"since natural products are un-patentable, they are unprotected."
That is false. Take a look at "Cold FX", for eg. As to research, so much on the internet is false and dangerous. There are effective "natural" products such as some herbs, but they are not without side-effects (look up St. John's Wort), and it is not always safe to self-prescribe. With the current lack of regulations, you may not even be getting the herb as labelled and it is likely laced with pesticides, and may contain other dangerous contaminants. Some also contain black market prescription drugs such as a "natural ED" product which men with cardiac conditions took instead of Viagra only to end up in the hospital as the product was actually laced with Viagra (so guess what, it worked). This product was never tested for safety until it hit the market and was reported after men had cardiac issues. That is not right! The industry is not regulated at all.