Still, the benefits of this supplement may be overstated in the individual research, according to Dr. Cree, and the name, at least to me, suggests larger benefits than the supplement can actually provide. Even beyond that, the supplement, in my opinion, relies on a false equivalence, and that’s where things can get slippery.
“Natural” Isn’t Always Better
In the interview with Vogue, Valenton positions Lemme’s product as a natural alternative to Ozempic, seemingly implying that it’s a better option, free from negative impacts that Ozempic can pose. Lemme is far from the only company doing this. Numerous other supplements that claim to offer “natural” GLP-1 support have hit the market. In doing so, these brands are perpetuating what’s called the appeal to nature fallacy — the false idea that natural is always better and healthier — which is a calling card of the wellness movement, and offers a slippery slope into conspiratorial thinking.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health quickly debunks the appeal to nature fallacy on its website, saying that while nature is a powerful resource for healing and medicine, many “natural” products and supplements simply do not work, and that many harmful — even lethal — substances are natural, like mercury, snake venom, and arsenic. Dr. Cree says she disagrees with the idea that natural is better, citing supplements that use ground up animal adrenal glands as an example. These supplements, she says, claim to boost energy and cortisol levels, but they actually stop your body from making necessary hormones itself.
“It actually shuts down your body from making all these super important hormones and can give you fake PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), which is what I’ve seen in patients,” Dr. Cree says. “They think they’re doing something healthy by taking this adrenal support, which is natural, but in fact, they’re really damaging their system.”
In a 2021 article about the appeal to nature fallacy, Behavioral Scientist pointed out how this idea is further eroding our already tenuous relationship with science and medicine. Their article noted that the resurgence over the last five years of “woo-woo” and alternative health practices contributed to vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by people’s beliefs that their natural defenses were superior to vaccine-induced immunity. For a 2021 article I wrote on this topic, Timothy Caulfield, LL.M, professor of health law and science policy at the University of Alberta, told me about “the connection to conspiracy theories and suspicion of conventional health,” and how wellness companies pit natural remedies against conventional medicine “to create a false dichotomy” that implies natural is superior.
