Science Advocacy
Science Advocacy
Welcome to Ask a Scientist, where we answer questions from our readers on a wide range of scientific topics. Got a scientific question? Drop us a line.
It seems like an accepted fact that a full moon makes kids “hyper” or people behave in a crazy way. Is there any truth to this, or is it just an old wives tale? – BH, Watertown, ME
Thanks for the question, BH! This is one of those “common knowledge” beliefs that seems to be everywhere. About 45% of people actually think this is true, which is in line with about 50% of Americans that think astrology is a science. This should make us all sad, because astrology is not a science and more people believe in astrology today than in 2004.
As for the full moon and behavior, this was a big enough question on peoples mind that several groups of scientists actually ran studies to see if there really was an effect on behavior. Universally, they found that there is none, though there was a very small decrease in the amount of sleep that children got during a full moon, which may be related to all that moonlight coming into their window, or to their parents repeatedly telling them that they were “hyper” because of the moon.
Exactly why people believe this is a bit of a mystery. Certainly, it has been around for a long time – this is where the words “lunacy” and “lunatic” comes from – from the Latin lunaticus, which referred to madness or epilepsy because people thought the moon caused these effects. It could be that this is just a relic of the past before electricity when nights with a bright moon in the sky would have allowed for much more activity than dark moonless nights, or maybe just kept people from getting a good night’s sleep.
Many people have anecdotally suggested that the full moon increases the rates of crimes, accidents, suicides, or trips to the emergency rooms. Scientists have studied these links as well, and there is no consistent effect of the phase of the moon on any of them. The same is true for animal behavior.
Others think that the behavioral effects might be related to the gravitational effect that causes tides, but this is not how tides work – they are driven not just by the gravitational pull of the moon, but also the large distances between different regions of the ocean. This is why the pond behind your house doesn’t have tides. The local gravity that a person experiences is influenced more by their distance from the center of the Earth and other large objects around them than the moon.
The bottom line is that the moon doesn’t effect behavior in any consistent way. If your kids are “hyper”, it’s not the moon, and it’s not sugar – maybe they are just kids having a good time?
In the early hours of tomorrow morning (January 31, 2018 ), a super blue blood moon will be visible in most of North America, Australia, Hawaii, and much of Asia. You may wonder how a blood moon could be blue, why it’s super, and how moon naming became so confusing in the first place. Fear not, UYBFS has the answers!
What is a super blue blood moon?
It is a combination of three different types of moons: super, blue, and blood.
A super moon describes a full Moon that is closer than normal to Earth. This happens because the Moon’s orbit is elliptical. The point of the Moon’s orbit that is closest to the Earth is called the perigee; and when the full moon occurs on the perigee we see a super moon. There are typically 3-4 super moons a year and they range in relative “size” depending on how close to the actual perigee the full moon occurs. A typical full super moon appears to be about 14% larger and 30% brighter than a normal moon.
A blue moon has nothing to do with color; instead, it occurs when there are two full moons in a single calendar month. In this case, the second full moon is called the blue moon. This is where the phrase “once in a blue moon” comes from, since it doesn’t happen all that often – typically occuring every 2-3 years.
A blood moon occurs during a lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon at night, preventing the Sun’s rays from hitting the Moon. Because the Earth’s atmosphere can bend light, some light still hits the Moon, but the light is scattered as it moves through the Earth’s atmosphere. As a result, the shorter wave lengths are reduced, causing the Moon to take on a reddish color; hence, the term “blood” moon. If the Earth had no atmosphere, the Moon would be almost completely black during a lunar eclipse. There are typically 2-5 lunar eclipses a year, but most are partial. A total lunar eclipse usually occurs every 2-3 years.
Therefore, a super blue blood moon is a moon that is very near its maximal perigee during a lunar eclipse (in Wednesday’s case, a total eclipse), while also being the second full moon of the month. These are incredibly rare. The last one occurred on March 31, 1866.
When and where can I see this awesome moon?
