Explore Natural Ingredients
A directory of natural ingredients by group: bee products, algae and seaweed, food-based, oils and butters, resins and clays. Linked entries have a sourced guide. Separate from the herb, mushroom and essential oil sections.
Content last updated . This page has not been medically reviewed.
Safety first. Supplements can cause side effects and interact with medicines. Read mushroom safety and interactions before you use any mushroom product.
This directory covers natural substances that are not herbs, mushrooms or essential oils. Ingredients without a link have no guide yet, and we do not publish thin placeholder pages. The chemical compound database is the Ingredients Database in the Research Library.
Where things live
Herbs and plant extracts are in Herbs & Botanicals. Mushrooms are in Mushrooms. Essential oils are in Essential Oils & Aromatherapy. Vitamins and minerals are in Vitamins & Supplements. Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) will be covered here as a specific preparation, not as a magnesium supplement.Groups have different origins
Honey comes from bees, spirulina from cyanobacteria, seaweed from algae, oils from seeds and fruit, charcoal and clay from processing or mining. They are not interchangeable and "natural" tells you none of it.Evidence snapshot
| Ingredient | Records tagged as randomized controlled trials | Records tagged as any clinical trial | All PubMed records that mention it | Check it yourself |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honey | 269 | 315 | 19,602 | PubMed search |
| Manuka honey | 44 | 47 | 959 | PubMed search |
| Propolis | 134 | 161 | 5,660 | PubMed search |
| Royal jelly | 28 | 32 | 1,512 | PubMed search |
| Bee pollen | 3 | 3 | 749 | PubMed search |
| Spirulina | 87 | 106 | 4,271 | PubMed search |
| Chlorella | 29 | 38 | 9,767 | PubMed search |
| Seaweed / sea moss / kelp | 80 | 100 | 13,572 | PubMed search |
| Apple cider vinegar | 5 | 6 | 171 | PubMed search |
| Cacao / cocoa | 308 | 346 | 6,196 | PubMed search |
| Oats / colloidal oatmeal | 65 | 81 | 665 | PubMed search |
| Coconut oil | 125 | 147 | 2,913 | PubMed search |
| Olive oil | 1107 | 1218 | 14,848 | PubMed search |
| Castor oil | 55 | 80 | 2,860 | PubMed search |
| Jojoba | 12 | 20 | 305 | PubMed search |
| Shea butter | 10 | 13 | 157 | PubMed search |
| Mastic gum | 17 | 21 | 499 | PubMed search |
| Shilajit | 7 | 9 | 122 | PubMed search |
| Bentonite / kaolin clay | 73 | 111 | 7,828 | PubMed search |
| Activated charcoal | 189 | 238 | 3,922 | PubMed search |
| Epsom salt / magnesium sulfate | 591 | 689 | 5,350 | PubMed search |
Counted 2026-10-22 using NCBI E-utilities. Counts include studies of extracts, blends and non-health topics, and a trial can find no effect. A higher count means more human research has been indexed, not that something works.
Names are in standard scientific form and were checked against NCBI Taxonomy and the GBIF checklist on October 22, 2026. Plain names show as links when a guide has been published, and as dashed labels when a guide is in preparation. Each mushroom has one guide, even when it appears in more than one group.
Bee-Derived Ingredients
Made by or from honeybees. Bee products can cause allergic reactions.
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Honey
Honey: why it must never be given to infants under 12 months, what research shows for cough and for wound care, and how honey differs from medical-grade honey dressings.
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Manuka Honey
Manuka honey: how it differs from ordinary honey, what meta-analysis found for dry eye, what the wound evidence covers (dressings, not jar honey), and the infant botulism warning.
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Propolis
Propolis: what a wound-healing meta-analysis reports, how much of it is lab or animal work, and why propolis is a documented allergen, especially for people with pollen or fragrance allergy.
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Royal Jelly
Royal jelly: what two meta-analyses found for blood sugar and liver enzymes (no significant effect overall) and what is documented about allergic reactions.
