Wednesday, June 27, 2012

nutritional groupies and espionage agents

"Why can't we all just ... get along?"  [sotto-voce chuckle]

We go through a sine-wave* pattern of argument in the nutritional blogosphere....  You'd think we would have outgrown the ganging-up and spying-out impulses by this time in our lives.  Some writers we agree with, and some we don't.  I don't read the ones that i KNOW can't benefit me, because there are more things worth reading than time in which to read them.  Others may certainly do something different if it amuses them!

Attempts to "reason" with someone who disagrees is ALWAYS in vain.  We all have our reasons for holding the opinions we do, and "truth" is relative to the complexity of experience.  What is applicable to a 20-something male gym-rat (or even a 40-something male gym-rat) is completely irrelevant to this 50-something, hypothyroid, energetically-challenged female body.  What kind of mental process is capable of assuming that it COULD be?  Obviously, only one with a very limited experience of life.

"Vitamin X turned my life around, and statistics show that a majority of people are deficient; therefore, EVERYBODY needs to swallow handfuls of X!"

"Mineral Y is DANGEROUSLY HIGH in a small minority of the population!!!  NOBODY should EVER supplement Y, and EVERYBODY should carefully avoid foods containing this POISONOUS substance!"

Bullshit.

I have my own opinions about what people are better off eating/avoiding, but it doesn't matter.  People WILL follow the diet of their choice despite the "evidence" of its wholesomeness.  People WANT to believe that what they like is good for them ... or at least "not THAT bad."  Time will tell.

There's room for disagreement, but not for outright lies.  There have been LIES published recently (and from time immemorial), and misled groupies of the liars run around defending and promoting and acting like silly teens who think their gurus can do no wrong.  I'm not saying that any of us is exempt from being MISTAKEN, but intellectual honesty is the aim of science, and there's a distinct shortage of that in some theoretically-scientific blogs.

What i write here is subjective -- it's what works for me, and meant as an expression of what MIGHT work for others LIKE ME.  There's no suggestion that these ideas may be universally applicable.  However, i'm not out to build readership by writing provocative articles; if i get playful or go on a rant from time to time, you're perfectly welcome to ... ignore me!  ;-)
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* i almost wrote "wine-save" -- is that a freudian slip, or what?  ;-)

8 comments:

  1. Life is really no different from high school. I hate those groupies going around other blogs interpreting their beloved messiah's writings for us. Er, kindly fuck off, will ya? I'm perfectly capable of reading the divine scriptures by myself, understanding them and judging them to be "pure bollocks".

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  2. "obviously, you don't UNDERSTAAAAAAND!" ;-)

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  3. Did you read a recent exchange on Dr. Briffa's blog where someone told him he just didn't understand NNT? Dr. Briffa patiently explained NNT was what his conclusion was based on.

    After the true believers, the next most exasperating group is the ones who've read a few articles or maybe even a book on a subject and start instructing others.

    It's like Denver's lindy hop scene: occasionally, there's someone who's had a dance class or two and starts trying to teach on the floor--and ends up trying to instruct a teacher. Around here, some of the teachers are national champions.

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    1. oops -- your comment went to the wrong folder, and i just saw it!

      :-) it's a mistake to assume that modest people are ignorant.... of course, it's awfully tempting to want to share something that has worked for me!

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  4. Now "wine-slaves" I would have understood! Wow, sorry you have been visiting un-fun sites lately.

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  5. lol -- into every life a little rain.... the SITES were okay, but some of the comments were out in right-field. i'm afraid i went into Mama Bear mode again! i should start drinking mead instead of the grape.

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  6. One thing I find interesting in carb eating/worshiping sites, are when you can see even in thier own comments the various symptoms that come from that eating style. Course there is a fine line between blood sugar swings and sociopathy. Lol.

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  7. you know, it HAS occurred to me that the obsession and hostility might have something to do with carb-brain connection.... (i've gotten THAT much from Dr.Harvard.) did everyone see that viperish column by CheeseSlave and PrimalToad's reply?

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