Implying that natural products are always good for us, while synthetic ones are always bad is intellectual laziness. There is an abundance of toxic compounds fo

Implying that natural products are always good for us, while synthetic ones are always bad is intellectual laziness. There is an abundance of toxic compounds found in nature that are unequivocally bad for us. Take bracken for example, a ubiquitous plant containing the carcinogen ptaquiloside, which is used in cooking in different parts of the world traditionally. It can also be absorbed up the food chain affecting milk that humans consume, and it is known to affect the water supply, increasing the rate of stomach cancer.