecules, but the concentration of the molecule in the product volume. The concentrations used in homeopathy medecines go against pretty much every dose-effect curve...

My first post was maybe unclear, sorry about the confusion concerning the natural product.

[TheSecondHalf]

There is pretty much no (legit) research supporting homeopathy. It's shenanigans. I can find plenty of legit sources debunking homeopathy, but sources supporting it are almost always trying to sell you something. The whole "law of opposites" business doesn't even make sense.

I STRONGLY support MANY natural remedies. That's a whole other thing.

[AlmostMe]

Homeopathy products are worse than snake oil. At least snake oil contains something.

However, many people do gain some positive placebo effects from homeopathic products and the approach of homeopathic consultants - listening to patients for a long time...as opposed to most physician consults of a few minutes - actually does help patients.

But there is absolutely NOTHING in homeopathic remedies. Don't waste your money.

[BreathingSpace]

Disagree. I love homeopathy. It worked for me for a number of issues (which I would rather not talk about on this forum but would be happy to talk about privately, especially given the responses in this thread). Haven't tried it for weight loss though.

And honestly, if something heals my body due to the placebo effect, GREAT!!!! That means my body is healing itself and not being manipulated by a pharmaceutical effect.

I think it's interesting when people demean the placebo effect, because essentially you are demeaning the fact that your mind and body have the capability and power to heal themselves. Like, this is a bad thing?

[Palestrina]

I didn't even know there were homeopathic remedies for weight loss. What are they??

Originally Posted by BreathingSpace

...
I think it's interesting when people demean the placebo effect because essentially you are demeaning the fact that your mind and body have the capability and power to heal themselves. Like, this is a bad thing?

Woohoo yeah!!

[April Snow]

I used to think homeopathy was bizarre and no way could it possibly work, esp. after I took a course in alternative and complementary medicine and learned even more detail about it.

But then I used some homeopathic things on my son, because they were so highly recommended by people I knew and trusted. So back when he was a baby I used homeopathic teething and soothing remedies. No way does a 4 month old know from placebo effect but they worked amazingly well on him.

So I still think it's bizarre but I'm far less skeptical about whether it really works or not - I think as bizarre as it is, it seems to do something!

And I'd love to hear more about homeopathic weight loss remedies. I've looked up stuff very briefly but never did enough research or saw a practicioner to know what to get.

[April Snow]

(just to clarify - what I mean by "bizarre" is the concept that the more diluted, the more powerful it is)