The best viewing will be from the northern west coast of North America. Here are the details for the major North American time zones:
Eastern Time Zone. Unfortunately, people on the East Coast will miss out on most of the eclipse (the blood), which will occur from approximately 6:48 am to 10:11 am EST. The greatest totality (which is the best viewing) will occur around 8:30 am EST. The problem is the Moon will set shortly after 7 am EST, so all you’ll be able to see is the very beginning of the eclipse before the Moon goes down. Also, depending on where you are, the Sun will rise around 7-7:30 am, ruining your view of the setting moon. It’s still worth seeing before sun rise and moon set, because even a setting super blue blood moon is cool.
Central Time Zone. Here, the eclipse will occur between 5:48 am and 9:11am, with the totality at 7:30 am. The Moon will set (and the Sun will rise) shortly after 7 am, so you will miss around half of the eclipse, but will be able to see more than those on the East Coast. Those in the extreme northwestern portion of the timezone (like Williston, ND) may be able to see the totality before the Moon slips below the horizon and the Sun comes up.
Mountain Time Zone. The eclipse will occur between 4:48 am and 8:11 am, with the totality at 6:30 am. The Moon set and Sun rise will set around 7-7:30 am for most of the major population centers in the area like Denver, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City, so you should be able to see most of the eclipse.
Pacific Time Zone. Those on the West Coast will be able to see the entire eclipse, but the bad news is you’ll have to get up early to see it. The eclipse will occur between 3:48 am and 7:11 am, with the totality around 5:30 am. By the time the Moon sets on the West Coast, the eclipse will be over.
There are a ton. Here’s a rundown.
New moon: This occurs when the Sun is behind the Moon and no light shines on the near (Earth-facing) side. You typically can’t see a new moon. Sometimes it is called a dark moon.
Crescent moon: When the first sliver of light from the Sun hits the Moon it causes a crescent shaped portion to light up. At the start of the Moon’s cycle, is referred to as a waxing crescent moon. A waning crescent moon occurs at the end of the lunar cycle, as the last of the Sun’s rays disappear.
Quarter moon: This occurs when half of the Moon is illuminated – the halfway point between the new and full moon in the lunar cycle. In the first half of the lunar cycle, as the Moon is “growing” in illuminated area, is referred to as a first quarter moon. In the second half of the lunar cycle, when the Moon is “shrinking,” is called a third quarter moon, also a last quarter moon.
Gibbous moon: Between the first quarter moon and the full moon is the waxing gibbous moon. In this case, the illuminated area of the moon is larger than a semi-circle, but smaller than a full moon. After the full moon, the waning gibbous moon leads into the third quarter moon.
Full moon: This is the opposite of the new moon – the entire face of the Moon is illuminated by the Sun’s rays.
Black moon: When there are two new moons in a single month, the second new moon is called a black moon. It’s the opposite of a blue moon, and occurs at a similar frequency.
Cheshire moon: When a crescent moon appears tilted, relative to the Earth, the “tips” of the crescent point upwards, making it look like a smile. The same smile worn by the Cheshire Cat in CS Lewis’ Alice in Wonderland. This is also called a wet moon.
In addition to these specific terms used to describe different points in the Moon’s cycle and specific astronomical events, each month has a name for its full moon. These are mostly traditional names which have been around for centuries; and, in some cases, they vary depending on your location.
The first moon of the year in January is generally called the wolf moon, and sometimes called the old moon. The February full moon is called the snow moon and the March moon is called the worm moon. April is the pink moon and May is the flower moon or the milk moon. Next comes the strawberry moon in June, the buck moon in July, and the sturgeon moon in August. September is generally the corn moon and October the hunter’s moon, but whichever is closest the the autumnal equinox (September 21st) is always called the harvest moon. So a full moon in early October would be a harvest hunter moon. November is the frost moon (or frosty moon), and can also be called the beaver moon. Finally, December is called the cold moon. Now that’s a lot of moons! Here’s a link to how some of these names came about.
Enjoy the super blue blood moon everyone!
Of all the achievements of evolution – the ability to extract oxygen from the air, to make sugar from light, to create specialized tissues and organs like bones, muscles, livers, and kidneys, and eyes that can see the world around us – the human brain is probably the crown jewel. The human brain devised all of the words you are reading right now, built the computers and the Internet we are using the share these ideas, and – oh by the way – is the only reason the human race has come to dominate the planet rather than just being easy meals for tigers and bears.
