4 ms·
I was wondering if there was any merit to a theory I once saw, and if it is called something or written up somewhere as I lost track of it. If it is total nons
by molticrystal 7y ago
I was wondering if there was any merit to a theory I once saw, and if it is called something or written up somewhere as I lost track of it.
If it is total nonsense, that would be great to know as well.
To the best of my memory, it goes along the lines of the following.
Most plant matter, in particular the parts that are considered vegetables(stems, leaves, roots), have a toxicity to prevent consumption by animals.
Many animals are immune to most or all components that would be very toxic if not processed by digestion, the liver, enzymes, etc.
But the act of processing the plant matter, in and of itself, minor amount of toxic residuals or derivatives from processing, or minor amounts of unprocessed toxins present that are not enough to be harmful in small quantities, keep organs and the immune system challenged and exercised, like how exercise keeps your strength up and your body challenged.
An exercised immune system and organs, while not perfect, are much better at keeping anomalies such as cancer minimal and fighting cancer overall.
- ganzuul 7y agoThat sounds like homeopathy... But your account sounds a lot more plausible.
- comicjk 7y agoMaybe you're thinking of hormesis? That's the term for small amounts of damage bring helpful, as with exercise. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormesis https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormesis But this is a detectable amount of damage, so it's not homeopathy.
- ganzuul 7y agoNo, I'm familiar with the concept but the OP was specifically talking about plant toxins. I don't know if the idea of extreme dilution and water memory have always been a part of homeopathy. I don't believe those ideas have any merit. They seem like a perversion of legitimate herbal medicine. Perhaps I should have lead with that...
- cageface 7y agoPhotosynthesis generates a huge amount of free radicals and oxygenated byproducts. Plants are loaded with antioxidants to protect themselves from all this. As a species we’ve evolved to piggyback off this process instead of doing the hard work of generating these protective compounds ourselves.