Natural Remedies Evidence Report
How strong is the evidence behind popular natural remedies? We rate every claim we cover, one use at a time, from sources an editor has opened and checked. These are the totals.
Updated 10 October 2026 · 132 ingredients · 515 rated uses · Recalculated whenever a rating changes
Headline numbers
Put another way, roughly 1 in 6 claims about a natural remedy is backed by evidence we would call Moderate or better. Heart health is the best-supported topic, with 14 of 26 remedies rated Moderate or Strong.
How the claims rate
Each use of each ingredient is rated separately, on the form that was tested.
By health topic
Each remedy is counted once per topic, at its rating for that topic's use. Sorted by the share rated Moderate or Strong.
| Topic | Remedies rated | Moderate or Strong | Best rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heart health | 26 | 14 (54%) | Strong |
| Blood sugar | 12 | 4 (33%) | Moderate |
| Headaches | 6 | 2 (33%) | Moderate |
| Digestion | 23 | 7 (30%) | Strong |
| Bladder & Urinary | 7 | 2 (29%) | Moderate |
| Low Mood | 7 | 2 (29%) | Moderate |
| Coughs & Colds | 11 | 3 (27%) | Moderate |
| Allergies | 4 | 1 (25%) | Moderate |
| Joints and inflammation | 16 | 4 (25%) | Moderate |
| Energy and fatigue | 5 | 1 (20%) | Moderate |
| Men’s Health | 5 | 1 (20%) | Moderate |
| Skin | 51 | 10 (20%) | Moderate |
| Focus and concentration | 8 | 1 (13%) | Moderate |
| Sleep | 16 | 2 (13%) | Moderate |
| Women’s Health | 18 | 2 (11%) | Moderate |
| Stress and anxiety | 22 | 2 (9%) | Moderate |
| Acid Reflux & Heartburn | 5 | 0 (0%) | Limited |
| Hair & Nails | 31 | 0 (0%) | Limited |
| Immunity | 4 | 0 (0%) | Limited |
The strongest evidence
Every use we rate Strong: two or more good human trials, or a systematic review, pointing the same way with a meaningful effect.
Method
We cover natural ingredients people commonly use or search for, and rate each health use claimed for them on a four-level scale: Strong, Moderate, Limited and Traditional. Ratings come from systematic reviews, regulators' assessments (such as the European Medicines Agency and NCCIH) and randomised trials in humans, and apply only to the form and dose that was tested.
A null or negative systematic review caps a use at Limited, however many small positive trials exist. Every citation is checked automatically against PubMed or the source's own page, and an editor reviews each page against its sources before it is signed off. The full rules are on how we rate evidence.
Limits: the set of ingredients reflects what readers search for, not a random sample of all remedies, and a claim we have not yet rated is not counted. Topic figures count each remedy once, at the rating for the use that topic page is about.
Cite or download
Free to use with credit (CC BY 4.0). Please link to this page.
Healthy and Herbal. Natural Remedies Evidence Report. Updated 10 October 2026. https://healthyandherbal.com/evidence-report/Questions people ask
How many natural remedies are backed by strong evidence?
Very few. Of the 515 uses we have rated across 132 natural ingredients, 6 (1%) have Strong evidence and 82 (16%) have Moderate or Strong evidence. Most claims rest on small or mixed studies (Limited) or on traditional use alone.
Which natural remedy topics have the weakest evidence?
On our pages for acid reflux & heartburn, hair & nails, immunity, none of the remedies we have rated reaches Moderate evidence for that use.
Can I use these figures?
Yes. Please cite Healthy and Herbal and link to this page; the citation is below, and the full table is available as a CSV download. The numbers update automatically when we add or re-rate an ingredient, so quote the date you accessed it.