And yet…
People are eating “pods” of detergent because the internet told them it was a good idea.
Welcome to “chemicals and society”, where we highlight the current understanding of the biological effects and safety of some of the most common chemicals in today’s society.
What is fluoride?
Fluoride is the anion of fluorine, the element with an atomic number of 9. An anion is a negatively charged particle (represented as F‾), and fluoride occurs naturally when it is released from fluorine-containing minerals like calcium fluoride. Fluorine is pretty common on earth – it’s the 13th most common element, and people are exposed to it mainly in their food and water. However, we are most familiar with fluoride from it’s use in toothpastes, mouthwashes, dental treatments, and as a drinking water additive.
What is fluoride used for?
Fluoride is used to prevent or delay the development of dental caries (commonly known as cavities). Cavities occur when bacteria build up on your teeth and acidify (lower the pH of) the enamel around them. This acid slowly eats away at your teeth. Luckily, your teeth can counter-act this demineralization to some degree, and that’s where fluoride comes in. It aids in the remineralization and in the process also makes teeth more resistant to future demineralization.
So how and why did people start putting fluoride in drinking water?
Fluoride occurs naturally in all water – seawater, lake water, river water, groundwater, literally all water. The actual levels of fluoride depends on the geology of the area, and it can vary widely. These different levels of fluoride in different areas of the world helped people figure out that fluoride could protect against cavities. They noticed that people living in areas with higher levels of fluoride had fewer cavities, and this eventually led to the idea that adding fluoride into water that didn’t have much in it might reduce cavities in those that drank it. The first city to fluoridate it’s drinking water was Grand Rapids, MI in 1945. Since then, much of the United States and many countries around the world have introduced fluoridation, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, and Canada.
Welcome to Bad Science on the Internet! Here, we highlight some of the crazy and sometime dangerous stuff people post online, and then we give you the facts.
The bad science:
There are several companies selling something called “raw water”, which is unfiltered and untreated water.
What do they claim?
Some people claim that “raw” water is more healthy because it has minerals and probiotics and no chemicals in it. This is wrong. However, the website of one particular company, Live Water, is a goldmine of ridiculous pseudoscience tomfoolery. It’s clear that the health claims on this site weren’t written by a scientist, and honestly, I’m not even sure if they were written by an adult. Or at least not by an adult capable of using spellcheck! Let’s take a look at some of the silliest claims:
“Shocking but true- All other filtered and even bottled spring waters are sterilized with UV light, ozone gas, and a sub micron filter. This is similar to how most juice and dairy products are pasteurized for shelf stability. Unfortunately this sterilization destroys beneficial sources of minerals and probiotics.”
These processes don’t destroy minerals (though some can be filtered out using the submicron filters, which are filters with extremely small pores – too small for bacteria to pass through. Of course these processes destroy or remove bacterial (including potential probiotics), that’s the point. Many bacteria cause disease. Disease is bad.
“There are more nerve endings in our bellies than in our brains and there’s a constant battle between good and bad bacteria. The micro biome [sic] of our gut produces about 95% of the serotonin and 50% of the dopamine in our brains.”
I’m not sure what they mean by saying there are more nerve endings in “bellies” than in brains. I assume they are talking about pain sensing nerve endings? This is actually true- there are no pain sensors in the brain. However, gut bacteria do not produce 95% of the serotonin and 50% of the dopamine in our brains – they don’t produce significant quantities of either, and even if they did these chemicals can not be transported into the brain.
“The probiotics listed here are exclusive to our unsterilized water. There could be countless other benificial [sic] microbes present, scientists just haven’t discovered yet. They are imperative for optimal physical and mental health.”
If these “probiotics” are only found in Live Water’s well, then only people who have consumed this water have ever been exposed to them. So how do they know these bacteria are beneficial? As a general rule, it is not a good idea to eat previously unknown species of bacteria. This is dangerous. They admit that there could be all sorts of undiscovered bacteria in their water. They say this like it is a good thing, but it is not. How do they know these undiscovered bacteria aren’t dangerous? Finally, they tell us that their probiotics are “imperative” for optimal physical and mental health. I don’t think the author of this site knows what the word imperative means.
