"But its registered as a complementary medicine, so its unlikely to
cause you more harm than good."

The laws on supplements vary from country to country.  In the US there is no registration at all for supplements or controls on their manufacture.  There also can be no medical claim made about the supplement curing any disease.  This applies to both labels and advertisements.  The supplement suppliers are in a constant tug of war with FDA over how far their claims can go.  The worst that happens if they over step is FDA issues a cease and desist order that is generally implemented promptly.  If not implemented promptly the supplier finds himself in court pretty fast.  As long as the ingredients are not on the federal controlled substances list you can put pretty much anything in supplements sold over the counter.  Analyses have been done from time to time on purchased supplements by different organizations ranging from news services to US government agencies and the results reported.  A substantial fraction of herbals contain either none or next to none of the claimed active ingredient listed on the label and instead are cheap fillers like ground up alfalfa.  Some contain well known toxins that can cause major human health damage if over consumed.  Vitamins and minerals generally are pretty close to what is listed on the label.

So, the big question is should anyone take any of these unregulated supplements?  Old people like me are well known to often be low on vitamin D and also are well known to absorb magnesium and calcium poorly.  If your doctor is competent he will run a vitamin D on your blood sample every few years and if you are low he will tell you to take a vitamin D supplement.  If he is not telling you to take D there is no known health reason to take it.  If you are low on magnesium you will be having issues with muscle cramps that are very painful.  If your doctor is competent and you mention muscle cramp issues he should tell you to try an over the counter magnesium supplement.  If you are female and over age 50 he will more than likely tell you to take a calcium supplement to try and avoid osteoporosis.  From time to time doctors may also tell you to take some other supplement either because some recent evidence shows it just might help something or simply as a placebo.  Often various chondroitin mixes are suggested for joint pain for instance.  Clinical studies show those supplements have no effect at all other than a placebo effect.  But, it is well known that many people get a lot of pain relief from the placebo effect.  A wonderful example is acetaminophen.  Clinical trails show clearly it does nothing measurable to reduce pain levels other than in a very tiny portion of head aches.  But, it does show a good placebo effect and also is mildly anti inflammatory.

Personally I do not think consuming propolis is a very bright idea.  You have no clue where the bees gathered that propolis and studies done on toxicity tell you little about the particular sample you have.  There are lots of anecdotal claims of efficacy but the same can be said about cow urine.  It has been known to cause allergic reactions,  Just because it is a natural product does not make it safe.  Botulism toxin and opium are also natural products. Just because it is safe to bees does not make it safe to you.  Bees do not eat it.

Always remember, everything is a poison.  So, you may need small amounts of things to be healthy, but large amounts of the same thing may kill you.  We had a big discussion a year or so back about use of lithium to control mites.  Some people rightfully had a concern about putting a psycho active substance in their hives risking honey contamination.  You need small amounts of lithium in your diet for good health.  Larger amounts will cause mental changes and in some people those changes are beneficial.  Larger amounts will kill you.

Dick

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