Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Insane Obsessions

Was just looking at some discussions about benefits of mangosteen juice - including pericarp (the kulit). They were comparing ORAC values - oxidative whatever - and the numbers look scarily high to me. 21000 ppm? I don't even know what unit they use. Should we be ingesting something so potent? What if it backfires and start oxidising important organs and cell parts?

Sorry to my American friends, but many seem to be obsessed with statistics. A number of people are so obsessed the numbers that they forget to consider other factors such as optimal amounts, instead of excessive (perceived as impressive) numbers. Brings to mind certain stories about girls who go all out eating everything soya to avoid breast cancer and ended up getting exactly that because she ingested way too much of it. Most foods have a combination of phytochemicals and nutrients in it, which is why we should refrain from taking too much of anything.

And strangely, every so called 'new' diet discovery will be completely turned around in the next 2 years. First palm oil is bad, then other oils - containing trans-fat - is now bad. so basically we'll need to see who can survive the constant change in mind to find a consistently good choice - eg olive oil. Eggs - same thing. First it's good, then no good, then whites only, then whole eggs are better. Hello! Make up yr mind, please? Reason I take a lot of so called 'literature' and 'research findings' with a bucket of salt.

My personal take - do things in moderation. Raw food diet anyone?

1 comment:

~CovertOperations78~ said...

If mangosteen pericarp is really so good for us, then why aren't the animals eating it? Animals know best, don't they? Elephants and monkeys ate durians, and that's how humans realised that there was sweet flesh underneath the thorny exterior.