Most people have this myth that Ayurvedic products or medicine do not have any side effects. This is akin to saying that Ayurvedic medicine doesn’t have any effect either. Nothing can be further from the truth. People develop this myth because they treat Ayurveda as a supplement rather than a medical system.
Home remedies do fall under the scope of Ayurveda because being healthy is a lifelong journey. So to be healthy a number of Ayurvedic elements are added to our kitchen (specifically Indian kitchen). Most people think this is Ayurveda.
This home remedy business has done the most harm to Ayurveda. But Ayurveda is much more than that. It has very powerful medicines. But due to the dearth of real Ayurvedic practitioners, real knowledge of Ayurveda is not reached the right people and they end up thinking Ayurveda is not a real thing.
I would argue that the importance of consulting an Ayurvedic practitioner is at least 5 times more important than a normal Allopathic practitioner. This is because Ayurveda works on the principle of treating the host rather than the disease. An Ayurvedacharya (Ayurvedic doctor) will see the patient and then prescribe medicine based on his or her condition.
Most of the Ayurvedic medicine are customized i.e. there is no one size fit all type of solution in Ayurveda. Even for the same disease, the prescription will vary a lot depending on the person.