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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHimalayan Bath Salts Will Not Save Your Life
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/02/natural_news_is_a_facebook_hit_never_click_on_itsr_stories_about_cancer.htmlHave you heard that eating whole lemons prevents cancer? Or that bathing in Himalayan salt rids the body of harmful toxins? That eating hijiki seaweed can delay hair graying? If you have a few Facebook friends, youve probably encountered some of these claims. The website Natural News which seems like a parody but is unfortunately quite seriouspublished these preposterous stories, and many others just as silly, last week alone.
Hokum like this is best ignored, but hundreds of thousands of Americans fail to do so. Natural News has achieved astonishing traction on social media, garnering Facebook shares in the high five and low six figures. These numbers should trouble youNatural News has an uncanny ability to move unsophisticated readers from harmless dietary balderdash to medical quackery to anti-government zealotry.
Lets start by deconstructing the claim that eating whole lemons staves off cancer. The author cites two medical journal articles. She badly mischaracterizes the first, published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry in 1999. The study described the isolation of three compounds, known as coumarins, from lemon peel. Coumarins exhibit tumor-suppressing properties in a laboratory dish, but that does not mean that eating lemon peel prevents cancer. Even if the oral ingestion of coumarins were convincingly shown to fight cancer in a laboratory animal, we still wouldnt know how much lemon peel would be required for a human to experience the same effects or whether you could tolerate the dose.
Well never be rid of tripe like this, but its important not to confuse hopeful superstitions with science.
The second study the author cites is an enormous overreach. No one enjoys biostatistics, but bear with me and youll be better prepared to identify weak studies in the future. The study, published in the journal Nutrition and Cancer in 2000, purported to show a correlation between consumption of lemon peel and diminished cancer risk. The authors surveyed 242 skin cancer survivors and 228 controls about their citrus consumption habits, but the questionnaire wasnt externally validated and has some screwy definitions. (Eating citrus peel often, for example, is defined as 50-75 percent of the time. What does that mean?) The authors did not adequately control for race or skin tone, which is an important variable in skin cancer studies. The sample size was much too small. Only 163 of the 470 study participants reported eating citrus peel, and just 28 of them admitted to eating citrus peel often. Thats not enough to prove that eating lemon peel prevents skin cancer. In addition, the statistical correlation is very weak, close to undetectable. Had one more person with cancer reported eating citrus peel, the relationship would likely have disappeared. In fairness, the study authors acknowledged the small sample size and the need for more substantial follow-ups, but everyone knows how these correlational studies are reported in the media. This is why you should look for patterns in scientific literature rather than relying on individual studies.
More at link.
Sid
catbyte
(34,447 posts)I won't use anything else. You really CAN taste a difference!
MadrasT
(7,237 posts)...I went to the natural food store looking for nice sea salt, and they hooked me up with Himalayan pink salt, which I bought because it was practically the most ridiculous thing I ever heard of...
...and I love it.
(Not sure if it's because it actually tastes better, or just because it amuses me.)
catbyte
(34,447 posts)pink salt with a friend of mine & both of us picked the Himalayan pink salt. I saw a show on the Food Network where some chef actually cooks on slabs of the salt--he uses them like a broiler & he also uses them cold for ceveche, etc. It was really interesting. Just enough salt comes through to flavor the food, but not to overpower it. I guess you can use them over and over. The slabs are for sale in specialty food stores too.
Viva_La_Revolution
(28,791 posts)this is what I learned today..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_salt
it's pink from Iron oxide.
catbyte
(34,447 posts)WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)might save a Palestinian life.............when Israel finally gets the message.
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)in fact i have a general knowledge book from the late 1800's with some wonderful cure all recipes . unfortunately some of the ingredients now illegal,not available ,and or kill you.
the only difference between yesterday and today there`s better marketing of these cure alls
hootinholler
(26,449 posts)It can make you run around nekkid eating faces.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Last edited Mon Feb 24, 2014, 06:00 PM - Edit history (1)
ETA: Not you specifically Sid, I know you don't have to bother with all that insurance mumbo jumbo that we Lucky Duckies enjoy.
etherealtruth
(22,165 posts)... I am very glad my crazy facebook friends do not share that garbage!
Other than that comment ... I have nothing to add
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)It is in fact our 'go to salt' among several varieties we use. There is much diversity among salts, dry, moist, various flavor profiles, we are also very fond of the smoked salts which bring that lovely taste of the particular wood to the plate.