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 willpower depend on the amount of glucose in the body?

How strong is the evidence for the argument made in Willpower by Baumeister and Tierney? Basically willpower (or better: "self-control") is supposed to be proportional to the amount of glucose in your blood and if you use up the willpower, it takes…
Christian
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Are artificial hormones in beef something to worry about?

I've been trying to research whether artificial hormones fed to beef cattle are harmful to the consumer, and just can't seem to find any source that I can rely on. There are a lot of people out there with "better safe than sorry" attitudes (which…
rob
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Can the body never lose fat cells?

There are various articles online quoting studies (or even loosely referring to "studies" without reference) claiming you can only gain fat cells but not loose them. Some examples include Calorielab.com: Fat Cells Shrink, But Don’t Die As well as…
Jeroen
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Do 20% of Australian children think pasta comes from animals?

Prominently displayed on the front page of noted nutrition advocate Jamie Oliver's web page is the claim that "20% of Australian children think pasta comes from animals". A google search shows that this meme has spread quite a bit, almost…
Beofett
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Is it dangerous to mix boiled and unboiled water?

There is a popular belief in Russia that mixing boiled and unboiled water (say, adding cold unboiled water to a cup of tea to cool it) can be dangerous for one's health, even if it is safe to drink both liquids apart. Example of the claim: Original,…
Quassnoi
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Is it cheaper to eat fast food?

I sometimes see claims that poor people become obese and develop "lifestyle diseases" (heart disease, diabetes, etc) because they cannot afford healthy food and are forced to eat fast food. Logically, this does not seem to make sense. When you buy…
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Is this description of the processes which take place in the body for an hour after drinking Coca Cola accurate?

An infographic about what happens to your body in the hour after drinking a can of Coca Cola has gone viral, but I haven't found the sources from which this information was gathered. Here's what the article claims: In The First 10 minutes: 10…
bigblind
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Does unflavoured carbonated water cause damage to teeth?

I have been told that Carbon Dioxide (CO2) dissolved in carbonated water produces carbonic acid, that can attack your tooth enamel. The Daily Mail claims: believe it or not sparkling water is almost as damaging to your teeth as flavoured fizzy…
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Are live monkey brains a traditional cuisine?

There is a common belief/urban legend that there are some Asian peoples that eat brains of monkeys while they are still alive. A dish often attributed to China, monkey brains are also eaten in places like Africa, South American, and South East…
Jewels
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Can you deduce the quality of watermelons by tapping on them?

It is believed that by tapping on a watermelon and listening to the feedback sound, one can deduce whether the watermelon is ripe and tasty or not. This belief seems to be very common in some areas of the world. Some references which mention…
Hello World
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Are people dying of starvation because we cannot produce enough food?

I have been watching a BBC documentary Botany: A Blooming History - Episode 3 Hidden World In it, (at ~51m35s) Timothy Walker, the presenter, says: ...Certainly there may be risks attached to genetically modified plants. But, it is a known risk…
JW.
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Did Ancel Keys disregard reliable data that did not fit his conclusion that saturated fat was a leading contributor to heart disease?

Ancel Keys in the 1950s published the famous Seven Countries Study, which tied saturated fat intake to heart disease (among other findings). Critics claim that he hand-picked data from countries to fit his hypothesis. From wikipedia: Critics of…
Flimzy
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Does McDonald's put anti-emetics ("anti-vomit") in their food?

It's a common claim in Quebec that McDonald's put anti-emetics in the food. I think I heard four times over the last week, alone. It's not uncommon for people to go to McDonald's when they're drunk because it apparently helps prevent them from…
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Is bottled water more contaminated than tap water?

According to some NPO's such as the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism and the Environmental Working Group: Bottled water is constantly promoted as pure and natural, but research by the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism shows…
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Simply Raw: Can you reverse diabetes in 30 days by eating raw food?

The documentary "Simply Raw: Reversing diabetes in 30 days" claims that you can cure diabetes by following a diet of raw food, avoiding any processed "junk" food: Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days is an independent documentary film that…
Mad Scientist
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