Food for thought
The emerging trend of latest internet health news is a crass/cute example of the sort of update health information that has become the stuff of life, a regular source of terror and hope. Newspapers in particular can mesmerise with contradictory reports of particular foodstuffs just found to maybe increase or decrease bodily disaster.
Some people run, barely dressed in the morning, into shops, driven by news that Brussels sprouts fend off lung cancer or that lower factor suntan lotions prevent breast cancer better than higher ones. Men who have taken Omega 3 supplements comprising alphalinolenic acid were recently told that, while favouring their heart, they’d unfavoured their prostate.
The most vague, yet surprisingly optimistic, stories are those announcing that the health benefits of something, ‘may outweigh its risks’ (rather than vice versa). Budget and trendy drinkers of supercider, barely able to stand, recently took heart from (the rather patriotic) news that cider stands rock solid on the side of good in the war against cancer.
But hot dogs, sushi, mouthwash, they’re bad guys right now. And bubble baths are considered well cancerous. Pistachios, chilli and mushrooms are back with the good guys, along with coffee. Oranges are still OK, but there was the worrying news that, for all those years, mandarins would have been a slightly better choice – and may have made that crucial difference in tempering any hideous genetic fallibility lurking year ahead. Latest health news update: ‘More crab may mean less cancer’