“Without these probiotics we’re not able to fully assimilate all the nutrients in our food. Some beneficial bacteria are also proven to have abilities to transform harmful bacteria. Here is a published medical report supporting evidence that raw spring water has vast healing abilities.”
The first sentence is absolutely false. The second statement is completely untrue. The report they reference is about a spring in Italy, not the spring they get their water from, and as they have already told us, the probiotics in their spring is different from all others.
“Major science has concluded that there is a body of water with a larger volume than all our oceans combined in the core of the earth. This is the earth’s way of cleansing water, and offering it back to us with a fresh new start.”
No scientist or health professional would ever use the phrase “major science., though we admit it might be a great name for a DJ or superhero. The reference to water in the Earth’s core suggests that they actually did a little research! However, they didn’t understand what they were reading. A recent report did hypothesize that there was more water in the earth’s mantle (different from the core) than in all the oceans, but this is not a “body” of water – the water is trapped inside of rocks. Because of this, this water is not part of the water cycle, and is not where the water in their spring is coming from.
“The Extensive Water Analysis shows super high levels of natural silica. Silica is essentially pure liquid crystals. Silicone holds information and energy in a unique way, thats [sic] why all our devices run off of them, hence the name silicone valley [sic]. Imagine how it would feel to upgrade your brain’s entire operating system to the best computer chips available.”
Wow. This is gibberish. You may know silica as sand (not whimsical “pure liquid crystals,” whatever that is). There is a lot of sand in this water, and they are trying to tell you that this is good for you. In all fairness, drinking a little sand isn’t bad for you, but it’s certainly not good for you. Then they switch to talking about “silicone” which they claim to magically “hold” energy and information. I assume they are referring to silicon (no “e”) microchips. Do you think drinking microchips will “upgrade your brain’s entire operating system”? You are correct – it will not. For the record, silicone is a synthetic polymer of silicon, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. It’s basically plastic, used in medical tubing and devices, lubricants, adhesives, and caulk. If there is silicone in their spring, no one should be drinking from it, and if Silicone Valley was really a place, we assume it would be greasy and sticky. (Kind of like the real-world silicon valley, but literal.)
“Since our water is alive and abundant with healthy microflora, it is imperative that we keep it from reaching sweltering conditions. Unlike sterile water, our water will turn green if exposed to excessive heat and sun light.”
Their water is turning green because things are growing in it. Would you drink green water you found in the woods? Of course not, that would be dangerous. Where do the bacteria (and maybe algae?) that are turning this water green come from? They were there all along, there just weren’t enough of them to see. Once they have a chance to multiply in the petri dish that is raw water, they turn the water green and cloudy. Gross.
“In it’s natural cycle water is infinitely chemically and energetically complex. Water goes down into the soil and becomes the perfect probiotic as it passes through microbes and micro-organisms in the humus. It picks up bio-available [sic] mono atomic [sic] elements and minerals that just can’t be replicated.”
More gibberish. Water is not complex – it’s one of the simpilest chemicals on earth. Water cannot become a “probiotic” – probiotics are living bacteria. A monoatomic element is a element that is stable as a single atom. There actually aren’t many of these elements out there- mostly noble gases like helium, neon, and argon. I doubt this is what the author was referring to – honestly I have no idea what they are trying to say here, and I doubt they do either.
“Blasting water with ozone changes it’s molecular structure. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation uses synthetic ultraviolet light, different from our natural environment UV, to kill or inactivate micro-organisms by destroying nucleic acids and disrupting their DNA. A hard fact to swallow, but your drinking water might be considered a genetically modified organism. GMO seeds and GMO water don’t have the capacity to reproduce life. Perhaps this could influence human’s capacities also.”
Ozone does not change the structure of water. Water is water. Synthetic UV light is just UV light, no different from the UV light that comes from our sun. Both kill microorganisms at high enough doses – that’s the point of treating water with it. No reasonable person would call UV-treated water a GMO, because there is no “O” (organism). Because it’s just water. GMO seeds absolutely produce life – where do you think GMO plants come from? I think the last sentence is suggesting that UV-treated water can harm person’s ability to have children, which is completely and utterly false.
