Pesticides – the Hidden Threat of Dietary Supplements in the 21st Century
Europeans are among the most enthusiastic consumers of all kinds of dietary supplements in the world – including herbs, mushrooms, algae, and more – often recommended by various so-called “experts” or flashy commercials. The result in the body of such a person can resemble the famous cake baked by the dog and the cat from a children’s story: a chaotic mixture of everything, and it’s hard to make sense of it. People who fall into this pattern often suffer from excessive health anxiety. But in truth, they should be more concerned with two critical questions:
- Is this product really necessary for me – despite what’s often suggested or imposed?
- Is this product truly high-quality and safe?
Otherwise, it may do more harm than good. In this case, less and targeted always means more.
According to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), all pesticides behave like so-called Hot Toxins – essentially “sparks, large or small, that cause smouldering and eventually fire” in the body. They are like ticking time bombs within us. In other words, pesticides are more or less carcinogenic, and can trigger chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, Alzheimer’s disease, and more. Just like firearms, their effects – regardless of the weapon – are always harmful to some degree.
There is a huge difference between an importer who only tests a limited number of pesticides, and does so only randomly, proudly promoting that fact on their website – and an importer who, like us, tests the maximum possible number of pesticides (currently 602) in every single herb and every single batch. This level of commitment to quality and safety is unprecedented and unique, not only in the Czech Republic but throughout the entire world of natural medicine.
Many importers and sellers flood their websites with less essential or even redundant information about product safety and quality. But in today’s chemically oversaturated world, the three most important questions are:
- How many pesticides are tested for? (You can simply count them.)
- Is every batch and herb truly tested to that extent?
- Can all this be reliably verified and credibly documented?
As of 2025, our herbs are no longer tested for “just” 511, but now for 602 different pesticides – a level of scrutiny unmatched by any other importer of Chinese herbs in the European Union. Our herbs undergo double testing – first in Taiwan, and then again in Switzerland. Our Swiss partner laboratory, Phytax, is the only lab with comprehensive accreditation for the full spectrum of pesticide residues and botanical identification, making it absolutely unique in Europe.
Most producers and importers claim (i.e., merely state) that they only test for banned pesticides. But chemical pesticides are not bio-pesticides, which may have beneficial effects. All chemical pesticides are unnatural for the human body – and therefore undesirable. The argument that “a tiny amount doesn’t really matter” simply doesn’t hold up here.
Pesticides are a hidden threat to our health, acting much like rat poison – some individuals may tolerate them for a while – or like ammunition: some are like airgun pellets, others like shotgun pellets, rifle bullets, or even cannonballs. If these “projectiles” hit us, the injury depends on the power of the munition and the frequency of the attack. A single airgun pellet may not cause serious harm (unless it hits the eye), but repeated daily exposure, even to low levels, eventually takes its toll. 100 tiny hits can ultimately take down anyone…
This is particularly dangerous with long-term use of herbs contaminated with pesticides. Stronger “ammunition” leads to greater damage, depending on where it hits – a limb versus the heart – and also on the person’s constitution (or “roots”, as TCM would say). A strong constitution might cope better. But in people already suffering from illness, their immune system and overall vitality are weakened, making even small toxic impacts devastating, because they strike the weakest link in the body – further undermining already fragile health.