As a science teacher, I have the scientific knowledge and ability to evaluate many health claims from a scientific perspective. I think I also have the ability to tell the differences between good and bad sources on the internet. Sometimes I am wrong, but generally I am right.
However, one of my friends on FB recently made the following post.
"Carbs, no carbs, paleo, vegan, starch solution, wheat free, juicing, detoxing....who the heck is right"
This woman does not have a scientific education and really has no experience critical thinking. She's a fundie Christian and has 2 kids.
So, teaching her the principles of evaluating claims is out.
So I came up with some easy guidelines to evaluating diets.
"Diet is not complicated, actually. Reduce portion size. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Reduce meat consumption. Try to make more food out of basic ingredients. Simple. Anyone who tries to tell you it's more complicated is trying to rip you off. All the the things you mentioned above are scams, designed by people to try to scare you."
But then I realized what I said was still too esoteric.
So I came up with the following points.
You know (name withheld), it may be difficult to figure out truth from falsehood. However, there are some easy ways to figure out if something is a scam.
1. De tox is a word almost always associated with scams. Your body naturally removes toxins, and toxins your body can't remove are not affected by detox diets/techniques.
2. If someone wants you to sell some sort of health product, it's always a scam.
3. If the diet can't be followed for the rest of your life, it is a scam.
4. If someone tells you never to eat a certain food or that you can eat as much of a certain food as you want, it's a scam.
5. Gluten free is always a scam unless your Dr. has diagnosed you as a celiac.
6. Raw diets should be treated with caution, and never given to kids.
7. If the diet needs some sort of kitchen gadget you don't already have, it's a scam.
8. If the diet requires ingredients you can't find at you grocery store, it's a scam.
9. If a diet tells you to avoid 'chemicals,' it's a scam.
10. If a diet blames your problems on aspertame, MSG or GMO's, it's a scam.
11. If your advice comes from www.naturalnews.com or www.mercola.com it's always a scam.
12. If your diet comes from advice of a nutrionist that does not have at least 2 years post bachelor's education, it's a scam.
Finally, if a diet has a name (eg, the South Beach diet, the Paleo diet, the Atkins diet) it's almost certainly a scam.
I was going to add that diets that require organic food are also scams, but that's not necessarily true all the time or easily believed by a layperson.
So, what would you add or take away?
However, one of my friends on FB recently made the following post.
"Carbs, no carbs, paleo, vegan, starch solution, wheat free, juicing, detoxing....who the heck is right"
This woman does not have a scientific education and really has no experience critical thinking. She's a fundie Christian and has 2 kids.
So, teaching her the principles of evaluating claims is out.
So I came up with some easy guidelines to evaluating diets.
"Diet is not complicated, actually. Reduce portion size. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Reduce meat consumption. Try to make more food out of basic ingredients. Simple. Anyone who tries to tell you it's more complicated is trying to rip you off. All the the things you mentioned above are scams, designed by people to try to scare you."
But then I realized what I said was still too esoteric.
So I came up with the following points.
You know (name withheld), it may be difficult to figure out truth from falsehood. However, there are some easy ways to figure out if something is a scam.
1. De tox is a word almost always associated with scams. Your body naturally removes toxins, and toxins your body can't remove are not affected by detox diets/techniques.
2. If someone wants you to sell some sort of health product, it's always a scam.
3. If the diet can't be followed for the rest of your life, it is a scam.
4. If someone tells you never to eat a certain food or that you can eat as much of a certain food as you want, it's a scam.
5. Gluten free is always a scam unless your Dr. has diagnosed you as a celiac.
6. Raw diets should be treated with caution, and never given to kids.
7. If the diet needs some sort of kitchen gadget you don't already have, it's a scam.
8. If the diet requires ingredients you can't find at you grocery store, it's a scam.
9. If a diet tells you to avoid 'chemicals,' it's a scam.
10. If a diet blames your problems on aspertame, MSG or GMO's, it's a scam.
11. If your advice comes from www.naturalnews.com or www.mercola.com it's always a scam.
12. If your diet comes from advice of a nutrionist that does not have at least 2 years post bachelor's education, it's a scam.
Finally, if a diet has a name (eg, the South Beach diet, the Paleo diet, the Atkins diet) it's almost certainly a scam.
I was going to add that diets that require organic food are also scams, but that's not necessarily true all the time or easily believed by a layperson.
So, what would you add or take away?
via JREF Forum http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=265939&goto=newpost
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