“Unfortunately almost all tap water also has the neurotoxin fluoride put into it…”
Fluoride is not a neurotoxin. It is perfectly safe at the levels used in tap water (and your toothpaste), and is the main reason that you can eat candy and other sugary foods without immediately losing all your teeth to cavities.
“‘Purified Water’ is typically devoid of all minerals, and actually strips your body’s minerals. The world health organization [sic] declared this a major health threat.”
It is difficult and expensive to pull all the minerals out of water. Tap and bottled water have plenty of minerals in them. Even if you got your hands on ultra-pure water and drank it, it would not strip the minerals out of your body. The WHO is not worried about this.
“We’ve chosen to use glass for our water because all plastic water bottles are toxic.”
Completely, totally, and troublingly false.
There’s more, but you get the point. Seriously, this may take the award for the most over-the-top collection of unfounded inaccurate pseudoscientific nonsense we have ever seen in a single website. They also claim to increase the oxygenation of your cells (not possible), to provide “super effective” detoxification (no), reverse the aging process (nope), and to activate the immune system, That last point might actually be true – more on this below.
Are they trying to sell you something?
Of course. 2.5 L will cost you 16 bucks. That’s almost 20 times more expensive than bottled water, and 6,000 times more expensive than tap water. Water is water. Don’t waste your money.
Is any of this true?
Absolutely none of it.
Is any of this dangerous?
Very much so. Getting a life-threatening water-born illness will definitely activate your immune system. Here is a list of some of the diseases you can catch by drinking unclean water:
Polio! SARS! Dysentery! You don’t want any of these diseases. Many of them can be fatal. We won’t get into which ones, because it doesn’t matter. What matters is THAT YOU SHOULD NEVER EVER DRINK UNTREATED WATER THIS IS NOT SAFE DON’T DO IT.
What’s the bottom line?
Don’t drink raw water. It’s not any more healthy than regular bottled or tap water, it’s expensive, and it is very, very dangerous. Water is water, unless it’s full of disease-causing microbes, in which case this might happen:
Healthcare, health advice, and health products are big business, contributing billions of dollars to the economy and employing millions of people. The vast majority of people working in healthcare or a healthcare-related field are doing it with the patient/customer’s health and best interest in mind. However, there are some unscrupulous people out there as well – selling dubious supplements, spreading bad advice, or trying to convince you that ketchup is bad for you for reasons we will never understand.
Some of the most vulnerable persons to bad health advice are seniors. They are often targeted by people trying to make a quick buck for the following reasons:
Targeting seniors is wrong. And when one health blog targeted the parents of one of our contributors, well, now it’s personal! Here’s how to avoid being scammed by a snake oil salesmen.
Beware professional quacks
Most doctors and health professionals are on the up and up, but there is a small group of known hucksters out there that you need to watch out for. Unfortunately, some of these less-than-reputable persons are quite popular. Two big names you may have heard of are Dr. Mehmet Oz (“Dr. Oz”) and Vani Hari (“The Food Babe”). These people are considered by many to be reliable professionals, but they are not good sources of scientific information. Both have endorsed dubious products or theories in the past. The more extreme examples, like Joseph Mercola and Alex Jones are more easy to identify as quacks. There is a very useful site called Quackwatch which catalogs people, practices and claims of quackery – we highly recommend visiting this site before you trust any healthcare advice you see online.
Perhaps the easiest way to identify a quack is to find their website and look to see if they promote dubious products or practices. This would include claims to cure or prevent diseases for which there are no known treatment (like Alzheimers, Autism, more), making conspiracy-driven anti-vaccine or pharmaceutical claims, or promoting disproven “alternative medicine” practices like ozone therapy, oxygen therapy, colon hydrotherapy, homeopathy or naturopathy, etc. Persons that promote these types of things should not be trusted for healthcare advice.
If it sounds too good to be true, it is
The most troubling part of these scams is the hope they offer seniors who suffer from serious or incurable diseases. No matter what anyone tells you, the following diseases can not be cured:
Asthma, Alzheimers Disease, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), Celiac’s Disease, Diabetes, Epilepsy, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Disease, Psoriasis, Rhumatoid Arthritis, & Schitzophrenia.
