/oss/taxonomy/term/50/all en /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-contributors/pass-salt-should-we-ask-potassium-chloride-dinner-table-instead <p>The simple combination of sodium and chloride (NaCl) gives rise to a mineral, salt, with endless uses, particularly within the culinary world. Salt is known to enhance our taste perception — there’s a reason every good chef always has some on hand. For centuries, humans have been using salt to preserve and season food, however, the use of salt has skyrocketed in the modern world.</p> Tue, 07 May 2024 13:58:01 +0000 Daniela Padres 9939 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/no-chocolate-isnt-good-you-sorry <hr /> <p>This article was first published in the <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-no-chocolate-isnt-good-for-you-sorry">Montreal Gazette.</a></p> <hr /> <p>This is a story about chocolate. It’s a story about how chocolate went from dessert to health food and back again. Except most people missed the ending — the part where chocolate isn’t good for you.</p> Fri, 16 Feb 2024 17:25:16 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9834 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/naprapathy-stretches-credulity <p>Buried in <a href="https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5443677/49/ragsdale-v-central-dupage-hospital/">a court document</a> mentioning Joe Mercola was the first reference to naprapathy I had ever seen. Joe Mercola has made a fortune selling dietary supplements and publishing health misinformation over the past few decades. The court case did not involve Mercola but rather a woman he had treated. In her lawsuit against a life insurance company, the plaintiff is described as having been bitten by a tick and contracting Lyme disease.</p> Fri, 02 Feb 2024 12:41:47 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9821 at /oss /oss/article/medical-general-science/athletes-vaccines-and-cardiac-deaths <hr /> <p><em>This article was originally posted in the</em> <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-athletes-vaccines-and-cardiac-deaths"><em>Montreal Gazette.</em></a></p> <hr /> <p>It beggars belief, but I still sometimes hear people claim that waves of young athletes have died suddenly after being vaccinated. It is a pervasive hoax and still repeated by people to express doubts about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. Fortunately, we don’t have to speculate about whether young athletes are dying or not. We can simply check.</p> Fri, 24 Nov 2023 14:41:35 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9740 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking/trampoline-detox-bad-idea <p>What if I told you that every morning you needed to bounce up and down on a trampoline simply to activate your brain? That, somehow, your brain had evolved to be sluggish and unresponsive until you had vigorously jumped up and down on a device that dates back to the 1930s? You probably wouldn’t believe me and for good reasons.</p> Fri, 08 Sep 2023 13:22:35 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9632 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/sour-grapes <p>Fruits and vegetables are deemed to be “healthy". A vast number of studies have indeed demonstrated lower rates of diabetes, heart disease and cancer in populations consuming more fruits and vegetables. Is this because these plant products contain chemicals that inhibit body processes that cause disease, or is it because people who eat more fruits and vegetables eat less meat which causes disease? Most likely both factors are at play. Meat is high in saturated fats that are implicated in heart disease and when cooked at high temperatures, meat forms a number of carcinogens.</p> Thu, 10 Aug 2023 16:46:09 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9596 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience/who-likely-believe-conspiracy-theories <p>Pre-pandemic, the question I would most often get was, “How do I know whom to trust when it comes to health and science information?”</p> <p>Over three years after a new virus began sweeping the globe, the question I hear again and again is, “Why is it that my husband/sister/aunt/father believes in all this conspiratorial nonsense?”</p> Fri, 28 Jul 2023 13:49:24 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9588 at /oss /oss/article/medical-health-and-nutrition/tale-two-twins-meets-tale-two-cities <p>Let’s start with the twins. Aimee and Nancy are identical twins who agreed to take part in an experiment organized by Panorama, an excellent British television documentary that often deals with scientific issues. In this case, the focus was on the impact of ultra-processed foods on health. For two weeks, Aimee consumed only ultra-processed food, while Nancy followed a diet of fresh fruits, vegetables and home-cooked meals. The meals were matched for calories, fat, sugar and fiber so that the only difference was processing.   </p> Thu, 20 Jul 2023 14:34:08 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9570 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking/yogas-twisted-history-one-answer-conspirituality-puzzle <p>Did Nazis love yoga?</p> Fri, 16 Jun 2023 15:42:57 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9548 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/why-did-denmark-ban-ashwagandha <p>Over the past couple of years, there’s been a lot of buzz about ashwagandha. This herb, estimated to have an annual market value of $42 million USD is available in health food stores and on Amazon, can be added to your smoothie, and is <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/03/10/what-to-know-about-ashwagandha-the-herbal-supplement-blows-up-on-tiktok-without-much-medical-research-support/?sh=71c71d4638ad">trending on TikTok</a>.</p> Fri, 02 Jun 2023 10:00:00 +0000 Maya McKeown, B.Sc. 9531 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/dancing-gummy-bears <p>No, Oprah Winfrey and Dolly Parton do not endorse CBD Gummies. Neither does David Suzuki. That may come as a surprise to customers who purchased the gummies thinking that they must deliver the goods given that such high-profile celebrities believe in them. And what are the goods those gummies supposedly deliver? They are said to reduce anxiety, improve sleep quality, and help with muscle pain and inflammation. They also energize, help with weight loss, boost immunity and normalize heart rate. Who says so? Certainly not Oprah, Dolly or David.</p> Wed, 15 Mar 2023 17:00:52 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 9433 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-history/coffee-drink-or-not-drink-question <p>Coffee first appeared in Canadian cups about two hundred years ago, some three hundred years after people in Africa and the Middle East were regularly consuming the beverage. The most popular legend about the origin of coffee consumption takes us back to Ethiopia in the ninth century. Kaldi, a young shepherd noted that his goats became particularly frisky after nibbling on the red berries of a certain bush. Intrigued, he tried the berries himself but found the taste very bitter. But there was something else. He felt full of energy and had trouble sleeping!</p> Wed, 07 Sep 2022 18:05:06 +0000 Joe Schwarcz Phd 9226 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/yummy-hype-nutrigenomics <p>Should you let your genes decide what you eat? The field of nutrigenomics certainly leans in that direction. Frustratingly, there are two sides to nutrigenomics. On the one hand, it is a research endeavour trying to shed light on the interactions between the food we eat and the molecules in our body. On the other hand, it is a commercial endeavour piggybacking on the public’s fascination with DNA and the personalization of care.</p> <p>Is it worth the hype?</p> Sat, 27 Aug 2022 22:20:50 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9215 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-critical-thinking-health/exaggerated-villainy-epstein-barr-virus <p>What causes a disease? We saw this important medical question get raised during the pandemic. Some people refused to accept that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus was causing COVID-19 because<a href="/oss/article/covid-19-pseudoscience/psychiatrist-who-calmly-denies-reality"> </a><a href="/oss/article/covid-19-pseudoscience/psychiatrist-who-calmly-denies-reality">it failed to meet antiquated criteria for proving a microorganism causes an infectious disease</a>.</p> Fri, 16 Jul 2021 21:50:32 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8786 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health/funhouse-mirror-risk-perception <p>The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated many preexisting problems. One of them is how to vet the avalanche of information flowing down at us on a daily basis. Another is how to properly assess the risks that we face.</p> Fri, 09 Jul 2021 18:22:36 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8780 at /oss