Build Up Catch Up - 3/31/23
Adaptogens; Boring Stock Photos; Medical/Food Mystery; Book Nook
Adaptogens
One of the most recent #WooWords you may be hearing lately is ADAPTOGEN. Why “woo word”? If you check social media, you can see posts about adaptogens with a laundry list of claims, often a red flag of quackery. A quick scan of Twitter shows claims from “enhanced well-being”, to “fighting allergies” and even “improved sexual health”.
What are adaptogens? They can be plants and herbs but they are most often sold and consumed in the pill form as a supplement or concentrated powders to add to beverages. When you read the posts you can see various classic logical fallacies like appeal to nature - “made with natural herbs” and appeal to tradition - “used to treat ailments for a millenia”.
Here's a summary by McGill Office for Science and Society Appeal to Nature (logicallyfallacious.com): "Adaptogens are supposed to be substances, often plants (like ginseng and golden root), that help the body adapt to stress with no side effect. Their long-term safety has not been demonstrated, and consumers should keep in mind that the regulation of this market is poor and some adaptogenic herbs are known to have potentially serious side effects…Evidence for their effectiveness usually comes from animal studies…and a few published studies in humans, which tend to be small and lacking in rigour"
Bottom Line: If “adaptogen” is being used adjacent to a variety of health claims, be skeptical and ask about the research and proof. Avoid buying supplements/pills/powders marketed as “adaptogens” which are, at best, minimally regulated.
Stock Photos of Dietitians
Try this for yourself. Put “dietitian” into your favorite browser and pull up the images (we’ll wait….)
…So, what did you find? What’s with the lab coats and stethoscopes? At least we spotted some potential diversity. Why is it so many of the images are posed with fruit and vegetables? Where are depictions of dietitians calculating nutrition support? Dietitians in retail? Dietitians in the military? Registered dietitians working with infants, children or school-aged kids?
Note: To connect with dietitians on career related issues try our Build Up Dietitians Career Advice group .
on Google
on Yahoo
Iodine and Irish Moss - Medical Mystery
A recent medical mystery/food mystery posted on our Facebook page was about iodine toxicity. A fictitious case of a young woman who was adding multiple scoops of Irish moss (seaweed) powder to smoothies that she drank a couple of times per day in the hopes of improving gut health. She began to experience nausea/vomiting/diarrhea and lab values showed excessive iodine. This fictitious case study was based on the real potential of excessive iodine as detailed in this risk assessment of seaweed products affecting thyroid function due to high amounts of iodine.
Fun fact: Carageenan is made from red seaweed and is used as a thickener in many food products like non-dairy alternatives and frozen desserts. But carageenan is not without controversy. This is a balanced piece in Self Magazine that talks about some of the concerns about this ingredient.
Podcast Pick: Unbiased Science - “Dr. TikTok” and the Multi-trends of Madness, Part 2”
Book Nook:
“Quack Quack: The Threat of Pseudoscience” - Dr. Joe Schwarcz
Dr. Joe Schwarcz of McGill Office of Science and Society looks at and unravels some of the biggest scams in health and wellness. Schwarcz explains how pseudoscience can be harmful to the public if those that care about science don’t debunk misinformation.
Connecting
Did you know we were on Linkedin? It’s a fairly new platform for us but we have over 1000 followers there now.
