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Technical Support:  Question about inaccurate information posted  |
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ivmeer
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Amanda
Pawtucket
RI
USA
409 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 20 2005 : 07:55:28 AM
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I'm a big skeptic, and I really don't like misinformation designed to whip people into hysteria. There's a post being circulated on the health forum that contains misleading information designed to frighten people. This isn't the first time that I've seen anecdotal information that may or may not be incorrect or misleading on these boards, especially with respect to health and nutrition.
What is the best way to respond to this? I don't want to get too confrontational (I know the board has a strict policy of being nice and not starting arguments) but I also don't want my fellow farmgirls to be misled into believing misinformation.
To be more clear, the post said that using artificial sweeteners was tantamount to drinking pool cleaner because they contained chlorine ions. What the poster neglected to mention was that regular table salt also contains chlorine ions, and that chlorine ions are not bad for your health. |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Sep 20 2005 : 09:57:09 AM
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I tend to agree Amanda and have seen a couple of postings that make me go hmmmmm. Unfortunately with this type of media for communicating, it is hard to get across your point of view sometimes without sounding confrontational or a "know it all". I don't think anyone really intends to "whip people into hysteria", but I think we all need to do our own research and be informed. And what you and I might research and post about today may be disproved in a week and become obsolete. Such is just the way it goes.
I look at people's posts as informative, but sometimes not gospel. If someone posts something that I find interesting or important to me, I will research it myself. Like you, I'm a skeptic and need to find out for myself.
Diane
Live a good and honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time. |
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ivmeer
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Amanda
Pawtucket
RI
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Sep 20 2005 : 10:05:37 AM
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| I just don't like to see good, honest people like the people here fooled. That's the problem with allowing misinformation to proliferate. In other aspects of my life, I try to nip this stuff in the bud, citing James Randi, Michael Shermer, Snopes, Skeptic's Dictionary, whatever. Here, there's a very strong sense of camaraderie, and I don't want to alienate people by pointing out inaccuracies in their posts too strongly. It's a conundrum. |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Sep 20 2005 : 10:45:08 AM
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I've found the majority of people here to be good and honest folks, but also intelligent with many life experiences. I personally believe we need to be responsible for our own beliefs in what may or may not be true. If someone on here tells me that something makes a nice tea, I would certainly look into it's properties before consuming it. It's being responsible for our own actions. You'd look pretty silly after you're poisoned to claim that someone on the net told you it was safe!
I doubt it's possible or even desirable for someone to police these forums for accurate information at all times.
Live a good and honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time. |
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The Pinup Cowgirl
Farmgirl in Training
36 Posts
Holly
Tacoma
WA
USA
36 Posts |
Posted - Sep 20 2005 : 9:40:11 PM
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I hope that any information I've posted isn't taken as literature to live by. I've heard some negative things about artificial sweeteners that I considered important enough for others to be cautious about. Some remedies for reducing sugars have worked greatly for some, badly for others. I just figured that with so much happening in the world, friendly concern could have been taken as sincerely as it was given.
As for chlorine ions being in salt, I know that it's not a bad substance for you. What I meant to bring across is that the high concentration may not be the best for a person's system. Again, each individual is different.
Good luck.
"We can do no great things; only small things with great love."
-Mother Teresa |
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ivmeer
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Amanda
Pawtucket
RI
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 06:02:07 AM
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Avoiding artificial sweeteners is fine. Suspecting they're unhealthy is fine. Being concerned about the health of your fellow farmgirls is wonderful, and I can see you shared the information with the kindest of motives.
I generally try to avoid drinking a lot of artificial sweeteners, too, and I like to try to avoid foods with chemical additives in general, so I understand where you're coming from. Unfortunately, there are a lot of opportunists preying on innocent people, and this Dr. Mercola appears to be one of them (do you notice how hard he pushes his products on his site?). I was just pointing out how his logic doesn't make sense and how he's trying to deceive us based on our logical belief that chemicals are bad for us. |
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 08:31:05 AM
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Should probably let this go, but in the spirit of the discussion it is CHLORIDE ions in salt Amanda, not chlorine! Kinda throws the "pool" theory out the window. :)
Diane
Live a good and honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time. |
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ivmeer
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Amanda
Pawtucket
RI
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 08:46:45 AM
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Chloride ions are chlorine atoms with one electron added. There's no such thing as a chlorine ion, and I wrote it wrong in my original post.
