Coenzyme Q10, Cranberry, Echinacea, Fiber, Flavonoids (Soy), Flaxseed, Garlic, Ginkgo, Ginseng, Glucosamine/ Chondroitin, Herbals, Melatonin, Milk Thistle, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Saw Palmetto, Tea

Most commonly used natural products

Here’s a follow-up to an earlier post on the use of CAM in the US in 2007 as surveyed by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM).

Most commonly used natural products by adults, 2007.

  • Fish oil/omega-3/DHA (docosahexaenoic acid): 37%
  • Glucosamine: 20%
  • Echinacea: 20%
  • Flaxseed oil or pills: 16%
  • Ginseng: 14%
  • Combination herb pill: 13%
  • Ginkgo biloba: 11%
  • Chondroitin: 11%
  • Garlic supplements: 11%
  • Coenzyme Q-10: 9%
  • Fiber or psyllium: 7%
  • Green tea pills: 6%
  • Cranberry (pills, gelcaps): 6%
  • Saw palmetto: 5%
  • Soy supplements or isofavones: 5%
  • Melatonin: 5%
  • Grape seed extract: 4%
  • MSM (methysulfonylmethane): 4%
  • Milk thistle: 4%
  • Lutein: 3%

The most commonly used natural products by children younger than 18 years.

  • Echinacea: 37%
  • Fish oil/omega/3/DHA: 31%
  • Combination herb pill: 18%
  • Flaxseed oil or pills: 17%
  • Prebiotics or probiotics: 14%
  • Goldenseal: 9%
  • Garlic supplements: 6%
  • Melatonin: 6%
  • Cranberry (pills, gelcaps): 2%

Natural products are defined as “nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products for health reasons.”

You can search through the archives here to learn more about the research that supports (or doesn’t) the use of these natural products.

Or, Drs. Gayle Nicholas Scott (Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk) and Gary Elmer (University of Washington, Seattle) have a published a concise (but somewhat dated) review on most of them here.

1/18/09 15:53 JR