4 ms·

Poor nutrition, more likely to live in more heavily polluted areas. Can't be a good combination. We now have a pretty good understanding of how bad leaded gasol

by elric 7y ago

Poor nutrition, more likely to live in more heavily polluted areas. Can't be a good combination. We now have a pretty good understanding of how bad leaded gasoline was. Maybe in another fifty years we'll look back at junk food and wonder "how could we have been so stupid"? I think it would be wise to increase funding of nutritional science. Many of the most basic controversies remain unresolved (fat, sugar, salt). The most bizarre conditions can sometimes be treated using supplements of seemingly unrelated nutrients (behavioural problems: omega 3, migraine: b2). But sample sizes are always small, double blind studies are hard and rare, there are tons of confounding factors.

partyboat1586 7y ago
I agree. Nutritional science is in its infancy but it's impact could be huge in a few years if it's properly funded. Unfortunately there are lots of vested interests in nutritional science not advancing and remaining a gray area. The main contenders are fast food companies, companies that produce unhealthy foods for the supermarket and big pharma who can't patent a food or food supplement. To be blunt it's just not a profitable business to sell good nutrition, much more profitable to get people hooked on junk food and pain pills.
- eitland 7y ago
  To make it even worse: A major improvement for a lot of people would be to eat way less. Add to this that it would probably be better to replace a lot of what is left by some of the cheapest items we find - plain vegetables, not any kind of "superfood" and I can see why big companies don't line up behind this.
  - elric 7y ago
    Sadly, vending machines are filled with mars bars and not celery stalks. Cities are overflowing with McDonalds' and Pizza Huts. You can stuff 2000kcal worth of fast food down your gob for under a tenner of whatever currency. But if you want a healthy salad, you'll be paying a premium. I feel like there's a business opportunity in healthy fast food, but as far as I can tell there's no such thing, at least not in any of the cities I've lived in.
    - ses1984 7y ago
      Healthy fast food is not that appealing (to current consumer preferences).
      - elric 7y ago
        Tetraethyllead was added to gasoline to reduce knocking. Unleaded gasoline wasn't appealing to consumers at all, but the market for that is now dead and consumers continue to fill up their tanks. The evidence for its harm was overwhelming. The evidence for fast food being harmful is a lot less overwhelming at the moment. Maybe once that becomes clearer, consumer demand will shift, hopefully without requiring legislation?
        ses1984 7y ago
        I don't see the analogy. Evidence for fast food being less healthy than a salad is pretty overwhelming, consumers don't care and choose fries anyway. Lead pollution harms everyone, not just the person who burns it. And, lead isn't really needed to avoid knocking. If you want consumer preference to change you need to make a salad that is as delicious and cheap as fries.
eitland 7y ago
> I think it would be wise to increase funding of nutritional science. Many of the most basic controversies remain unresolved (fat, sugar, salt). Yep, just be careful. We are just now recovering from the phase where one actual scientists mislead others to think that fat was bad and sugar wasn't :-/ In the eighties many children died because of SIDS because of one scientist who convinced others that infants shouldn't sleep the way they had always slept - face up. etc etc.
- johnkpaul 7y ago
  Yes completely! Medicine has done wonders but also has some serious skeletons in the closet when it comes to medical reversals. I’ve found this book to be fascinating and super enlightening about what has gone wrong even in recent history. https://www.amazon.com/Ending-Medical-Reversal-Improving-Outcomes/dp/1421417723 https://www.amazon.com/Ending-Medical-Reversal-Improving-Out... I’m hopeful one day that fat demonization will be formally reversed.
jerome-jh 7y ago
It is thought that wide spread contamination of food with lead, caused by lead cookware used by the elite, is the origin of the demise of the Roman empire.
- didgeoridoo 7y ago
  It’s a pretty fringe opinion. Lots more info here: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wi...
  - samizdis 7y ago
    That was an interesting read. Thanks for posting.
  - jerome-jh 7y ago
    Sure it is only an assumption. However the linked study seems to ignore the fact that lead accumulates in the body over time. Which causes a decrease of cognitive functions in the long term with no acute symptoms.

by elric 7y ago

partyboat1586 7y ago

I agree. Nutritional science is in its infancy but it's impact could be huge in a few years if it's properly funded. Unfortunately there are lots of vested interests in nutritional science not advancing and remaining a gray area. The main contenders are fast food companies, companies that produce unhealthy foods for the supermarket and big pharma who can't patent a food or food supplement. To be blunt it's just not a profitable business to sell good nutrition, much more profitable to get people hooked on junk food and pain pills.

eitland 7y ago
To make it even worse: A major improvement for a lot of people would be to eat way less. Add to this that it would probably be better to replace a lot of what is left by some of the cheapest items we find - plain vegetables, not any kind of "superfood" and I can see why big companies don't line up behind this.
- elric 7y ago
  Sadly, vending machines are filled with mars bars and not celery stalks. Cities are overflowing with McDonalds' and Pizza Huts. You can stuff 2000kcal worth of fast food down your gob for under a tenner of whatever currency. But if you want a healthy salad, you'll be paying a premium. I feel like there's a business opportunity in healthy fast food, but as far as I can tell there's no such thing, at least not in any of the cities I've lived in.
  - ses1984 7y ago
    Healthy fast food is not that appealing (to current consumer preferences).
    - elric 7y ago
      Tetraethyllead was added to gasoline to reduce knocking. Unleaded gasoline wasn't appealing to consumers at all, but the market for that is now dead and consumers continue to fill up their tanks. The evidence for its harm was overwhelming. The evidence for fast food being harmful is a lot less overwhelming at the moment. Maybe once that becomes clearer, consumer demand will shift, hopefully without requiring legislation?
      - ses1984 7y ago
        I don't see the analogy. Evidence for fast food being less healthy than a salad is pretty overwhelming, consumers don't care and choose fries anyway. Lead pollution harms everyone, not just the person who burns it. And, lead isn't really needed to avoid knocking. If you want consumer preference to change you need to make a salad that is as delicious and cheap as fries.

eitland 7y ago

> I think it would be wise to increase funding of nutritional science. Many of the most basic controversies remain unresolved (fat, sugar, salt). Yep, just be careful. We are just now recovering from the phase where one actual scientists mislead others to think that fat was bad and sugar wasn't :-/ In the eighties many children died because of SIDS because of one scientist who convinced others that infants shouldn't sleep the way they had always slept - face up. etc etc.

johnkpaul 7y ago
Yes completely! Medicine has done wonders but also has some serious skeletons in the closet when it comes to medical reversals. I’ve found this book to be fascinating and super enlightening about what has gone wrong even in recent history. https://www.amazon.com/Ending-Medical-Reversal-Improving-Outcomes/dp/1421417723 https://www.amazon.com/Ending-Medical-Reversal-Improving-Out... I’m hopeful one day that fat demonization will be formally reversed.

jerome-jh 7y ago

It is thought that wide spread contamination of food with lead, caused by lead cookware used by the elite, is the origin of the demise of the Roman empire.

didgeoridoo 7y ago
It’s a pretty fringe opinion. Lots more info here: https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wine/leadpoisoning.html https://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/wi...
- samizdis 7y ago
  That was an interesting read. Thanks for posting.
- jerome-jh 7y ago
  Sure it is only an assumption. However the linked study seems to ignore the fact that lead accumulates in the body over time. Which causes a decrease of cognitive functions in the long term with no acute symptoms.