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Bee Pollen
Bee pollen: what a review of clinical trials covers, a documented case of anaphylaxis, and where proper evidence was not found.
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Beeswax
Beeswax: what a narrative review of skin studies reports, how beeswax relates to propolis allergy, and where proper evidence was not found.
Marine & Algae-Derived Ingredients
Seaweeds and microalgae. Seaweed can contain a lot of iodine.
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Spirulina & Chlorella
Spirulina and chlorella: how they differ, what meta-analyses show for blood pressure and cholesterol, and quality problems found in spirulina supplements.
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Seaweed, Sea Moss & Kelp
Seaweed, sea moss and kelp: why iodine content varies, what the American Thyroid Association says about kelp supplements, and why sea moss labels need a species name.
Food-Based Ingredients
Foods used for health or skin care.
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Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple cider vinegar: what meta-analyses of randomized trials show for blood sugar, cholesterol and body weight, how short and small the evidence is, and what we could not verify about safety.
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Cacao & Cocoa
Cocoa and cacao: what the COSMOS trial of 21,442 adults found for a cocoa extract supplement, and why chocolate and cocoa powder are not the same as a flavanol supplement.
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Colloidal Oatmeal
Colloidal oatmeal: what FDA's skin-protectant rule requires (minimum 0.007%), what the label may say, and bath safety warnings. Ordinary oats and kitchen oatmeal are not the same product.
Oils, Fats & Butters
Fixed oils and butters, which are different from essential oils.
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Coconut Oil
Coconut oil: what meta-analyses show for cholesterol, what a narrative review says about skin, hair and oil pulling, and why food, skin and hair uses are different questions.
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Olive Oil
Olive oil: what a large meta-analysis shows for heart disease and diabetes as a food, and why a small trial found olive oil damaged the adult skin barrier, so it is not a proven moisturizer.
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Castor Oil
Castor oil: what a Cochrane review found for labor induction, what a systematic review says about hair, and why swallowing it is not a safe home remedy.
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Jojoba Oil
Jojoba oil: what a cosmetic-science review reports for dry skin, scalp and atopic dermatitis, what is not known, and where proper evidence was not found.
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Shea Butter
Shea butter: what a review of 27 clinical studies of oils and butters covers, how fatty acid profile affects skin, and where proper evidence was not found for shea butter itself.
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Cocoa Butter
Cocoa butter: an FDA-recognized skin protectant at 50 to 100 percent, what the label may claim, and how it differs from shea butter and from cocoa as a food.
Resins & Complex Natural Substances
Ingredients whose identity and composition vary.
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Mastic Gum
Mastic gum: what two small pilot randomized trials found for cholesterol and Helicobacter pylori, and why the evidence is preliminary.
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Shilajit
Shilajit: why its composition and origin are not well characterized, what a single small trial reported for testosterone, and why contaminant and heavy-metal questions need caution.
Processed & Mineral-Based Ingredients
Clays, charcoal and salts. Several are not meant to be swallowed.
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Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal: what it is, why it is used in emergency rooms but is not recommended for home poisoning treatment, and what is known about detox, teeth whitening and over-the-counter products.
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Bentonite Clay
Bentonite clay: what a review says about preliminary skin evidence, why larger trials are needed, and why we make no claim that swallowing clay is safe or a detox.
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Kaolin Clay
Kaolin clay: an FDA-recognized skin protectant at 4 to 20 percent, the powder warnings (broken skin, breathing it in), and why kaolin and bentonite are different clays.
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Epsom Salt
Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate): what a review found about transdermal magnesium (unsupported), how it differs from a magnesium supplement, and where proper evidence was not found.
About the PubMed counts: they come from a text search of PubMed (NCBI E-utilities) for the scientific and common names plus the "randomized controlled trial" publication type. They include studies of extracts, blends and non-health uses, and a trial can find no effect. A count shows how much human research has been indexed, not whether something works.