McGill Office for Science and Society (@mcgilloss) Bsky

The Leggings That Promise to Fix Your Knees Back when I was a varsity athlete (before I became old and washed up), I spent my final season dealing with a particularly stubborn ankle injury. As it turns out, sprinting down a runway and launching...

Stoko’s “medical-grade” tights use an internal cable system designed to stabilize the knee while allowing full movement.

The concept sounds promising, but the research behind it is still preliminary, small, and largely company-funded.

Read more:
mcgill.ca/x/5Ak

20 hours ago 2 0 0 1

Searching for the Fountain of Youth Join us on May 13 for Dr. Joe’s public talk on the aging process, from real science to pseudoscientific bunk.

Due to overwhelming interest, we’ve upgraded to a larger venue and increased capacity for our “Searching for the Fountain of Youth” lecture on May 13th 🎉

🎟️ Register now to be sure you snag your spot!
mcgill.ca/x/5QJ

1 day ago 2 1 0 0

Scary Videos Claim That You Are Risking Your Health by Reheating Leftovers. Are You Really? Bacteria are everywhere. Most are harmless but some are “pathogenic,” meaning they can cause disease. They can carry out their mischief in two ways. One possibility is that they can survive passage th...

Contrary to what some videos on YouTube suggest, you will not shorten your life by reheating leftovers.

The key to avoiding illness is taking the proper precautions during food preparation and reheating.

Get the full scoop in Dr. Joe’s article.
mcgill.ca/x/5Ao

2 days ago 5 3 0 0

Colorectal Cancer in Younger Adults: What’s Behind the Uptick? It was a shock to learn that actor Chadwick Boseman had died. The rising star who played Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was 43 when colorectal cancer took his life in August 2020. More...

Chadwick "Black Panther" Boseman.

James "Dawson Leery" Van Der Beek.

Two men who died of colorectal cancer in their 40s.

They are part of an uptick in colorectal cancer in people under the age of 50.

Why?

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

5 days ago 11 6 1 0

The Curious History of Coca-Cola’s “Fanta” Beverage Coca Cola, the beverage that sports the most recognized trademark in the world, has a fascinating and sometimes quirky history. It all started with a battlefield wound suffered in 1865 by Confederate ...

Born from a Civil War wound, Coca-Cola has a curious history.

Fanta’s is just as curious with its roots in Nazi Germany.

Read Dr. Joe’s article to get the full history of these iconic sodas.
mcgill.ca/x/5My

6 days ago 2 1 2 0

Registration is now open for “Searching for the Fountain of Youth” on May 13th! Hosted by the OSS, this talk will be given by Dr. Joe Schwarcz and will dive into the aging process.

Join us as we take a closer look at what the science on aging actually says.

Registration required.
mcgill.ca/x/5QJ

1 week ago 1 1 0 0

Thermal Clothing: Lessons in Engineering As soon as the temperature dips below 0ºC, you will find me covered head to toe in thermal clothing. I am not picky when it comes to brands, although I do love Uniqlo’s HEATTECH. As long as I am warm,...

When it comes to shopping for thermal clothing, the magic word among the stock seems to be “moisture-wicking.”

It turns out that the science behind moisture-wicking plays a pretty significant role in why certain fabrics are off the table when it comes to layering up.
mcgill.ca/x/5Qk

1 week ago 1 1 0 0

For about 300,000 years homo sapiens had been eating just about everything that seemed edible.

But here we are, 300,000 years later, talking about a plethora of diets, trying to determine which one is the ‘healthiest.'

