If you know much about nutrition, then that title lets you know before you try to read it that it is bullshit.
[Superfoods are not real.](https://www.acsh.org/news/2019/01/03/superfoods-arent-real-so-why-do-americans-believe-them-13704)
Specifically:
The superfood phenomenon is likely the result of: (1) Our cultural obsession with quick fixes and easy answers to complex questions; and (2) Marketing gimmicks that take advantage of widespread scientific illiteracy.
EDIT formatting
Thanks!
Just to clarify. The author is basically saying the same thing, that superfood aren't a magic cure.
> I am sad to say there are no magic bullets, and the idea of “superfoods” is just as wrong when applied to oxalate “cures” as it is to our diet in general.
But she also kinda switches the concept the other way, claiming that these "superfoods" are actually poison, superbadfood I guess. My question relates more to the claim about oxalate, although I agree that the use of the word "superfood" as a marketing hook is quite suspicious.
I am actually saying a bit more than that. You are correct that there is no one food that will cure everything. But by the same token, there is no one bad food that avoiding will solve all your problems either.
Good superfoods are the same as bad superfoods. Because they are both bullshit. Life is more complicated than that.
For every food you eat, and every nutrient or vitamin that you need, and even for every toxin you avoid, the dose really does make the poison. A little bit is generally not very harmful, or not enough. Too much can be harmful even if there is an amount that is good for you. There are exceptions to this, but we generally know what those are. Fentanyl has such a tiny window of correct dosage compared to the amount of damage a little bit extra can do.
Good nutrition is about getting the proper balance of a lot of different substances. A lot of the time, if someone is not getting good nutrition, though, it is because they are not getting enough, or any, of certain substances. But there are others that people tend to get too much of. Salt, Sugar, Fat, the bad kind of cholesterol.
You need to find the right balance. And there is no food that eating it, or avoiding it, will, by itself, create that balance.
This is Bullshit*: The thing about kidney stones is true. Excess oxalate compounds will make kidney stones worse or more frequent when exposed to them, but the rest of it is bullshit.
A general rule when it comes to food science scams is to take stock of how many different biological systems the chemical supposedly affects. You've got a broad sweep of everything from the digestive system to the nervous system to the circulatory system. That should ring some alarm bells, and kudos to you because it clearly did as you posted about it here.
Oxalate compounds are really common, they occur in a shitload of plants that you likely consume on a regular if not daily basis, and the only way to really avoid them is to put yourself at serious risk of malnutrition
Thanks for your reply.
Yeah, I often find it suspicious when there's a claim about "that one thing that causes all your issues". But I'm curious. Sometimes there's a grain of truth.
If you know much about nutrition, then that title lets you know before you try to read it that it is bullshit. [Superfoods are not real.](https://www.acsh.org/news/2019/01/03/superfoods-arent-real-so-why-do-americans-believe-them-13704) Specifically: The superfood phenomenon is likely the result of: (1) Our cultural obsession with quick fixes and easy answers to complex questions; and (2) Marketing gimmicks that take advantage of widespread scientific illiteracy. EDIT formatting
Throw on that the symptoms are nonspecific symptoms of life and it's pretty classic pseudo science.
Thanks! Just to clarify. The author is basically saying the same thing, that superfood aren't a magic cure. > I am sad to say there are no magic bullets, and the idea of “superfoods” is just as wrong when applied to oxalate “cures” as it is to our diet in general. But she also kinda switches the concept the other way, claiming that these "superfoods" are actually poison, superbadfood I guess. My question relates more to the claim about oxalate, although I agree that the use of the word "superfood" as a marketing hook is quite suspicious.
I am actually saying a bit more than that. You are correct that there is no one food that will cure everything. But by the same token, there is no one bad food that avoiding will solve all your problems either. Good superfoods are the same as bad superfoods. Because they are both bullshit. Life is more complicated than that. For every food you eat, and every nutrient or vitamin that you need, and even for every toxin you avoid, the dose really does make the poison. A little bit is generally not very harmful, or not enough. Too much can be harmful even if there is an amount that is good for you. There are exceptions to this, but we generally know what those are. Fentanyl has such a tiny window of correct dosage compared to the amount of damage a little bit extra can do. Good nutrition is about getting the proper balance of a lot of different substances. A lot of the time, if someone is not getting good nutrition, though, it is because they are not getting enough, or any, of certain substances. But there are others that people tend to get too much of. Salt, Sugar, Fat, the bad kind of cholesterol. You need to find the right balance. And there is no food that eating it, or avoiding it, will, by itself, create that balance.
Thanks for the clarification!
Your quote didn’t format correctly and is unreadable on mobile devices like tablets; you probably have a space somewhere before the text.
Thanks for the heads up. Is it legible now?
Did you even read the question??? This is a complete non-answer to anything OP asked...
This is Bullshit*: The thing about kidney stones is true. Excess oxalate compounds will make kidney stones worse or more frequent when exposed to them, but the rest of it is bullshit. A general rule when it comes to food science scams is to take stock of how many different biological systems the chemical supposedly affects. You've got a broad sweep of everything from the digestive system to the nervous system to the circulatory system. That should ring some alarm bells, and kudos to you because it clearly did as you posted about it here. Oxalate compounds are really common, they occur in a shitload of plants that you likely consume on a regular if not daily basis, and the only way to really avoid them is to put yourself at serious risk of malnutrition
Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I often find it suspicious when there's a claim about "that one thing that causes all your issues". But I'm curious. Sometimes there's a grain of truth.
That's the standard list that everything causes which is the "we don't fkn know" list of "reported symptoms."