Stones and health: what we know

What crystal practice attributes to stones

Crystal books credit stones with effects on the body and mood: soothing, helping sleep, relieving, strengthening. Versana repeats none of these promises, neither stone by stone nor condition by condition. They are beliefs, sometimes old, often tied to the New Age movement: they say what people hoped from stones, not what stones do.

What research says

In 2001, Christopher French and his colleagues at Goldsmiths, University of London, presented an experiment to the British Psychological Society: eighty volunteers meditated with either a real quartz or a stone that looked identical. Many described the expected effects, whether the stone was real or fake. The team concluded that no evidence shows an effect beyond placebo. The benefits people felt are explained by expectation and by confirmation bias, which makes us remember what supports a belief.

What the law provides

In France, advertising for an object or method presented as beneficial to health is regulated by the public health code. On August 10, 2005, Afssaps banned the advertising of a crystal therapy center that credited stones with effects on rheumatism, headaches, or insomnia, for lack of clinical or scientific evidence. The consumer code also penalizes misleading commercial practices. That is why no Versana page promises any effect.

The real risks

The main risk is indirect: delaying useful medical care by relying on a stone. The others are concrete. Some stones contain copper or metals, such as malachite, azurite, chrysocolla, or shungite: they should not be put in drinking water, and their dust should not be inhaled. A broken obsidian cuts like glass. Finally, stone “elixirs” have no justification and can expose you to these metals.

How Versana talks about it

Each page reports what traditions attribute to a stone, with the source and in the conditional, then what the stone really is: mineral, hardness, origin, imitations, care. A single warning, the same everywhere, reminds you that no effect is demonstrated and invites you to consult a professional if you have a health concern. No page suggests a stone for a symptom.

Sources

• Decision of the French medicines agency (Afssaps), August 10, 2005 (JORF no. 248, October 23, 2005) · read October 15, 2026
• Wikipedia, “Crystal healing” (French et al., Goldsmiths, 2001) · read October 15, 2026
• Wikipedia, “Shungite” (heavy metals, claims) · read October 15, 2026