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Snake Oil Chart

AprecheApreche
edited February 2010 in Everything Else
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/play/snake-oil-supplements/

Don't be confused because certain things appear on the chart multiple times. Click on them, and you will see why. It's not a mistake.

Also, can anyone find resveratrol on the chart?

Lastly, make sure you check the Google Doc upon which the chart is based.

Comments

  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Thanks for this, gonna go get me some green tea, fish oil, and omega-3. Damn genetics pre-disposing me to hypertension and cholesterol problems.
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited February 2010
    I did, but it was listed for "athletics" and "cancer." I thought scientists just said it had a slight effect on cellular health.

    I TOLD you some herbs had done well in studies, specifically Saint John's Wort and Valerian, and you refused to believe me.
    Most of these things are just stuff I drink in tea because it is yum, like rosehips and lavender.

    I really like this chart. It's pretty and informative.
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • AprecheApreche
    I TOLD you some herbs had done well in studies, specifically Saint John's Wort and Valerian, and you refused to believe me. Most of these things are just stuff I drink in tea because it is yum, like rosehips and lavender.
    Even if an herb has some medicinal effect, there is no reason to eat the herb itself. Any of those medicinal qualities are caused by a chemical, or combination of chemicals, that are present in the herb. Depending on how you ingest the herb, and how much, you really have no idea exactly how much of the active chemical you will actually be taking, or how effective it will be. If Valerian has something good in it that you should be taking regularly, then scientists will figure out what the chemical is, isolate it, and produce it in a form for maximum effectiveness with controlled and prescribed dosage. Also, you have no idea what other chemicals are in the herb, and what effects they may have.

    If you have pneumonia, you don't eat mold, you take penicillin (if you aren't allergic). The only time you would eat the mold is if you had pneumonia after the apocalypse and you were able to recognize the mold. We live in a society where using herbs for medicinal purposes is unnecessary, so don't do it.

    This is why I disagree with medical marijuana. Not because I don't think people should be allowed to smoke weed, but because the application of it is clearly not medically sound. If marijuana has a medicinal purpose, then it is the result of a few chemicals in the marijuana. If you want to use those chemicals as medicine, isolate them, produce them in an effective dosage form with calculated dosage amounts.
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    edited February 2010
    @ Scott: There are many tests on the effectiveness of various herbs and vitamins in various forms. Sometimes consuming the herb itself is more effective and sometimes pills and extracts are more effective, and sometimes both are equally effective. Amounts of various forms are also studied and those studies lead to recommended dosage in their various forms. Seriously Scott, you are talking out of your butt a bit on this issue and leaping to conclusions without seeing the facts.
    Post edited by Kate Monster on
  • AprecheApreche
    I'll let these fine doctors at science based medicine make my point for me.
    Why We Don't Prescribe Bark for Cancer
  • Kate MonsterKate Monster
    edited February 2010
    I'll let these fine doctors at science based medicine make my point for me.
    Why We Don't Prescribe Bark for Cancer
    That is a great article and the points are valid, but that doesn't apply to ALL medicines and ALL supplements. You are taking his statements and projecting them on all possible supplements and medicines.
    EDIT: My oncologist presented me with information from a study that showed that antioxidants from berries are much more effective when you eat the berries than when you eat the extract or pill form of the supplements and that the reason for this is still being researched.
    Post edited by Kate Monster on
  • AndrewAndrew
    Sometimes consuming the herb itself is more effective and sometimes pills and extracts are more effective, and sometimes both are equally effective.
    How exactly do you guarantee dosage amounts when eating herbs directly? What about contaminates that my be present?
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    That is a great article and the points are valid, but that doesn't apply to ALL medicines and ALL supplements.
    I think a more appropriate and accurate statement is that sometimes the herb form is pure enough to be just as effective as a pill.
  • AprecheApreche
    edited February 2010
    That is a great article and the points are valid, but that doesn't apply to ALL medicines and ALL supplements.
    "The point of this exercise was to demonstrate to students the distinctions between the safety and efficacy of crude plant products relative to pure drugs isolated from such natural sources."

    The same points apply to all use of "crude plant products" as medicine as opposed to "pure drugs isolated from such natural sources".
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • ......
    licorice root (sic)
    EAT MORE LIQUORICE PEOPLE, IT'S DELICIOUS AND GOOD AGAINST COUGHS. Even though everybody already knew that.
  • NeitoNeito
    EAT LESS LIQUORICE PEOPLE, IT'S DISGUSTING
  • ......
    EAT LESS LIQUORICE PEOPLE, IT'S DISGUSTING
    You never had actual liquorice bro.
  • gomidoggomidog
    EAT MORE LIQUORICE PEOPLE, IT'S DELICIOUS AND GOOD AGAINST COUGHS. Even though everybody already knew that.
    Salty licorice! Yum! My mom used to give me licorice tea for colds.
  • ......
    Salty licorice! Yum! My mom used to give me licorice tea for colds.
    >:C Now I want liquorice tea.
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