Evidence Watch
The placebo question, taken seriously
Dismissing a treatment as merely placebo is both a serious criticism and an under-examined one. What placebo effects are, and are not, matters for how traditional medicine should be assessed.
Sanjay Iyer
32 articles by Iyer
Herbs & Formulations
Diuretic herbs and the kidney
Punarnava and several other traditional preparations are used for fluid retention and urinary conditions. The kidney is an organ where herbal preparations have caused substantial documented harm.
Yoga & Breath
Yoga injuries and how to practise without acquiring one
Yoga is generally safe and injury rates are not zero. The pattern of injuries is well enough documented that most of them are avoidable.
Herbs & Formulations
Arjuna and the heart claims
Terminalia arjuna is used classically for cardiac conditions and has a small research literature. Cardiology is the field where substituting an unproven treatment is least advisable.
Evidence Watch
Cancer claims: the most important thing on this site to get right
Alternative cancer treatment is an area where the stakes are absolute and the evidence is clear. This article states the position plainly.
Evidence Watch
What traditional use establishes, and what it does not
Long history of use is offered as evidence for herbal preparations constantly. It genuinely is evidence, of a specific and limited kind, and understanding which kind is useful.
Herbs & Formulations
Shilajit: what it is, and the contamination question
A mineral-rich substance collected from rock faces, with a small research literature and a quality control problem that follows directly from what it is.
Evidence Watch
Ayurveda for skin conditions: evidence, and a specific warning
Skin conditions are visible, chronic and frequently frustrating, which makes them a major market for alternative treatment. One category of product in this area causes real harm.
Dosha & Constitution
Ojas and the immunity claim
Ojas is a classical concept frequently translated as immunity in contemporary material. That translation is doing a lot of work it cannot support.
Herbs & Formulations
Amla: vitamin C, and what that does and does not mean
Indian gooseberry is genuinely one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C, which has produced a set of claims that go well beyond what vitamin C actually does.
Herbs & Formulations
Licorice: effective for some things, and genuinely risky
Yashtimadhu is used widely in Ayurvedic formulations and it has a well-documented mechanism for causing high blood pressure and low potassium. This one warrants real caution.
Yoga & Breath
Yoga for back pain: the evidence that made it into guidelines
Low back pain is one of the few areas where yoga has enough trial evidence to appear in clinical guidance, and the reasons are worth understanding.
Herbs & Formulations
Guggul: the resin that reached a pharmaceutical trial and did not survive it
Guggul is a useful case study: promising early results, widespread adoption, and then a properly conducted trial that produced an unexpected answer.
Evidence Watch
Ayurveda for arthritis: the trials, and the one that got attention
Joint conditions are among the most common reasons people try traditional medicine, and there is a reasonable body of research including one comparatively rigorous trial.
Evidence Watch
Natural does not mean safe: how herbs interact with medicines
Herb-drug interactions are real, some are serious, and the mechanisms are the same ones that produce interactions between pharmaceuticals.
Yoga & Breath
The cleansing practices: which are reasonable and which are not
Hatha yoga texts describe six categories of cleansing practice. They range from ordinary nasal irrigation to procedures that carry real risk and should not be attempted from a book.
Herbs & Formulations
Shatavari and the claims made about women’s health
A widely used classical preparation marketed for a broad range of women’s health indications, with a research base that does not support most of them.
Evidence Watch
How Ayurvedic products are regulated, and where they are not
The same product can be a licensed medicine in one country and an unregulated supplement in another, and the practical consequences for what is in the packet are substantial.
Herbs & Formulations
Neem: a genuinely useful plant with a genuinely serious caution
Neem has reasonable evidence for some topical and dental applications, and neem oil taken internally has caused deaths in children. Both facts belong in the same article.
Yoga & Breath
Mantra, chanting and what the research finds
Repetitive vocalisation appears across religious traditions and has attracted physiological research, most of which points at breathing rather than at anything specific to the sounds.
Evidence Watch
Ayurveda for diabetes: what the trials actually show
A substantial number of trials have examined Ayurvedic preparations in type 2 diabetes. The findings are worth knowing, and so is the reason none of them should change your treatment.
Herbs & Formulations
Ginger: the traditional remedy with the best nausea evidence
Among all the botanicals used across traditional medicine systems, ginger has some of the most consistent clinical trial support — for one particular indication.
Herbs & Formulations
Tulsi: the household plant with a modest research file
Holy basil is grown in courtyards across India and used domestically for coughs and colds. The clinical evidence is thinner than its cultural presence suggests.
Evidence Watch
Detox: what the word is doing
Detoxification is a real physiological process and it is not what detox products claim to do. This is one of the clearest cases where a traditional concept has been repurposed for marketing.
Herbs & Formulations
Brahmi and bacopa: the memory claim, examined
A classical nervine with a reasonable set of cognitive trials behind it, a naming confusion that causes real problems, and an effect that takes months to appear if it appears at all.
Yoga & Breath
Meditation: the evidence, sorted by how well it holds up
A large research literature with real findings, substantial methodological problems, and a set of claims that range from well supported to entirely unsupported.
Evidence Watch
Heavy metals in traditional medicines: the thing you should read first
A documented and repeatedly confirmed contamination problem affecting a meaningful proportion of Ayurvedic products on the market. This is the safety issue that matters most.
Herbs & Formulations
Triphala: three fruits, and a reasonable amount of research
One of the most widely used classical formulations, taken principally for digestion and elimination, with a body of evidence that is better than most and thinner than the marketing.
Herbs & Formulations
Ashwagandha: the evidence, and the reasons for care
One of the better-studied Ayurvedic botanicals, with a reasonable body of trial evidence for stress and sleep, and a specific set of safety issues worth knowing before starting.
Yoga & Breath
Pranayama: what the breathing practices do, as far as anyone can tell
Controlled breathing has measurable physiological effects, a reasonable body of trial evidence for some outcomes, and a set of specific safety considerations that are rarely mentioned.
Evidence Watch
How to read a trial of a traditional medicine
Studies of Ayurvedic and other traditional interventions have some recurring methodological features, and knowing what to look for makes most headlines easy to assess.
Herbs & Formulations
Turmeric and curcumin: a large literature and a specific problem
Curcumin is one of the most-studied natural compounds in existence, and the reason the results are so inconsistent turns out to be a matter of pharmacology.