When you add chlorine atoms to an existing compound, they become Chloride ions. This is why Splenda can't be borken down in the body. Ionic bonds are very stable and difficult to break apart chemically. You can break apart a sodium ion (missing 1 electron) from a chloride ion (1 extra electron), for instance, simply by dumping them in water, but getting a sodium atom and a chlorine atom out of it is almost impossible.
Ions are stable and don't react with your body. Chlorine gas (Cl2) and sodium metal (Na2) are not ionic compounds but covalent compounds. Their bonds are weaker than ionic compounds, which is why they are so caustic. They're so weakly bonded that they look for something to bond with. That could be your finger, if you touch them, or your lungs, if you breathe them. In the case of sugar, which is not a caustic compound but which is also a covalent bond, it could be the acids in your stomach or the enzymes in your saliva, if you eat them.
The purpose of putting chlorine ions onto a sugar molecule is specifically so your body cannot break them down. Chlorine is not caustic to you unless it is in the pure forms of chlorine gas or dissolved in chlorine bleach. It's not going to hurt you in an artificial sweetener that you can't break down. |
Edited by - ivmeer on Sep 21 2005 08:58:30 AM |
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OkieSunflower
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
OK
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 11:57:03 AM
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Not to lighten your subject, but wanted to add something.
I'm a Diet Coke w/Lime drinker. Drink a couple of day. My 19yr old son is always commenting that the artificial sweetener in my diet Coke turns to Formaldehyde at 98degrees. Do I believe him...sometimes. Will I continue to drink them....sometimes but not near as many as I use to!
I do listen...but old habits are hard to kill.
"Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others." Jonathan Winters
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ivmeer
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Amanda
Pawtucket
RI
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 12:10:06 PM
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According to snopes, my go-to site for fact checking, the formaldehyde rumors have been flying around the internet and have no grounding in reality. Read more here:
www.snopes.com/toxins/aspartame.asp
Where did your son get his information? |
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OkieSunflower
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
OK
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 12:17:12 PM
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College science class!
Wonderful class that I'm paying for!
"Nothing is impossible. Some things are just less likely than others." Jonathan Winters
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Edited by - OkieSunflower on Sep 21 2005 12:19:13 PM |
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ivmeer
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Amanda
Pawtucket
RI
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 12:24:32 PM
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Found on an urban legends site at about.com, a quote from a Dr. Simon Margolis, a M.D. Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University, "While it is true that high heat can break down aspartame, there is no evidence that the breakdown products are toxic."
Sounds pretty safe to me.
Here's the link: http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blasp3.htm |
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MeadowLark
True Blue Farmgirl
2206 Posts
USA
2206 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 12:31:18 PM
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I have heard this rumor for decades... Will a nail dissolve in Coke?
If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come. |
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ivmeer
True Blue Farmgirl
409 Posts
Amanda
Pawtucket
RI
USA
409 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 12:53:35 PM
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| Seriously, Meadowlark, check out www.snopes.com. They have a whole chunk of the site dedicated to coke rumors alone. Apparently there are a lot of them. |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Sep 21 2005 : 2:57:24 PM
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My grandfather was a sign painter. He used to use Coke to take paint off signs so he could repaint them if he ran out of what he normally used. I saw him do it many times when I was a child. Don't know about a nail dissolving but paint sure did.
I'm still hot...it just comes in flashes. |
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2005 : 10:37:16 AM
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The formulation of Coke has changed a lot since then. At one time it really did take rust off bumpers (back when bumpers rusted) and paint off most anything.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com |
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therusticcottage
True Blue Farmgirl
4439 Posts
Kay
Vancouver
WA
USA
4439 Posts |
Posted - Sep 22 2005 : 10:13:16 PM
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Robin -- I'm sure it has changed since I was a small child in the 50s!!
I'm still hot...it just comes in flashes. |
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Technical Support: Question about inaccurate information posted |
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Question about inaccurate information posted
