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Aside: I found the following visualisation fun and somewhat interesting (on supplements and the ailments they might be good for). It's changed a lot over the ye

by amirmc 12y ago

Aside: I found the following visualisation fun and somewhat interesting (on supplements and the ailments they might be good for). It's changed a lot over the years and it links off to the underlying spreadsheet. http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-oil-supplements/ http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/snake-o...

rwinn 12y ago
Interactive version: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/ http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplem...
raverbashing 12y ago
This is a nice graph (but does the X axis have a meaning?) But the important thing there is that they're measuring their role as a supplement, however, most of them are needed (and present in a healthy diet), while some aren't Potassium is a needed element of a diet, and as the article mentioned, there seems to be a lot of deficiency, but maybe a better understanding of deficiency/needed dose is needed.
- amirmc 12y ago
  Scroll down the page and you'll see a description. "This image is a “balloon race”. The higher a bubble, the greater the evidence for its effectiveness. But the supplements are only effective for the conditions listed inside the bubble. You might also see multiple bubbles for certain supps. These is because some supps affect a range of conditions, but the evidence quality varies from condition to condition. For example, there’s strong evidence that Green Tea is good for cholesterol levels. But evidence for its anti-cancer effects is conflicting. In these cases, we give a supp another bubble." edit: Apologies, I misread your comment. The X-axis can be modified on the interactive version to sort by: alphabetically, popularity or scientific interest. The static version is alphabetical. Beyond that, it's just to help spread things out to be readable.
  - raverbashing 12y ago
    I'm asking about the position of the bubble on the X axis (maybe it doesn't mean anything), I know about size and Y axis position.
    - serf 12y ago
      It does not appear to me that the X axis has significance; perhaps the arbitrary spacing (especially at the top) is just for readabilitys' sake.
    - hyperion- 12y ago
      Alphabetic order.
      - raverbashing 12y ago
        Yeah, looks like it

by amirmc 12y ago

rwinn 12y ago

Interactive version: http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/ http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplem...

raverbashing 12y ago

This is a nice graph (but does the X axis have a meaning?) But the important thing there is that they're measuring their role as a supplement, however, most of them are needed (and present in a healthy diet), while some aren't Potassium is a needed element of a diet, and as the article mentioned, there seems to be a lot of deficiency, but maybe a better understanding of deficiency/needed dose is needed.

amirmc 12y ago
Scroll down the page and you'll see a description. "This image is a “balloon race”. The higher a bubble, the greater the evidence for its effectiveness. But the supplements are only effective for the conditions listed inside the bubble. You might also see multiple bubbles for certain supps. These is because some supps affect a range of conditions, but the evidence quality varies from condition to condition. For example, there’s strong evidence that Green Tea is good for cholesterol levels. But evidence for its anti-cancer effects is conflicting. In these cases, we give a supp another bubble." edit: Apologies, I misread your comment. The X-axis can be modified on the interactive version to sort by: alphabetically, popularity or scientific interest. The static version is alphabetical. Beyond that, it's just to help spread things out to be readable.
- raverbashing 12y ago
  I'm asking about the position of the bubble on the X axis (maybe it doesn't mean anything), I know about size and Y axis position.
  - serf 12y ago
    It does not appear to me that the X axis has significance; perhaps the arbitrary spacing (especially at the top) is just for readabilitys' sake.
  - hyperion- 12y ago
    Alphabetic order.
    - raverbashing 12y ago
      Yeah, looks like it