It's rarely an issue, the type I dislike tend to show up like a lighthouse, and I usualy give the benefit of the doubt. This was, as advertised, a rant, so there were specific circumstances that set it off which I won't further bore people with.



Most drugs have some sort of herbal or folklore origin, I also take tea when I have the flu... since dehydration is the major problem there, most doctors, if you have cold or flu will say "Drink lots of fluids, water, tea, juice, soup... and get lots of rest" Tea is no magic cure for cold or flu, but hydration really helps, and if you prefer tea, well, go for it, many do have other advantages, I've drank chamomille to fall asleep for years, but this has been evaluated by scientists, no guru is hawking it's spiritual powers to me, and I suspect most of it is a matter of placebo effect, the smell relaxes me, but I don't sneer at aspirin because it happens to be made of willow bark.

While I agree the snake-oil salesman need to be stoned, these days it is worth pointing out that most of them already are.

Herbal remedies have their place... which is being reviewed by science to see if they are just placebos or do something, and a lot of times 'something' is being massively toxic. One of the first rules in survival training is kill animals and eat them, because few animals are toxic but an awful lots of plants are.