Natural doesn't always mean better: How to spot if someone is trying to convince you with an 'appeal to nature'

Suggesting that natural products or ingredients are always better than synthetic ones is a common mistake made by influencers, brands, and politicians.

Before writing this column, I went to a hair appointment. As my stylist fastened the smock around my neck, she pointed to the shampoo she would use. "It's a new line, made from 90% natural ingredients," she said. The pamphlet that came with it had short descriptions of each product—one shampoo used prickly pear extract, another used acai berries, and a third included chia seeds.

When I got home with the shampoo bottles I bought, I took a closer look at the ingredient list: cetearyl alcohol, glycerin, behentrimonium chloride, isopropyl myristate. These are all common, lab-made ingredients. None of them worried me, but despite being used in much larger amounts than the fruit extracts, they weren't highlighted in the brand's ads.

The tactic used here—perhaps successfully on me—is centuries old. It's often used on social media by brands, influencers, and politicians worldwide.

This is often referred to as an "appeal to nature" or the "naturalistic fallacy." It's one of the most common types of logical fallacies, which are flaws in reasoning that can make a claim sound convincing. Anytime you hear someone claim that a product or practice is better because it is "natural," or that something is worse (or even harmful) because it is not "natural," this is the naturalistic fallacy at work. The same goes for arguments that something is "as nature intended" or that something is bad simply because it is a "chemical" or "synthetic."

Nature is wonderful in many ways and has much to teach us. So why isn't it true that something is better just because it comes from nature?

For one thing, nature doesn't have intentions—at least not in any conscious way. It doesn't aim to be good or to help humans specifically.

We don't need to get too philosophical to understand this. Just think about some of nature's creations. Arsenic, which can kill an adult with just 70mg, is natural. So is asbestos, which causes cancer. Cyanide, which can be lethal with only 1.5mg per kilogram of body weight if ingested, is a natural toxin produced by over 2,000 plant species, including almonds, apricots, and peaches. This is why some "natural" remedies, like ground apricot seeds, can actually be dangerous to consume.

This is the problem with the word "natural" often used in marketing. It's a vague term that doesn't necessarily mean the product is better or safer than other options.

For example, an investigation into teething products for babies labeled as "natural" found that over 370 infants experienced adverse effects like seizures or delirium. These products contained inconsistent and sometimes high levels of belladonna, also known as deadly nightshade.