Something I suspect maybe pseudoscience is claims of antioxidant rich fruits such as acai berries and blueberries reducing signs of aging. Antioxidants do help the body to function better longer, meaning less wear and tear, but I do not know that it makes any significant difference if I eat "superfoods" rich with antioxidants over taking a multi-vitamin. Again this is not something evaluated by the FDA, but nutritionists agree that antioxidants do a body good. So, I'm not sure how much of it is a food fad, and what has real visible effects. Products such as the Bossa Nova drinks picture here sprung up based on claims of acai berries being "the nature's highest antioxidant fruit".
Supporters of the value of acai berries include Dr. Oz in an article on anti-aging found on Oprah's website. That article can be found here
http://www.oprah.com/health/Dr-Ozs-Ultimate-Anti-Aging-Checklist/3. While I'm still not a hundred percent sold, I have trouble thinking that Oprah would outright lie to her legions of loyal fans.
Pseudoscience to me is those weight loss commercials claiming to be a medical break through. Yet at the end in either fine print or gone over quickly verbally is the fact that none of the statements or claims have been evaluated by the FDA. Furthermore, these ads are not supervised by the FDA unless complaints are lodged against the company. The FDA regulates foods and medicines, not supplements and substances not claiming to cure a disease. Weight loss pills are supplements ergo they are unregulated. Therefore, their is no standard test and procedures these products have to pass meaning all claims made by them mostly likely would not stand up to traditional testing methods. In an article by the mayo clinic staff many of these drugs were listed with their claims, effective, and safety examined. Only one was proven effective, but the FDA is currently investigating claims of liver damage as a side effect. This article is at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/weight-loss/HQ01160. 
I have always thought health supplement fads were entertaining by how much they are said to do. i am glad that the FDA is finally investigating the weight-loss supplements. I have heard that because acai berries are so antioxidant rich that they can be bad for you in high quantities (might also be pseudoscience)
ReplyDeleteI found your blog very interesting, however I disagree with your generalized statement of the lack of approval from FDA for all weight loss supplements. While there are supplements that focus primarily on weight loss in very unhealthy manners, there are many programs that include weight loss as a component but are more focused on overall health and nutrition. Many of these programs are FDA approved. In the case of Oprah and Dr. Oz, although I have not done all the background research, I would greatly hope and put a lot of trust in the fact that the weight loss supplements that they are supporting are not only weight loss supplements, but are part of a more comprehensive package towards sustainable health.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the claims on "nutritional" supplements are not always what they are cracked up to be. A company can claim that they have had results for a product in order to boost sales while in reality the product is no more better for you than juice. Companies are clinging to the new fad of health foods without getting their health benefits checked by the FDA which I definetly believe is a form of pseudoscience.
ReplyDeleteI like how you went against diet pills =)
ReplyDeleteI honestly feel like they do more damage then good, if people want to lose weight they should work out, and eat healthier. Hard to do sometimes but just takes more effort than popping a pill. For the super fruits I think that they need to go under more research but I do feel like they are more beneficial than we already know. I work at Cal Sun and we have to learn all about the tanning lotions, and as a taninng salon the FDA is ALL over our business, but what i've learned is that acai berry, when in lotion, improves skins elasticity while protecting it from enviromental stresses=less noticeable signs of aging. =)
Also, I think you can add to the diet pills is the ab machines like the perfect sit-up and others. These are pseudoscience too because although they might work you can't just use they machine to look like they do on the commercials. It is the same as the diet pills. Just by taking the pills does not mean you will be thin just like that, you still have to eat right and exercise. The FDA needs to start working out these problems or the FCC needs to be more restrictive on advertisements to cut down on the false advertisements. I think that the false advertising is a big problem with the pseudoscience because people will believe anything they hear without knowing what tests make it true.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, all of these outrageous claims these companies make about their products is becoming a bit strange to me. The miracle this and miracle that, with all the before and after pictures which are probably also edited. It's becoming a bit sickening. Its like our society is so fixated on image that these products have become so incredibly popular. Just think about the millions or billions of dollars these companies make off of something that is not even proven to work. It seems to me that they have such a stranglehold on the minds of Americans, they can convince us to think that a certain thing is normal and to buy it. Like when we talked about nutrition in class, we should just eat normal things humans have always eaten and ignore this new crazy stuff.
ReplyDeleteI once had a friend that got sucked into the "Spirulina" myth which is a blue-green algae that was supposed to cure cancer. I listened to the tape that she gave me and it seemed nothing more than snake oil. On 60 minutes just recently, they busted a guy that was selling "cures" for ALS and MS. Pathetic!
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