Clinicians should not prescribe or recommend herbal remedies without well-established efficacy as if they were medications that had been proved effective by rigorous study. However, these products continue to have great appeal to patients, and this reality cannot be ignored. Thus, it is imperative to ask patients whether they are taking herbal products, particularly when they present with an unexplained health problem. Clinicians must be informed about the potential effects of herbal preparations and must be able to discuss this subject in a nonjudgmental way. They must tread a line between an apparently sympathetic stance that might be interpreted as an endorsement of unproven therapies and categorical disapproval, which would discourage patients from revealing their use of herbal remedies. There is no straightforward formula for achieving a balanced approach; the discussion should be tailored to the individual patient in an effort to convey professional views that the patient will both understand and respect. The physician will then have an opportunity to outline the available clinical data on the efficacy of herbal products and to explain which potential hazards should not be overlooked.