Now, this doesn’t mean there aren’t treatments for these diseases available, and some may work quite well at treating the symptoms of the disease, but anyone who offers you a cure, or uses similar language, like “eliminates” or “prevents” is not to be trusted.
An even bigger red flag is when sites or experts claim to be able to treat or cure cancer using “alternative” or “natural” methods. This is incredibly dangerous – the false hope provided by these unproven, generally ineffective treatments can led some patients to delay or never even seek evidence-based medical treatments. This is how Steve Jobs died. If someone if willing to risk the life of a cancer patient in order to make a buck by selling their dubious products, they are the lowest form of low.
Finally, look out for these types of outrageous claims which are offered with very simple products, treatments, or “tricks”, often requiring little or none of your valuable time.
√ Well-known “quacks” like Joseph Mercola, Mehmet Oz (Dr. Oz), Mike Adams, Vani Hari (“The Food Babe”). Check out Quackwatch for a list of known quacks.
√ Alerting buzzwords: Breakthrough Product, Secret formula, Miracle cure
√ Words and phrases that sound scientific, but really aren’t: Detox or detoxification, cleansing, oxygen therapy, naturaopathy, homeopathy, body or blood pH, etc…
√ Claims that are just too good to be true: Any claims to cure diseases with no known cure, like Alzhiemers, any claim to stop or reverse the aging process
Alerting words and phrases
Sometimes, it’s easy to identify a dubious source by the way they promote their advice or products. Be on the lookout for overstated buzzwords:
Breakthrough product, secret formula, miracle cure, etc..
Also beware of anyone using pseudoscientific phrases which have no actual scientific meaning:
Detoxification or detox, cleansing, removing, or eliminating toxins form your body, non-qualified use of the word “toxin”, body or blood pH, naturopathy, homeopathy, “natural” cures or using the term “natural” to suggest something is “safe” or good for you.
Don’t trust sources making vague claims of health improvements when using their products, things that would be impossible or difficult to quantify in a scientific study like:
Improving well-being, boosting energy, putting you in a better mood, improving sex drive, sharper focus, stopping or reversing aging, bringing back youthful qualities or feelings you may have lost, improving memory, etc…
Finally, beware any sites or sources that support or even lend validation to fringe conspiracy theories involving healthcare, such as anti-vaccine views, anti-“big Phama” views, chemtrails, suggestions that corporations or the government are purposely poisoning the population or covering up for those that do. Also watch out for claims that everyday foods, diets, or practices are responsible for serious diseases, like macaroni and cheese suddenly being toxic. Such views are completely unfounded and those that seek to promote or validate them should not be trusted with healthcare advice.
Here’s an example!
A parent of one of our contributors recently received an e mail with the subject line of “Welcome to House Calls”. The e mail offered to sign them up to a news letter for free. Here are a few choice excerpts from the e mail promoting this news letter. I’ve taken the liberty of highlighting the “red flags” as described above in red.
“You’ll discover safe and proven solutions you can use to fight arthritis, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and much more. Plus, you’ll get my honest take on the latest research and health headlines.”
“Over the next few days, you’ll be receiving news about my most exciting breakthroughs and formulas, the exact same ones I use in my clinic and recommend to my patients every day, like:
If You Eat THIS, You’re Growing Deadly Tumors: Are you literally FEEDING cancer cells by putting this one food on your dinner plate?
This is important. You must stop eating this common food today or you could be growing cancer cells. And here’s the weird part… as soon as you STOP eating it, the opposite happens: cancer cells STARVE to death — and die out by the thousands.
Skeptical? I was too… until I saw the proof here.
Strange “instant pain relief” secret caught on video — Have you seen the weird “little brown bottle” video? In the short video, you can see how more than 535,311 people have discovered an underground sensation in pain relief…”
“Don’t think the only way to get through the day is by practically overdosing on caffeine… New research shows doing this ’15 second trick’ daily could be your answer to tiredness and fatigue. Simply taking 15 seconds every morning to do THIS can help you: Surge with youthful energy…Banish brain fog and day time sleepiness…Brighten your mood and happiness. So put the coffee down and learn how to start this ’15 second trick’ right here.”