Read Dr. Joe’s article to get the full scoop.
mcgill.ca/x/5MS

1 week ago 1 1 0 0

You Are What You Eat “You are what you eat” is a widely quoted aphorism, expressing the general truth that nutrition and health are intimately linked. It is generally said to derive from the phrase “tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are” found in French gastronome Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s 1823 book “Physiology Du Gout.” However, Brillat-Savarin was not referring to nutrition, he was commenting on the differences between the foods available to different social classes. The rich could count on a large variety of foods, while the poor subsisted on a meager food supply. Interestingly, he did make a scientific observation noting that sugar and white flour are associated with obesity. Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine” has also been credited with germinating the expression with his advice to “let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” The problem here is that there is no record of such a statement in the “Hippocratic Corpus,” the medical writings produced by himself and his followers. The closest is “one must not administer food to the sick in greater quantity than they can bear,” with the idea being that the wrong diet worsens disease. Another excerpt from the writings highlights a shift towards evidence-based nutrition: "For it is not sufficient to learn simply that cheese is a bad food, as it gives a pain to one who eats a surfeit of it; we must know what the pain is, the reasons for it, and which constituent of man is harmfully affected." There is no question that Hippocrates linked health to diet, but he never said, “you are what you eat.” Presbyterian Minister and self-proclaimed dietary reformer Sylvester Graham used a number of phrases that do smack of “you are what you eat” without using those exact words: “The food we eat exerts a direct and powerful influence upon our physical and moral nature” and “the character of man depends very much on the character of his food.” These transmit the same sort of message. Graham was quite specific about his nutritional advice. He was a dedicated vegetarian, emphasized abstention from alcohol and spices, and urged the consumption of coarse whole grain flour. These measures, he claimed, would prevent self-pleasuring which he considered to be a great evil. Graham flour, Graham bread and Graham crackers were inspired by his teachings. Another candidate for the origin of “You Are What You Eat” is an ad that appeared in 1922 in the Atlantic Monthly with the catchy headline “medicine cannot do this for you; your strength and vigour depend on what you eat.” The ad was for Fleischmann’s Yeast with the claim that it is a rich source of vitamins and helps the intestines eliminate poisonous waste matter. Although it does not specifically say “you are what you eat,” the implication is there. The first person who uttered the exact phrase was naturopath Dr. Henry Lindlahr, who in 1914 founded the Lindlahr Sanitarium in Elmhurst, Illinois. The Sanitarium’s slogan was “no drugs, no serum’s no surgery.” All diseases, according to Lindlahr, were caused by accumulated metabolic waste which he referred to as “toxins” without specifying what these toxins were. The solution to reducing them was a diet of raw fruits and vegetables, whole grains, minimal animal products, no stimulants and frequent fasting. Lindlahr was also an advocate of iridology, a nonsensical method that claims to diagnose illness by examining the iris of the eye He also believed that the smallpox vaccine was useless and was the cause of cancer. While Henry Lindlahr first used the phrase “You Are What You Eat,” it is his son Victor who is more closely associated with the expression given that he published a book in 1940 with that exact title! Dr. Victor Lindlahr graduated from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine and went on to become a health food writer and host of “Talks and Diet,” a popular radio show. Since it was Lindlahr’s book that popularized “You Are What You Eat,” I thought I better read the book for some background since I have used the expression many times myself. Truthfully, I thought I would be in for a plentiful dose of quackery seeing that after his father’s death, Victor had taken over the running of the Lindlahr Sanitarium with its questionable practices. I was in for a surprise. Lindlahr actually approaches nutrition scientifically, at least as much as that was possible in 1940. He describes how the body is built from components in the food supply and comes up with a useful analogy: “If you planned to bake a cake, you would assemble in proper proportions the necessary flour, eggs, milk and baking powder; similarly to have good health, you must supply your body with foods that contain all the different elements your body needs in their proper amounts.” He emphasizes the importance of a balanced diet and even makes a stab at what that should be since by 1940, carbohydrates, proteins and fats had been identified as the major components of food and the importance of minerals and vitamins had been recognized. Fruits and vegetables were the key to health, Lindlahr maintained, and railed against people who claimed that salads are “bunny food.” “Man does not live by bread alone,” he argued, proposing that too many carbohydrate foods throw the body out of balance. Fruits and vegetables are highly nourishing Lindlahr said and supported that with the observation that bulls are vegetarian, yet they become “as strong as a bull,” and that the fierce gorilla lives largely on vegetables and has a passion for fruit. In some cases, Lindlahr went overboard with claims that vitamin C in lemon juice treats arthritis, that vitamin A dissolves kidney stones and that constipation is the great evil that causes food remnants in the colon to produce toxins. To his credit, he recognized the value of fiber in preventing constipation and promoted the use of Serutan (“Nature’s” spelled backwards), a predecessor of Metamucil, today’s often-recommended fiber supplement. After dealing with some fundamental concepts about the composition of foods, most of the book is devoted to entries of specific fruits and vegetables with their macro and micronutrient content along with their therapeutic potential. Some of this is the same kind of hype we see in books by today’s “wellness influencers.” Avocados can build blood because of their iron content; artichokes have vitamin A to ward of respiratory infections and blueberries have neomyrtillin that can lower blood glucose. The latter is in the polyphenol family, a class of molecules recognized by current science as being valuable antioxidants, but nobody should rely on blueberries to control blood glucose. Victor Lindlahr also gets credit for recommending a daily diet with a specific composition: twelve ounces of protein foods, twelve ounces of fat, starchy and sugary foods, and thirty-six ounces of “protective foods,” basically raw and cooked fruits and vegetables that can be selected from a list in the book. While there is no problem nitpicking many of the arguments in the book, it deserves credit for promoting a diet based mostly on plant foods as is promoted by today’s researchers, and for explaining in a rational fashion why “You Are What You Eat.” @‌JoeSchwarcz

