/oss/taxonomy/term/415/all en /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/liver-king-wants-you-dominate-your-health-caveman <p>Blowing up a bed using a tank is certainly a choice. The bed explodes in slow motion. First, we see the dirt raised from the ground behind the bed. Then, a ball of fire erupts, tossing pillows in the air and leaving behind a wooden carcass. It’s not an episode of <i>Mythbusters</i>; rather, it’s<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CW_PKekDD6b/"> </a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CW_PKekDD6b/">an Instagram video from the Liver King</a>, who encourages his one million followers to do away with modern bedding because of the chemicals it contains.</p> Sat, 29 Jan 2022 09:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9012 at /oss /oss/article/nutrition-you-asked/it-true-you-cannot-eat-polar-bear-liver <p>You could eat it. If you are lucky, you would live to regret it. That's because the liver could be lethal! You could overdose on retinol!</p> Wed, 06 Oct 2021 20:51:30 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8892 at /oss /oss/article/health-pseudoscience/pill-promises-delay-grey <p>The website has a subtle grey background. The banner image shows an elated young woman with dark hair streaked with reddish-brown, basking in the sunlight. The company’s proposition is bold: “delay the grey.” Why put up with grey hair when we could pop a new pill to “replenish [our] body with the vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants” it needs to hold onto our natural hair colour?</p> Sat, 04 Sep 2021 08:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8835 at /oss /oss/article/aging-cancer-environment-food-health-history/weighing-benefits-tea <p style="text-align:justify">“Get in here and sit your ass down!”</p> <p style="text-align:justify">Not exactly what you expect to hear when you are peacefully walking in San Francisco’s Chinatown. But the boisterous elderly Chinese gentleman seemed charismatic enough, and the establishment didn’t look like an opium den. Indeed it wasn’t. It was a tea house. But not your ordinary tea house.</p> <p style="text-align:justify">We quickly found ourselves plunked down at a long counter along with a number of other tourists who had been dragged in from the street.</p> Sun, 28 Sep 2014 11:50:15 +0000 Joe Schwarcz 2197 at /oss /oss/article/food-health-news-toxicity/lead-stain-chocolate <p>Lead is nasty. Since the body has a tough time eliminating it, exposure to very small amounts can cause poisoning over the long term. Diagnosis of lead poisoning is challenging because of the variety of symptoms it can produce. Vomiting, constipation, abdominal pains, headaches, mood disorders, high blood pressure, tingling sensations and fatigue can all be the result of lead poisoning, but of course these symptoms can also have other causes. Then there are the truly worrisome issues like developmental problems, learning difficulties and eventual loss of mental faculties.</p> Sat, 14 Feb 2015 13:53:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 2236 at /oss /oss/article/diets-food-health-news/dr-oz-and-fast-metabolism-diet <p>So.. Dr. Oz is at it again. This time he was fawning over Haylie Pomroy's "Fast Metabolism Diet." Haylie's qualifications are not clear but she is described as a "lifestyle counsellor." Hmmm. Wouldn't it be better to see some oomph like a nutrition, dietetics, physiology, biochemistry or medical degree behind someone who is formulating diets for the public?</p> Wed, 10 Apr 2013 01:42:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1906 at /oss