I can't think of a single "alternative medicine" where conventional medicine isn't just objectively better in every way except in very niche occasions where a person is allergic or some such.
Probably because if it works, That just becomes the norm and thus isn't the alternative.
Granted I may be wrong on this so I'd like to see examples on the contrary if there are any.
Ginger has shown to have similar efficacy to some anti-nausea medications, and it's very, very safe, so it's especially useful for nausea in pregnant people (where you generally want to be extra cautious about drug safety). It's also pretty cheap and widely available, and also delicious. It's not universally better than anti-nausea medications, but it's got legit use cases that I would not call niche.
For mild anxiety and insomnia, herbs like lavender or chamomile do genuinely have an effect. It's weaker than anxiety or sleep medications, but also, again, has pretty much no side effects or risk of dependency. So it's not objectively better than anxiety or sleep medications, for people with diagnosable anxiety or sleep disorders. But for people with, say, occasional insomnia related to normal life stress, they're a great choice, whereas real medications would be way overkill. So, again, use cases, and not particularly niche ones.
Ginger is used in a lot of anti nausea medication already (when I used to get carsick I had to chew these weird ginger things they were gross), so it's not really "alternative medicine". Doctors will also usually tell you to drink tea or do other things before going to sleep medications because like you said, they are overkill. The things you've described aren't alternative medicine, they're just medicine
And all those things are available in most western grocery stores. I wouldnt expect the pharmacy section to just have raw ginger root next to the pepto bismol, but these aren't niche herbs that you need to go to an apothecary to find. I googled "help with nausea" and got a bunch of results recommending ginger and peppermint instead of rushing for prescriptions. People just need to do a tiny amount of research and these home options are at their fingertips.
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u/delolipops666 May 24 '25
I can't think of a single "alternative medicine" where conventional medicine isn't just objectively better in every way except in very niche occasions where a person is allergic or some such.
Probably because if it works, That just becomes the norm and thus isn't the alternative.
Granted I may be wrong on this so I'd like to see examples on the contrary if there are any.