Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [nutrition]

Use this tag for claims regarding the way we eat, and the effects eating has on our bodies.

Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary (in the form of food) to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthful diet.

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Does the expression "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" come from a 1944 cereal marketing campaign?

Eric Brown writes in How Marketing Created the Most Important Meal of the Day: In 1944, a marketing campaign for Grape Nuts would be unleashed called “Eat a Good Breakfast — Do a Better Job”. During radio ads, it would be mentioned, “Nutrition…
Christian
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Is salt "white death"?

Salt is sometimes known as "white death" due to the belief that an excess intake of salt can cause substantial damage to health. What evidence exists to support or contradict the idea that excess salt intake can cause substantial health damage? Is…
Egle
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High Fructose Corn Syrup vs Cane Sugar (aka Battle of the Bulge)

There are recent ads from the Corn Sugar industry telling us that 'sugar is sugar'. While I appreciate the "natural" sugar of fruit juices vs refined sugar question - and its answer does touch on this tangentially, I am looking for something more…
hudsonsedge
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Are the vast majority of vegans Vitamin B12 deficient?

WebMD reports: In the July issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, German researchers tracked 174 apparently healthy people living in Germany and the Netherlands. They found that 92% of the vegans they studied -- those who ate the…
RPBCL
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Does the means of slaughter affect meat quality?

Some friends of mine believe that different ways of killing an animal may reduce the quality of the meat; in particular, a violent death produces a tougher meat, maybe caused by the adrenaline released in the tissues of the animal. I think it's a…
user18367
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Are carrots orange because the Dutch loved orange?

On the web, I find several unsourced claims that carrots are orange because the Dutch loved the colour. For example: http://www.nextnature.net/2009/08/why-are-carrots-orange-it-is-political/ Allegedly they are orange for entirely political reasons:…
gerrit
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Does eating meat increase testosterone levels?

Dylan de Castro wrote on Livestrong in the article Meat Diet for Testosterone: Eating meat, which is high in protein, helps build muscle and stimulates the secretion of the hormone glucagon, both of which contribute to raising testosterone levels.…
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Did the number of U.S. Food & Drug Administration food safety inspections fall from the 1972 to 2006?

Food Inc documentary claims that the number of FDA food safety inspections had fallen from 50,000 in 1972 to 9164 in 2006 and this information is also cited here. However, I cannot find any official source to support this claim. Question: Did the…
Alexei
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Is Soy bad for you?

The internet is full with stories about how soy contains phytoestrogenes, how the protein is actually not readily used by our bodies etc. I especially remember quite a long rant in Tim Ferriss's book "The 4 hour body", which I consider a great…
Lagerbaer
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Does the human body crave missing vitamins?

My mother has told me that if your body needs a certain vitamin, you will find you feel like eating fruits that include that vitamin. For example, if you have lack of Vitamin C, you'll get a craving to eat an orange. Is this true?
blackcornail
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Does regular self-induced vomiting provide any health benefit?

Yoga International provided an acquittance with a cleansing technique dubbed upper wash where the healthy subject is to voluntarily vomit in order to clean their body from toxins:…
ChrisR
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Can teeth cavities be cured through diet?

I've seen this Natural News article popping out a lot recently. It claims that dental caries is not caused by bacteria but by poor nutrition: which results in minerals being pulled from bones, causing tooth and bone loss It strongly hints, without…
System Down
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Is carbonated water unhealthy?

I have a coworker who says that drinking soda leads to kidney problems. I did some Googling and while I found a lot of blogs and message board posts saying such, the only credible link I found was this paper, Carbonated beverages and chronic kidney…
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Does intermittent fasting improve immune function through autophagy?

Does intermittent fasting improve immune function through autophagy? Intermittent fasting (also known as, "IF") is the practice of periodically going without food for a period of time, typically on the order of 20-30 hours. [...]…
Christian
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Is a lack of breakfast the #1 brain damaging habit?

I came across the following list. "Top 10 biggest brain damaging habits". Although they're all interesting "food" for skepticism, I will focus on #1, because I find this a peculiar claim. Some other claims are already on this site, e.g. about…
gerrit
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