From ancient philosophy to modern science, the phrase, “You are what you eat” has many potential origin stories. Dr. Joe offers a concise history lesson on the emergence of this phrase in this article
mcgill.ca/x/5ft

1 week ago 4 0 0 0

The term "AI psychosis" itself is hotly debated for a variety of reasons I go into in my article, but if you are vulnerable to delusions, LLMs are unlikely to protect you; they will likely feed the flames.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

1 week ago 6 3 1 0

Lessons in Going Slow: Vaccination Schedules, Tuberculosis, and What Happens When Faster Isn’t Always Better Earlier this year, the United States dramatically scaled back its universal childhood immunisation schedule recommendations. Under an overhaul spearheaded by US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,...

Policy shifts feel abstract until outbreaks happen.

A shortened TB treament adopted decades ago ended in fatal hepatitis cases.

Today’s vaccine recalibration deserves the same question: are we moving carefully enough?

Read more: mcgill.ca/x/5Mp

2 weeks ago 2 0 0 0

How Many Lives Do Amber Alerts Really Save? On Sunday, March 22nd of this year, a large swath of the population in Quebec was woken up at 4:25 as cell phones lit up and screamed. An Amber alert had been broadcast. Less than four hours later, th...

If you live in Quebec, you remember our last Amber alert.

When our phone starts screaming at us in the middle of the night, many people complain.

Do Amber alerts really work?

I took a look for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

2 weeks ago 10 2 2 0

You Can’t Beat Beets! It doesn’t matter how good a video or an article is if you can’t get people to watch or read it. That’s why a lot of thought goes into coming up with a catchy title that grabs attention. In this case,...

In processed meats, nitrates are linked to cancer, but in beets, they are considered healthy🥩

What gives? According to science, it all depends on the environment where nitrates are found.

Get the full scoop in Dr. Joe’s latest.
mcgill.ca/x/5Mc

2 weeks ago 4 1 0 1

Navigating Life Gingerly: Do Red-Haired Individuals Experience Pain Differently? Red hair is the rarest natural hair color, expressed in only 1-2 percent of the world’s population. Of course, that number does not include salon-goers who seek to mask their original hair color. Red ...

Red hair is the rarest natural hair color, expressed in only 1-2 percent of the world’s population.

Emerging research hints that redheads might have a unique threshold for acute pain tolerance… let's unpack the facts in this article👇

mcgill.ca/x/5MU

2 weeks ago 1 0 0 0

This week, I'm looking at a very controversial and potentially emotional topic for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

Click the link below to hear a clue.

alerts.pelmorex.com/wp-content/u...

3 weeks ago 3 1 0 0

TZLA Plasma Healing: The Anarcho-Capitalist Cure-All “My age lowered by 25 years. And I’m still going, by the way. It’s incredible.” The man who speaks these lines is in a split screen with the host of the show. His goatee and what’s left of his hair ar...

The U.S. government embraces pseudoscience. Why do the anarchists who oppose the government do the same?

That's the question I set out to explore when I found out about the TZLA device on Telegram.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

3 weeks ago 5 3 1 0

When Your Phone Makes Time Disappear When I think about the first few hours of my day, I picture myself getting up, making breakfast, picking out my outfit, and tidying my apartment. What I don’t often recall are the 30 or so minutes I s...

“Just 5 minutes” on your phone → suddenly it’s been 30📱⏳

It’s not an accident. Endless scroll, autoplay & notifications are built to keep you hooked. Your brain gets constant small rewards, making time slip away.

It’s not just willpower. It’s design.

Read more on our website 👇
mcgill.ca/x/5fC

4 weeks ago 5 4 0 0

Is Your Sauna Session Sabotaging Your Swimmers? Over the past few months, a not insignificant number of my male friends have asked me (unprompted) whether going to the sauna is ruining their sperm. Bold questions. Intimate questions. But fair ones....

Turns out the strongest claims about saunas and sperm rest on very small studies. Read our latest article to learn more about this case study in scientific caution vs internet certainty.
mcgill.ca/x/5fH

4 weeks ago 2 1 0 0

So, the biggest podcaster on the planet, Joe Rogan, is an HIV/AIDS denier.

