repoman

I am not sure why I have been reading about nutrition so much, but anyway I love to occasionally read those hardcore sites like www.dorway.com and www.mercola.com that attack MSG (and its many disguied forms), nutrasweet, soy, fluorides and additives in vaccines.

Now the implications of their assertions have a wide range. They could be chicken littles who just need something to be afraid of, they could be part of a competing industry that is trying to make money or they could be honest researchers.

I wonder if many years ago people who said that trans fatty acids should be out of the food supply were treated as kooks. Now the FDA is on the verge of having transfatty acids on food labels and just this week the makers of Oreos were sued for pimping transfats to kids.

Anyone interested in taking any of these food "scandals" up? - I am so ready to go!

Godot

I'm unsure of what you want to discuss here, Repoman. Are you advocating the positions put forth in those websites you linked, or are you opposing them? Are you merely soliciting opinions?
I'll be willing to chat about them if you're willing to set some contextual parameters.

Those people that opposed trans-fatty acids early on should not be regarded as visionary; they merely took a stance without having the scientific research to support it. If it turned out that trans-fatty acids weren't bad for you, the people that took that side of the debate would be hailed as visionary. It's something of a revisionist perspective.

JGL53

Well, whether there was a conspiracy or not, the important thing NOW is that the evidence is conclusive we should all avoid hydrogenated oils in our diet (oils that are liquid at room tempature that have been changed from the natural 'cis' form to the 'trans' form in making them solids). Unfortunately, there are still people ignorant of the facts who continue to this day to eat margarine instead of butter.

As to some of the other chemicals mentioned - I use Splenda and/or stevia instead of the aspartame and saccharin because they taste better and there is no apparent health concerns. I'm convinced MSG makes me feel funny, so I avoid it. The only soy products that I consume on a regular basis are black soy beans, and I have no problem with them. I think fluoride in the proper amount is fine. It prevents dental caries, I've heard. Hadn't had a vaccine in decades - wasn't aware of the 'additive' problem - what's up with that?

simian

Hydrogenation does not change a cys bond to a trans bond. It splits a carbon double bond and tacks on hydrogen (hence the hydrogenated). Due to the catalyst used, the split between cys and trans bonds is about 50:50. If a catalyst was used that made 100% cis bonds, the hydrogenated fats would still be less healthy. Of course, the more hydrogenated an oil is, the less problems occur with oxidation and breakdown during heat processing - not too many people I know prefer rancid oil to hydrogenated oil. Of course, there are better oils coming on the market NuSun, for example, a cooking stable sunflower oil. you can find some info here

Simian

doghouse

Probably referring to thimerosal, a mercury-containing preservative used in some vaccines. There is little evidence that this is harmful, other than local reactions at the injection site in some people. But the FDA has been reviewing a lot of products that contain mercury. And there is a lot of noise about thimerosal causing autism, among other things.