I guess characters not using alchemy at all, do you just eat the alchemy ingredients to get effects that way?

I imagine it could be useful, Blue Mountain Flower restores 5 health, not too bad for someone so easily found.

I usually just sell them

Only Human Flesh and Human Hearts.

Hm, I never played an alchemist, never even use potions. but if I did, I would pay Far more attention to what they do. Maybe I should actually. From my experience in oblivion though, alchemical ingredients fared far worse than potions you made, the potions were much lighter and more valuable too.

One good thing to carry around and eat is hawk feathers. For cure disease effect.

Sometimes, but not often. My characters who use alchemy will tend to eat mountain flowers, tundra cotton, thistle and the like, but stay away from things such as giant's toe and hagraven feathers.

You can make a stupid amount of money in skyrim with alchemy, not to mention you can make some pretty nice potions as well. Thats why when anyone who suggests alchemy should be somehow buffed/improved is met with my laughter. The real downside is that it can be a bit tiring stopping to pick up ingredients as you run around.

i eat daedric hearts because they taste like chicken if chicken was a candy

As most of my characters do some kind of alchemy, some more some less, I pick up any ingedients I come across. IF it so happens that the character is out of potions and isn't a mage ( meaning their magic is low ) and healing isn't an option, then they will resort to eating food, then Alchemy ingredients, usually as they are running away.

Potions are so cheap and spells are so useful that I've never really needed to be an Alchemist myself.