“With so much conflicting health information out there today… with so many people looking to make a buck… it can be hard to know who to trust. I believe it’s my responsibility as a doctor and a Christian to be the one voice in medicine you can always rely on.”
You can see how this could be a very attractive offer to an older person who may be suffering from typical age-related diseases, but there are a lot of red flags if you know what to look for. The authors have practically offered a cure for arthritis and diabetes, and have literally offered one for cancer. These are outrageous claims and should immediately make the reader suspicious. They also allude to common foods causing cancer and make the claim that many people are overdosing on caffeine. They make vague health claims, use alerting buzzwords like “breakthrough formula” and “underground sensation,” and claim they can provide their benefits with “simple tricks” in only “seconds.” Finally, the authors appeal to Christian beliefs, which they know will highly represented in their target audience.
This e mail was signed by Dr. Mark Stengler. He is not currently on the Quackwatch list, but googling his name turned up his website for the Strengler Center for Integrative Medicine. Despite calling himself “America’s Natural Doctor®,” Mark Strengler is not a medical doctor – he holds a degree in naturopathy (NMD), which does not require rigorous, evidence-based medical training. Besides his newsletter, the site offers an article on the benefits of ozone therapy (there are none), and sells books authored by “Dr” Strengler detailing the benefits of natural alternatives to prescription drugs (red flag), proven natural remedies that medical doctors don’t know about (another red flag), the benefits of medicinal mushrooms (huge red flag, do not take mushrooms obtained from unreliable sources, many are very poisonous), “Natural Cures” (huge red flag) and “outside the box cancer therapies.” This last one is the biggest of red flags – cancer should never be treated with alternative medicine. People die this way.
This e mail is clearly a scam, intended to prey on the senior citizens worried about their health and willing to do whatever they can to maintain their well-being. There is no doubt that Mark Strengler is a quack, endorsing disproven psuedomedicine for his own benefit. Luckily, these types of scams are easy to spot if you know what you are looking for. If individuals or companies offer you healthcare advice, use the techniques described above to determine if the source is trustworthy, and send a link to this article to seniors you know to help them make informed choices about who to trust and how to spend their money. You can report obvious scams to the better business bureau as well. Don’t be fooled by these scams!
We have talked about the lack of scientific support for detox diets in the past, but one practice we have not addressed is the kinda-sorta-logical-if-you-squint extension of detoxing – cleansing, or more specifically cleansing the bowels. Look, we totally agree that this is gross, and honestly, we’d rather be talking about non-gross cool things like narwhals, pluto, or platypuses. However, cleansing is a potentially dangerous form of “Alternative Medicine” with no basis in scientific fact, which makes it exactly the kind of thing a science advocacy site like UYBFS should be writing about. So we’ll try to make this as fun and as non-gross as possible, ok? Right, here it goes…
WHY ON EARTH WOULD ANYONE PUSH A BUNCH OF LIQUID INTO THEIR COLON ON PURPOSE?
Medical Use. Despite the indignity of the act, there are actually a few valid medical reasons for doing so. When performed as part of (or in preparation for) a medical procedure, this is called an enema. You may have seen enemas in your local pharmacy, and it might have made you giggle (grow up, dude), but these have a real place in medicine. The two most common medical uses for enemas are emptying the lower bowel in preparation for a colonoscopy (a procedure in which a camera is inserted into the colon in order to visualize ulcerations, polyps, or colon cancer) and when a contrast agent (barium sulfate) is introduced into the colon in order to image it more effectively using X-rays.
There several other less common reasons for enema use, including the treatment of severe constipation or impaction (super gross), and the administration of certain drugs. These are treatments all people should aim to avoid.
Recreational Use. There are some people out there who use enemas in a non-medical, recreational way. If that’s your thing, that’s cool – just be safe about it, and make sure your doctor knows what you’re up to. That’s all we are gonna say about that.
Believing – against all evidence – that it’s somehow good for you. This is where “Alternative Medicine” comes in. There are some who believe that over time “toxins,” undigested food, and accumulated feces build up in the colon and cause health problems. These could really be any health problems – from GI issues to a general lack of well-being, low energy or short attention spans, to serious heath conditions like cancer and infertility. The idea is that you can wash out all of these bad things with periodic cleanings and make everything ok.
