Questions tagged [nutrition]
Use this tag for claims regarding the way we eat, and the effects eating has on our bodies.
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How bitter is Robert Lustig's "Bitter Truth" about sugar?
A couple of months ago I watched the talk "Sugar: The Bitter Truth" by endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig on YouTube. The overall tone of the talk raised a couple of red flags; it sounded a little too ...
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Is food cooked in a microwave oven harmful for the health?
A colleague of mine just made a comment about cooking food in a microwave oven. According to him it is considered to be harmful to one's health. Is it true?
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Does burning your food increase your risk of getting cancer?
About a year ago I heard that burning your food can lead to an increased risk of getting cancer. The explanation was that the burned portion of the food was carcinogenic. The Carbon that would be ...
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Does the artificial sweetener aspartame cause cancer?
I've often heard that the artificial sweetener aspartame causes cancer.
Is it true?
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Is diet soda less healthy than regular soda?
The top 10 worst foods listed at planetgreen.com elects diet soda as the number one worst food/beverage, even worse than regular soda. However, I find it a little hard to believe, since the number of ...
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Does drinking milk lead to osteoporosis?
The China Study authors state that:
osteoporosis is linked to the consumption of animal protein because animal protein, unlike plant protein, increases the acidity of blood and tissues. They add ...
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Is a vegetarian (vegan) diet more healthy?
According to Wikipedia,
Vegetarians tend to have lower body mass index, lower levels of cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and less incidence of heart disease, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, renal ...
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Does eating carrots improve your eyesight?
A common belief in Sweden is that carrot improve your eyesight and I was told many times when I was little to eat carrots. Although anecdotaly I have perfect vision without carrot-gluttony.
Is there ...
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Organic food is worse for the environment because it requires more land than non-organic food
I've heard that organic crops and husbandry are worse for the environment than non-organic equivalents because in the absence of pesticides and fertilizers much more land is required for an organic ...
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Is margarine "one molecule away from plastic"?
I've heard the claim that "Margarine is only one molecule away from being plastic" several times. Usually from friends who think they've heard it from some reliable source. I've also read ...
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Is salt "white death"?
Salt is sometimes known as "white death" due to the belief that an excess intake of salt can cause substantial damage to health.
What evidence exists to support or contradict the idea that excess ...
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Does changing your pH balance change your mood?
I have read that eating more alkaline foods and changing your pH balance reduces stress and anxiety.
For example, see Eat a Lemon, Feel Less Stressed:
Stephanie McClellan, MD, and Beth Hamilton, ...
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Does (diet) soda cause tooth decay?
I've often heard and read that soda causes tooth decay; most often the reason involves the sugars present in the soda being converted into acids which wear out the enamel.
I'm curious if there is ...
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Is Genetically Modified food safe to consume?
What's the truth surrounding the popular idea that genetically modified food is dangerous to consume?
There's entire websites and institutions dedicated to popularizing the alleged dangers of eating ...
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Does honey ever go bad?
I have read that honey never spoils. Is this claim true? If so, what is it about honey that can cause it to remain edible for thousands of years?
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Is monosodium glutamate (MSG) bad for you?
Anecdotal evidence blames the consumption of MSG for several symptoms such as headache, nausea, weakness, heart palpitations etc. Most migraine literature cites MSG as a potential trigger (example) ...
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How many almonds does it take to get cyanide poisoning?
I was at lunch today and the conversation turned to almonds and their cyanide content. One co-worker said almonds contain a lot of cyancide and the number of almonds that can kill you surprisingly low....
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Are saturated fats unhealthy?
I've been taught since I was a kid that eating fat is bad for my health. Later on, I found out that unsaturated fats (especially ones containing Omega-3 and Omega-6) are actually good for your health.
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Is Soy bad for you?
The internet is full with stories about how soy contains phytoestrogenes, how the protein is actually not readily used by our bodies etc.
I especially remember quite a long rant in Tim Ferriss's ...
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Do fruit/vegetable washes effectively remove pesticides?
Is there any evidence to suggest that commercially available fruit/vegetable washes can effectively remove pesticides from produce?
Here are some example claims:
Veggie Wash uses natural cleaners ...
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6-meals-a-day strategy
It is commonly suggested, in the body building world, that the following eating strategy rises metabolism and inhibits the production of fat tissue:
Eat a substantial meal every 2 to 3 hours (six ...
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Do high-fat diets causes heart disease?
This article in The Guardian alleges that the nutritional science establishment has spent the last 4 decades claiming that fatty diets cause heart disease when in fact sugar is largely to blame. The ...
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Does eating greasy foods 'help soak up alcohol'?
I've heard that eating greasy foods while drinking or while hungover is good because it helps 'soak up the alcohol'. This is common advice it seems while drinking. Is there any truth to it?
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Is poisoning possible from preservative on orange zest?
I've heard that you can get poisoning from cakes that contain orange zest from the preservative sprayed on the outer surface of oranges before transportation from tropical countries to our shops.
Is ...
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Is CICO (calories in, calories out) a useful concept in diets?
An article at gnolls.org claims that there is no such thing as a calorie to our body, and our stomachs aren't steam engines and therefore the concept of calories and our way of measuring them is ...
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Is eating fruits separately/on an empty stomach healthier?
There are some web-sites advocating that eating fruits separately to other foods is healthier.