This will have significant trickle-down effects.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

1 month ago 19 10 3 0

Here is but a small selection of the amazing science accounts who we’d invite to our sci comm cottage:
@immunizecanada.bsky.social
@mcgilloss.bsky.social
@drmelissalem.bsky.social
@drtashofficial.bsky.social
@healthcareforreal.bsky.social
@jossreimer.bsky.social
@labmuffin.com

1 month ago 8 5 2 1

Doctor Deepfakes | Full Episode | Big [If True] YouTube video by Big [If True]

I was interviewed on the topic of AI health slop on social media, alongside @caulfieldtim.bsky.social & others.

The episode is called "Doctor Deepfakes." It's for Big (If True) on TVO.

cc @mcgilloss.bsky.social

www.youtube.com/watch?v=uigC...

1 month ago 8 5 0 0

White Noise May Worsen Sleep Getting a good night’s sleep is paramount to health; and yet, whenever we reach for a sleep aid, we are told there are risks involved. The active ingredient in Benadryl, diphenhydramine, is commonly u...

This one took me by surprise.

Continuous noise (white, pink) as a sleep aid is really popular. Many studies say it works--but they are really bad studies.

A new one, more rigorous, shows the opposite.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

1 month ago 10 3 1 0

Can you Live Longer by Eating a “Healthy” Diet? “Eat your vegetables!” is a command that just about every child has heard. “They’ll make you stronger” is a common follow up. The “stronger” connection is often traced back to Popeye the Sailorman’s g...

Thanks to Popeye the sailor, vegetables delivering us strength is a connection that is not new for many of us 🥦 However, in a recent Biobank study, the strongest association with increased longevity was with a high fiber intake.

Read the full article on our website
mcgill.ca/x/5Nn

1 month ago 7 5 0 0

Does Daylight Savings Time Actually Save Energy? The surefire signs that Spring is just around the corner have started to appear – trees are budding, flowers beginning to bloom and there’s more rain than snow. (Full disclosure – I live in the UK now...

🌞 Spring forward this weekend!

Daylight Savings Time might not actually save much energy anymore💡
 It started as a lighting‑saving idea long ago, but today all our electronics and travel habits blur its impact

Maybe we’re really just saving sunshine for smiles! 😄🕒

Read more ⬇️
mcgill.ca/x/5NA

1 month ago 5 3 0 0

Everyone Else Is Wrong: The Dr. Amen Story When a psychiatrist diagnoses you with anxiety, depression, an eating disorder or a learning disability—or even a serious pathology like schizophrenia—they don’t typically look at your brain. Dr. Dani...

Celebrity psychiatrist Daniel Amen says brain SPECT scans should transform mental health care

Major medical orgs disagree

With no rigorous clinical trials to validate his approach, is this a paradigm shift, or neuro-palmistry with a $4,000 price tag?

Read the article to find out
mcgill.ca/x/5Gq

1 month ago 3 0 0 0

Your Poop Is Not Reliable, At Least for Now Let’s say you mail your poop to two different companies—not an illegal act, by the way, provided it doesn’t smell or soil anything, and that it’s packaged and labelled appropriately. It also helps if ...

Those gut microbiome kits you pay good money for may as well be a ticket to see your local fortune teller.

Seven different companies; a standardized poop sample; and results that are all over the place.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

1 month ago 30 19 1 1

Do men really experience colds differently, or do we just interpret sickness through gender expectations? 🤒 Turns out the science is surprisingly nuanced.

Read the full article on our website👇
mcgill.ca/x/5Gi

1 month ago 2 0 0 1

Everyone Else Is Wrong: The Dr. Amen Story When a psychiatrist diagnoses you with anxiety, depression, an eating disorder or a learning disability—or even a serious pathology like schizophrenia—they don’t typically look at your brain. Dr. Dani...

You've seen on PBS. You're seen him on book covers. And he sells SPECT scans for your brain.

Dr. Daniel Amen wants to lead a psychiatric revolution, but rigorous science might ruin it.

My latest for @mcgilloss.bsky.social

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

1 month ago 6 4 1 0

Paying Attention to My Own Lectures “It builds muscle!” That’s the usual answer I get when I ask in class about the importance of protein in the diet. Sort of correct since muscles are indeed composed mostly of protein, but the protein ...

Essential for skin, hair, bones, antibodies, hormones, enzymes, hemoglobin, neurotransmitters, protein is more than just a muscle-building agent. Dive into Dr. Joe’s latest to brush up on protein's nuances: optimal intake by life stage and smartest sources. 👇
mcgill.ca/x/5G5

1 month ago 1 1 0 0

After I wrote this, I flagged all the channels I had linked to for medical misinformation.

Two are gone. Another one now prominently reveals that it is a digital AI presenter (based on an allegedly real doctor).

I whacked a couple of moles. Yay.

www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/...

1 month ago 13 1 0 0

Posts by McGill Office for Science and Society