The averaged answer and the answer in your own blood are not the same answer. That is the whole problem with this vegetable. People try bitter melon for diabetes because the tradition behind it is long and the claims around it are loud. It is eaten as a vegetable from India to the Philippines to … Read more
People take red yeast rice to avoid taking a statin. The problem with that plan is the first thing you need to know about red yeast rice. Red yeast rice is rice fermented with a mould, Monascus purpureus. It has been used in China for centuries and is sold worldwide as a natural way to … Read more
Star fruit carries two separate dangers that keep getting confused with each other. One is about your kidneys. The other only matters if your kidneys are already damaged, and it can kill. Star fruit, or carambola, is sold across India, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. It is ordinary food for a great … Read more
Sea moss is sold as the most mineral-rich food on earth. The one mineral it definitely contains a lot of is the one nobody mentions, and it is the reason to be careful. Sea moss, also sold as Irish moss, is a seaweed. It is marketed as gel, capsules, gummies and powders, usually with the … Read more
Giloy was promoted across India as an immune booster during the pandemic. Then liver units started seeing patients. Here is what the reports actually found, and the argument that complicates them. Giloy, also called Guduchi, is the climbing vine Tinospora cordifolia. It has a long place in Ayurveda, and it was recommended by India’s Ministry … Read more
Soursop is a genuine food with a genuine problem, and the problem is not the one the internet argues about. It is not about cancer. It is about nerves, and about how often you have it. Soursop, also sold as graviola or guanabana, is a large green fruit with soft spines and sweet white flesh. … Read more
Ackee is safe when it is fully ripe and genuinely dangerous when it is not. Here is what the toxin does, why cooking will not save you, and how to tell the difference. Ackee is the national fruit of Jamaica and a staple across West Africa, where the tree originally comes from. It is also … Read more
Nausea after eating usually has a name, and there is one test worth doing before you start rearranging your diet. Nausea after eating is common enough that it fills primary care waiting rooms — dyspepsia accounts for 3 to 5% of visits, and affects 20 to 40% of the community (1). Most advice jumps straight … Read more
Non stick pans are blamed for a Group 1 carcinogen classification that was never about cooking. Here is what the classification covered, and the one risk that is real. Non stick pans — Teflon is the best known brand name for the coating, which chemists call PTFE — attract more fear than almost any other … Read more
Knowing what to eat when sick mostly comes down to three things that were actually tested — and one very popular habit that the trials do not support. What to eat when sick is one of those questions where everyone has an answer and almost nobody has a source. There are, as it happens, large … Read more
