--- title: "It's natural so it's healthy" and the miracle cure — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «"It's natural so it's healthy" and the miracle cure», a lesson of the world course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: "It's natural, so it's good for you" sounds kind and cosy, but nature also makes deadly nightshade, poisonous mushrooms --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/) / "It's natural so it's healthy" and the… # "It's natural so it's healthy" and the miracle cure Lesson 179 of the world course of Mova's primary school: 22 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/0/) — "It's natural, so it's good for you" sounds kind and cosy, but nature also makes deadly nightshade, poisonous mushrooms and snake venom. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/1/) — Whether something is safe depends on what it is and how much, not on where it came from. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/2/) — "Miracle" cures work the same way: a cream that removed every wrinkle in three days would be front-page news, not a pop-up advert. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/3/) — If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/4/) — Watch out for "it worked for me": colds get better in about a week anyway, and Uncle Mo started physiotherapy the same week he bought his magnet bracelet, so the bracelet got the credit for the exercises. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/5/) — Ask the dull questions: Which toxins? - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/6/) — Who tested it? - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/7/) — Compared with what? - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/8/) — "Big companies are hiding it" is not proof; it is an excuse for having no proof. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/9/) — Grandma gets it right when she laughs, "Miracle cream my foot, the only thing it removed was twenty quid from my purse": she laughs at the claim, and at herself. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/10/) — Lots of natural things are poisonous, such as some mushrooms, deadly nightshade and snake venom, so "natural" does not mean "safe". - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/11/) — Herbal pills can affect the body like other medicines and can do harm, so ask a pharmacist (the medicines expert at the chemist's) before taking one. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/12/) — No cream removes all wrinkles in three days; a real breakthrough would be big news, not a pop-up advert. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/13/) — Studies have found that magnetic bracelets don't help pain more than fake ones, while physiotherapy (exercises and stretches taught by a trained physiotherapist, or "physio") really can help back pain. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/14/) — Doctors want people to be healthy, so a headline saying "doctors hate this one trick" is clickbait, made to get you to click. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/15/) — Honey is natural but mostly sugar, and it can cause tooth decay like other sugar; babies under one year old should not have honey at all. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/16/) — Most colds get better in 7 to 10 days with or without any "cure", which is why so many cures seem to work. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/17/) — Your liver and kidneys remove waste from your body every day; detox teas don't have good evidence behind them. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/18/) — When a cure works, scientists test it and publish the results; "they're hiding it" is not evidence that it works. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/19/) — Organic farming follows rules such as using fewer artificial chemicals and can be better for some soil and animals, but an organic apple has about the same vitamins as an ordinary one. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/20/) — Famous people are often paid to say they use a product; a famous face is not evidence that it works. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/179-its-natural-so-its-healthy-and-the-miracle-cure/21/) — Words people use: "quid" (UK) means pounds; "my foot!" means "rubbish!"; "bling" means shiny jewellery; "my guy" means "mate"; "dodgy" means not to be trusted; "grand" (Ireland) means fine; "scoff" (UK) means eat greedily; "lowkey" means quietly, a bit. - ← previous: [The politician's either-or and the straw man](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/178-the-politicians-either-or-and-the-straw-man/) - next →: [Correlation is not cause: ice cream and sunburn](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/180-correlation-is-not-cause-ice-cream-and-sunburn/) - ↑ back to [World](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/)