Monday, July 6, 2015

Pseudoscience

I have long taken an interest in pseudoscience and scientific illiteracy, and its harm to society. Recently, I've been following the antics of a blogger who calls herself Food Babe. From what I see, she largely posts selfies of herself traveling to exotic places with random bits of snake oil logic underneath, along with an admonition to buy products from her sponsors. Yet she has a large following.

Recently I came across this post on another blog, glorifying Food Babe as a vegan victim of Internet bullies. I posted the following comment underneath. I wonder if it will get posted!

Food Babe author Vani Deva Hari is far from vegan. She posts about bacon, butter, cream, etc.

You are correct that she has a large number of detractors, though I do not know of any reason to believe “they” are getting paid. I know I’m not.

I do not agree with people being nasty or bullying.

Stating truths and criticizing falsehoods is responsible and appropriate. Vani has made an enormous amount of false, dangerous statements, such as the following.

-Microwaved water’s molecules say ‘Hitler’ and ‘Satan’ when they vibrate
-Flu vaccines are dangerous
-Hospitals try to make you sick by giving you unhealthy food
-GMOs are dangerous
-Airlines are poisoning the air with nitrogen

Pseudoscience and conspiracy theories are a serious detriment to society. What we need is increasing scientific literacy, curiosity and skepticism to enable people to make better choices for their health.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

Creamsicle smoothie!

98 degrees and hot flashes. Necessity is the mother of invention!

I blended about 2 tablespoons of orange juice concentrate with 2/3 cup soymilk, a teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1.5 cups of soymilk. Fantastic!

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Truvia pear pie

I used my standard apple pie recipe from Betty Crocker's cookbook and substituted Truvia brown sugar blend and pears. I followed the Truvia package instructions to substitute the sweetener.

Win!  It really tastes good. The Truvia site says their apple pie recipe contains 70% less sugar and 20% less calories than the sugared variety.