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Separate All-Natural from All-Hype
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Separate All-Natural from All-Hype
by Brandi Schlossberg
Whether you’re shopping for laundry detergent or strawberry preserves, if the label says “natural,” you may be more inclined to pick that product. The word natural seems to imply a commodity is free of synthetic ingredients.
Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Finding truly natural products goes beyond locating this word on a label, for the term natural has no official definition, and use of the word isn’t regulated, except in the case of meat and poultry.
According to Consumers Union, the independent, nonprofit testing center that publishes Consumer Reports, product labels using “natural” or “all-natural” are essentially meaningless.
The Consumers Union Web site states, “No standard definition for these terms exists. The producer or manufacturer decides whether to use this claim and is not free from its own self-interest.”
It’s up to the consumer to determine if a product is truly natural, and this takes education. For massage therapists, selecting a natural massage lubricant may be of particular importance, since lubricants touch you and your clients on a regular basis.
Defining natural
Organizations, such as the Natural Ingredient Resource Center (NIRC), are helping consumers grasp the definition of natural and offer standards for manufacturers who wish to produce natural goods.
The NIRC’s Web site notes, “Natural ingredients include plant, animal, mineral or microbial ingredients present in or produced by nature; processed using minimal physical processing; directly extracted using simple methods, simple chemical reactions or resulting from naturally occurring biological processes.”
It’s easy to grasp that for a product to be defined as natural its ingredients must come from nature. The confusion often arises in understanding the methods used to process these ingredients into consumer-ready products.
“Minimal processing means the ingredient has had no more processing than something that could be made in a household kitchen, stillroom, on a farm or vineyard,” reports NIRC. “It doesn’t mean [the products] have to actually be made in those
The organization gives several examples of extraction methods and simple chemical reactions that constitute “minimal processing,” including cleaning, cold pressing, dehydration, desiccation, drying, evaporation, filtering, grinding, infusing with water or natural alcohol, and steam or water distilling.
Natural massage lubricants
Armed with insight into the definition of natural, therapists should look beyond this word on a label. If you wish to work with a lubricant that meets the NIRC standards for “natural,” begin by reading the ingredients.
If the ingredients are packed with chemical preservatives, artificial colors or other synthetic ingredients, theres a good chance the product isn’t natural.
Mother Nature offers a treasure trove of fruits, herbs and other plants perfect for concocting massage lubricants, and a natural lotion or oil will list such ingredients on the label. For instance, sea algae, aloe vera, jojoba oil, chamomile, grapeseed oil and safflower oil are all known to add skin-soothing and softening properties to massage lubricants.
Other naturally occurring ingredients, such as Paraguay tea, cucumber, Austrian dwarf pine oil and lemon peel, may also be part of the list, as extracts of these items are known to have desirable effects on those they touch, from calming the senses to rejuvenating the body and alleviating fatigue.
For the bodyworker who seeks a natural lubricant with pain-relieving properties, look for ingredients, such as Arnica montana, mint oil, ginger, violet leaf, eucalyptus, wintergreen and rosemary.
If you are still unsure whether a lubricant is natural, visit the manufacturer’s Web site or contact the company for an explanation of the ingredients and the methods used to process them.
Personal regulation
Until an official definition of natural has been approved, it’s up to the individual consumer to personally investigate what she chooses to purchase. Fortunately, a little determination should help separate the all-natural from the all-hype.
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Comments
Location: Illinois
I think what you have forgotten to mention in this article is that just because a product is made from natural ingredients, it doesn't mean the ingredients are good for the skin. Everyone is hearing the hype about how parabens are bad for us, but what about dimethicone? Most of the "organic" creams and lotions have this product, which may come from natural sources, but from what I've read, doesn't let the skin breathe and is not good for you. How can we be telling our clients to do what is healthy for them, and then turn around and use products that may cause them harm?