I friend sent me this stupid public relations release from Humana on another cancer scare. Thanks Jeff. Jeff get’s his health insurance from Humana.
Panic mongering should be criminalized. The first offense punishment would be to have a well meaning nanny meddler with a clipped German accent in the house for a year.
Shame on Humana, with little to recommend their assertions except speculation, they advise against frying or broiling or . . . because acrylamide causes “cancer” (actually it causes tumors, not cancer) in rodents when they are fed just less than lethal doses.
Now imagine for a moment how much the injestion of a basically non toxic chemical like acrylamide would have to be to reach a 50% lethal dose.
And why that might not be a good measure of carcinogenicity, particularly if the tumors in the rodents are counted without regard to cell type in specially prone to “tumors” animals who have a high rate of tumors and a short life span even without being fed lethal doses of chemicals.
JunkScience.com and the American Council on Science and Health have waxed eloquent on this rodent cancer research thing, so look it up.
But wouldn’t want to keep people from being stupid and scared, would we? Isn’t influencing the public what journalism/politics/nannyism is all about?
And people in the health industry like to think they are giving good advice.
Again, shame on Humana.
And, by the way, this business about the value of fresh fruits and veggies–put a sock in it. The food value of fresh fruits and veggies is not nearly what these rabbit/humans claim.
Balanced meals with fat/protein/vitamins/carbos/bulk produce big strong boys and girls. Leafy veggies are overrated. Other veggies are too including the ones that taste good and the ones that are like taking medicine.
Red meat, eggs, butter, all these verboten foods are good for you–trust me, I’m a doctor.
Nutritionists could put their randomized double blinded studies in one envelope, not counting the observational studies on obvious protein and vitamin deficiencies.
There are not good studies replicated that can justify all the nutrition food store claims about food the is good for your brain, bones, joints, yadyada.
Balanced meals, proper caloric intake and exercise to build endurance and strength–that’s it, nutrition class dismissed.
http://humanaresponses.com/?elqPURLPage=153
Reblogged this on Scientists Behaving Badly.
The link led to the reincarnation of acrylamide (aka AMD). I thought this had died years ago. In 1976, my industrial career started with the production of acrylamide polymers used in the paper and water treating industries. One of my additional duty jobs as technical manager of a chemical plant was the industrial hygiene program. The only real health hazard I’m aware of with AMD is that it is a neurotoxin. Over exposure to acrylamide can lead to peeling fingers and feet as the body tries to excrete the chemical as well as a decrease in sense of touch. To get such over-exposure you need to darn near take a bath in the stuff. I also worked at the plant that made it. The plant also used such fun chemicals as formaldehyde and epichlorohydrin. We tracked employees sense of touch and even participated in an epidemiology study. The cancer incidence for employees was below that of the general population.
Polyacrylamides were considered GRAS for many applications.
Also, we’ve been baking breads, frying foods and heating meat to high temperatures for a very long time.