3 ms·
Eh, there's plenty if you look. For example, most people have strong opinions about the health effects of food (fat, sugar, oils, processed/unprocessed, gluten,
by thematrixturtle 5y ago
Eh, there's plenty if you look. For example, most people have strong opinions about the health effects of food (fat, sugar, oils, processed/unprocessed, gluten, you name it), which are mostly unsubstantiated.
Pregnancy and childbirth is another area that's ripe with (literal) "old wives' tales". I read both Japanese and English advice on the topic, and it was both hilarious and disturbing to see completely contradictory recommendations like "eat healthy food, avoid sushi and caffeine at all costs" and "eat healthy food, like sushi and green tea". Another good example is co-sleeping, which the rest of the world considers obvious but in the US is considered outrageously dangerous, mostly because some studies found that adults who are {morbidly obese, drunk, on drugs} occasionally squash their babies.
- manmal 5y agoThere are verified occurrences of gluten intolerance, squashed babies of drunk parents, and listeria contamination of raw fish. I agree that it’s not wise to let oneself be scared by incidents with low occurrence. But how is it unsubstantiated? (In my family we do practice co-sleeping, but without any alcohol involved; and my wife never had sushi during pregnancy because listeria are rare but really bad for the fetus.)
- thematrixturtle 5y agoOf course celiac disease and listeria are actual things, but I think we'd agree that a general "gluten is bad for you" is unsubstantiated. It's also funny how sushi gets singled out, when the CDC (below) doesn't even mention it in its list of listeria high risk foods. When did you last hear about pregnant women avoiding hot dogs or melons? https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/prevention.html https://www.cdc.gov/listeria/prevention.html
- com2kid 5y agoHot dogs are commonly on lists of food for pregnant women to avoid.