The Romans used cups made of lead, not knowing the effects of lead poisoning. It also took a while to notice the effects of cigarette smoking. If wheat gluten was Bad, but the effects weren’t immediately obvious, it could easily go unnoticed for a long, long time.
(As far as I can tell, you can make at least a halfway decent case against basically any kind of food; it wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that science shows that eating, in general, is bad for you.)
It also took a while to notice the effects of cigarette smoking.
While tobacco was used by Europeans in some quantity since the early colonization of North America, it was the mass-production of cigarettes in the late 19th century that made heavy smoking a possibility for a large number of people. The first medical work showing a link between smoking and cancer came out in 1912 and 1929.
But smoking didn’t get really huge in the U.S. until the mid-20th century, the era of mass media marketing of cigarettes (L.S./M.F.T.!); the British Doctors Study in 1956 was statistically pretty darned conclusive from a Bayesian standpoint, but was famously opposed by R. A. Fisher. Much of the later controversy on the subject of tobacco and cancer was manufactured by the tobacco industry, well after the matter was scientifically settled.
All foods both exhibit toxicity, and provide nutrients. I think the goal of nutrition is to choose the right foods in the right amounts to balance nutritional needs with toxic effects.
Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. When you really look into it we don’t know much about human nutrition, but some choices are still better than others with the information we do have. The problem is I am having trouble finding a rigorous way to weigh these different choices. I guess the real question isn’t “is gluten toxic?” but “are gluten containing foods more or less toxic than other alternatives which meet the same nutritional requirements?”
That’s a great point about the lead cups, and smoking. It certainly makes me wonder what other things are hurting our health right now, that we potentially have the clues to identify but haven’t managed to connect the dots yet.
There are other examples besides lead cups. Most nutritional deficiencies have only recently been recognized; scurvy’s solution was famously lost for a century, and while there were folk remedies even back in the Roman era for curing goiters with seaweed, none of them indicate any understanding of the subtler effects on intelligence.
“are gluten containing foods more or less toxic than other alternatives which meet the same nutritional requirements?
Nutritional and economic requirements. I’d guess gluten-free foods are no cheaper than otherwise-equivalent regular foods, so unless you’re willing to spend an arbitrarily large amount of money on food that’s also relevant.
The Romans used cups made of lead, not knowing the effects of lead poisoning. It also took a while to notice the effects of cigarette smoking. If wheat gluten was Bad, but the effects weren’t immediately obvious, it could easily go unnoticed for a long, long time.
(As far as I can tell, you can make at least a halfway decent case against basically any kind of food; it wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that science shows that eating, in general, is bad for you.)
While tobacco was used by Europeans in some quantity since the early colonization of North America, it was the mass-production of cigarettes in the late 19th century that made heavy smoking a possibility for a large number of people. The first medical work showing a link between smoking and cancer came out in 1912 and 1929.
But smoking didn’t get really huge in the U.S. until the mid-20th century, the era of mass media marketing of cigarettes (L.S./M.F.T.!); the British Doctors Study in 1956 was statistically pretty darned conclusive from a Bayesian standpoint, but was famously opposed by R. A. Fisher. Much of the later controversy on the subject of tobacco and cancer was manufactured by the tobacco industry, well after the matter was scientifically settled.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_effects_of_tobacco_smoking
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/tables/economics/consumption/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Doctors_Study
Thanks for the update.
All foods both exhibit toxicity, and provide nutrients. I think the goal of nutrition is to choose the right foods in the right amounts to balance nutritional needs with toxic effects.
Unfortunately, this is easier said than done. When you really look into it we don’t know much about human nutrition, but some choices are still better than others with the information we do have. The problem is I am having trouble finding a rigorous way to weigh these different choices. I guess the real question isn’t “is gluten toxic?” but “are gluten containing foods more or less toxic than other alternatives which meet the same nutritional requirements?”
That’s a great point about the lead cups, and smoking. It certainly makes me wonder what other things are hurting our health right now, that we potentially have the clues to identify but haven’t managed to connect the dots yet.
There are other examples besides lead cups. Most nutritional deficiencies have only recently been recognized; scurvy’s solution was famously lost for a century, and while there were folk remedies even back in the Roman era for curing goiters with seaweed, none of them indicate any understanding of the subtler effects on intelligence.
Nutritional and economic requirements. I’d guess gluten-free foods are no cheaper than otherwise-equivalent regular foods, so unless you’re willing to spend an arbitrarily large amount of money on food that’s also relevant.