Mind Body Green
When fruits are eaten alone, your stomach can more easily process all of the ...
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Has anyone died from eating fruit pits that contain amygdalin (cyanide)? [duplicate]
It's often noted that fruit pits, the hardened seeds inside peaches, cherries, and plums, contain amygdalin, which breaks down into cyanide in the body. It is also often noted that apple seeds and ...
user11643
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Is drinking water during a meal bad for you?
I have heard that it will "wash away the nutrients", that it dilutes stomach acid and all kinds of things. Is this just an old-wives tale?
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Do you eat a certain number of spiders whilst you sleep?
Over the course of your life time, the average person eats X spider/insects/whatever whilst they are sleeping.
X tends to vary according to who you ask. Is this just an urban legend?
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Do "probiotics" have health benefits?
One of the only things that natural-food aficionados and food products mega-corporations agree on is that "probiotics" are good for you. I'm wondering if there is any reliable evidence to ...
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Does eating just before sleeping cause nightmares?
In many cartoons and on Sesame Street there are many storylines where a character eats just before going to bed (usually pizza) and they end up having nightmares or very crazy vivid dreams.
Normally ...
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Do McDonald's burgers have an unnaturally long lifespan?
The National Post article Zombie cheeseburger? McDonald’s patty, bun, cheese unchanged after one year sitting on kitchen counter features a cheeseburger that hasn't changed one year after being left ...
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Can anything be 'more hydrating than water'?
Some sports drinks, and even vegetables claim to be 'more hydrating than water'. What does this even mean? How is 'hydration' even measured? If I ate enough cucumbers could I survive without ever ...
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Is wheat the cause of numerous, serious health problems?
This morning, I stumbled across a realfarmacy article which poses the question [Note: the linked page breaks in Chrome but worked in Firefox]:
Why is there such a strong emphasis on the development ...
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Is a glass of red wine a day beneficial for the heart?
It has been stated that drinking a glass of red wine per day is good for the heart. There has been a lot of discussion surrounding this issue; two examples are this article from the Guardian and this ...
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Does US governmental advocacy of drinking milk harm African-Americans?
According to a California State University article Milk new symbol of hate?:
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The federal endorsement of milk in American diets contributes to the problem by uncritically pushing people to drink ...
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Is sugar in fruit juice less likely to cause weight gain than refined sugar?
Refined sugar is regularly described as the root of all evil, while sugar in fruit juice slips under the net.
I just noticed my 330ml juice has 33g of sugar in it.
There are currently ...
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Does eating meat increase your risk for cancer?
I just read an article in the german magazine "Der Spiegel" about a recent study claiming that 40% of all cancers are preventable. The article states specifically that one of the factors is the ...
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Is carbonated water unhealthy?
I have a coworker who says that drinking soda leads to kidney problems. I did some Googling and while I found a lot of blogs and message board posts saying such, the only credible link I found was ...
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Are artificial hormones in beef something to worry about?
I've been trying to research whether artificial hormones fed to beef cattle are harmful to the consumer, and just can't seem to find any source that I can rely on. There are a lot of people out there ...
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Is it dangerous to mix boiled and unboiled water?
There is a popular belief in Russia that mixing boiled and unboiled water (say, adding cold unboiled water to a cup of tea to cool it) can be dangerous for one's health, even if it is safe to drink ...
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Are diet sodas as healthy as drinking water?
Looking at the side of any diet soda, you can see 0 calories, 0 fat, 0 sugar, and tons more zeros.
Does this mean that diet sodas are actually somewhat HEALTHY? Or at least not at all bad for you?
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Did the myth of carrots improving eye sight begin as WWII propaganda?
I've often heard that the myth that eating carrots helps you see better at night (not to be confused with carrots helping with vitamin A deficiency) was started by the British in World War II, as ...
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Does the Atkins diet work?
The official (theirs) description is here
Wikipedia here
My question is, does this diet lead to substantial weight loss, say a 25% reduction for an obese male, without any serious adverse side ...
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Do oily foods have any effect on acne?
Was, Does eating Oily food really has no effect on Acne [breakout]?
I have been to a lot of doctors for acne problems. None have ever told me to avoid oily food. When I asked, I was repeatedly ...
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Do food additives ("E Number") cause hyperactivity?
E numbers are number codes for food additives that are used in the European Union. Some of the substances are banned in some countries while still allowed in others - see E110, E122, E129, etc.
Some ...
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Is food becoming less nutritious because of depletion of soil minerals and nutrients?
Over and over, I have heard and read claims that the soil growing much of the planet's crops is "depleted" and thus our foods do not have sufficient minerals, vitamins, and other nutrients.
Five ...
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Will eating a lot of junk food shorten your life expectancy?
I just ate an entire medium pepperoni pizza for dinner and my roommate started lecturing me on how I'm gonna die in my 30s.
Does eating fatty and sugary foods make your life any shorter?
user1844
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Is a Full English Breakfast good for you?
I've generally read that a fry-up, AKA the Full English breakfast, comprised of bacon, sausages and fried bread, is full of trans-fats, and hence is bad for you.
Some links:
Why the great British ...
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Does it take time for the brain to realize that you have eaten too much?
A doctor told me to eat my meal only until I feel 3/4th full. The logic being that the stomach takes time to absorb the food and the brain takes time to register that fact and the signal that I have ...
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