There was a time, hundreds to thousands of years ago, when some scientists and doctors believed that colon cleansing might offer benefits. This was based on the long-since disproved theory of auto-intoxication, which hypothesized that toxins entered the body with your food and hung out in the intestines slowly poisoning you. Today we know better.
THAT SOUNDS LOGICAL, WHY WOULDN’T IT WORK?
It doesn’t work because that are no toxins, undigested food and accumulated feces built up in our colon. Your intestines are really good at digesting food and extracting all the bioavailable nutrients (and non-nutrients). It does this because is has a very high surface area due to trillions of projections call villi on the surface of the lining of your gut. If, hypothetically, these tiny projections were somehow encased in an impenetrable sludge of undigested food and feces, you would die and die quickly. This is because you wouldn’t be able to extract the nutrients from your food. You would lose weight no matter how much you ate. You’d become deficient in pretty much every essential vitamin or mineral. Worst of all you would become dehydrated, since you wouldn’t be able to absorb the water you drink effectively. This sounds like a horrible way to die, right? It would be – but luckily it never happens, because your intestines are good at their job. They don’t need your help. Just leave them alone, dude…
Cleansing aficionados (and people trying to sell you cleanses) will give you a long list of supposed benefits of cleansing. They are all false. To keep this article from getting too long, while “shining some light” on the issue, here is a list of supposed benefits of cleansing, each answered by our UYBFS staff in 20 words or less.
Claim: It pulls harmful toxins out of your colon!
Claim: It aids in digestion!
Claim: It reduces constipation!
Claim: It gives you more energy, helps with concentration or “well-being”, reduces anxiety, etc…
Claim: It aids in weight loss!
Claim: It supports/improves colon health!
Claim: It helps the whole body detox!
Claim: It improves fertility!
Claim: It makes the digestive system more efficient!
Claim: It increases the body’s absorption of vitamins and minerals!
Claim: It reduces the risk of colon cancer!
Claim: It maintains the proper pH balance in your body/blood
YEAH BUT THEN WHY DO SO MANY PEOPLE DO IT?
First of all, we’re not sure that many people do this. Maybe among celebrities (or people who want to be like them) this might be a thing, but how many people do you know who have ever cleansed, much less do it regularly? Sure, Gwyneth Paltrow thinks it’s a good idea and will even sell you a $135 dollar glass jar to help you squirt coffee up your butt, however, Gwyneth Paltrow should NEVER be trusted with health advice. Going to a professional for “colon hydrotherapy” will cost $80 to $100 per visit, and your health insurance isn’t going help out with the bill. Or you could buy an enema and do it yourself, which is… gross.
There is most certainly a small subset of people who “like” cleanses, enough that there is a name for it: “klismaphilia”. There are a lot of nerve endings in there, and there is little doubt that some people find it pleasurable. UYBFS doesn’t judge – if it floats your boat no worries, but let’s not pretend that it’s somehow improving your health. It is not.
I SUPPOSE ITS DANGEROUS? UYBFS IS ALWAYS TELLING US THINGS ARE DANGEROUS
Come on, man, that’s not true!
With that said, yes this is totally dangerous. The main risks are perforating your colon (it sounds bad, and it really is), bloating, nausea, vomiting, dehydration, infections, and serious electrolyte imbalances. People have died from coffee enemas. These are not safe and provide no health benefits.
OK, SO HOW ABOUT CLEANSING WITH LAXITIVES AND TEAS?
Also not a good idea – excessive laxitive use can cause many of the same negative health effects listed above, and some of those teas can be toxic too. Also, weren’t you paying attention a few paragraphs ago when we told you there are no toxins cleverly hiding out in your colon? There are no health benefits of cleansing.
SO… YOU’RE SAYING SKIP THE CLEANSE?
I think we’ve made our recommendation pretty clear. The idea of treating auto-intoxication with cleanses is as outdated as using leeches to treat disease. We know that there are no toxins hanging out in your gut causing disease or preventing you from concentrating at work, and we know cleansing can be dangerous. The risk/benefit profile here is terrible – all risk and no known benefit. Also, it’s gross. Leave your colon alone and skip the cleanse.
