Tag Archives: body

The life cycle of a fad diet

Posted on October 21, 2019 | Leave a comment

Here’s the life cycle of a fad diet!

Click on the image below for the HD version:

Many thanks to Robyn Penney for the translation!

According to my 100% subjective estimates, in 2019 …

FAD DIETS AT THE END OF THEIR LIFE CYCLE

Gluten-free diet (without celiac disease)
Paleo diet

FAD DIETS AT MID-CYCLE

FAD DIETS EARLY IN THEIR CYCLE

Let not kid ourselves: whatever they pretend, most – if not all all – restrictive diets have weight loss as their ultimate goal (arguably, the whole “wellness” industry is about weight loss).

And sure, you’ll lose some weight in the short term; any fad diet will do the trick. But the science is clear: they have an amazingly high failure rate in the long run (the exact rate is hard to point out).

Want a diet that’s not a fad, not about weight loss, associated with positive health outcomes and – most of all – that’s backed by solid scientific evidence?

Then you might be interested in plant-rich ones, such as the Mediterranean diet and flexitarian / vegetarian diets !

TOP 10 useless remedies for the common cold

Posted on January 5, 2018 | 7 comments

The cold season has begun.

But there’s something worse out there: the plethora of esoteric remedies to allegedly prevent and cure the common cold, like…

Rubbing Vicks on your feet
Sticking your face above a bowl of hot, scented water
A swig of gin and/or cayenne and/or oregano oil
Sweating out the virus
The mustard plaster
Flu busters
Putting something in your bum (like suppositories)
Chicken noodle soup
Cough syrups
Antibiotics

Being a pharmacist, I get asked about those all the time. And really, I don’t care if people wanna use medication, natural health products or home remedies… as long as what they do is safe, effective, evidence-based and science-based.

Would you like to know what works and what doesn’t? Here are the TOP 10 useless remedies for the common cold. Please laugh at each of them. They deserve it.

Translated by Valentin Nguyen; edits and proofreading by Robyn Penney.

7 Comments

Posted in Comics

Tagged 200, acidic, airways, allergic reactions, ancestors, anti-inflammatory, antibiotics, antifungal, antimicrobial, antiseptic, antiviral, apple cider vinegar, ass, bacteria, bad, balm, Benadryl, body, boost, bowl, breathe, bronchitis, broth, bullshitometer, bum, burns, buster, camphor, carrot, cataplasm, cayenne, celery, cells, chicken noodle soup, children, cinnamon, clear, clinical trials, clinically tested, codeine, cold, common cold, contraindicated, cooked, cough, cough reflex, cough syrup, coughing, counterirritation, danger, dead, detoxifying, dextromethorphane, diphenhydramine, disgusting, DM, doctor, dressing, drinking, drops, drugstores, ear infection, echinacea, effect, effective, elderberry, electrolytes, eliminating, esoteric, essential oils, eucalyptus, evidence-based, exaggerated, external, eye drops, feet, first sign, flu, foot, garlic clove, ginger, ginseng, grandmothers, gross, Gwyneth Paltrow, hallucinogenic, hazelwood necklace, head, healing, high dosage, high dose, home remedies, homeopathic, honey, hot liquid, hot water, hot yoga, humidity, hydrated, immune system, in vitro, infection, influenza, ingredients, inhaled, inhalers, inside, internal, intervention, intestines, irrigate, juniper, kids, lab, leeks, liquids, loosen, lozenges, lungs, marketing, masks, medication, menthol, misinterpreted, money, mouth-burning, mucus, mustard, natural health products, nausea, Neti pot, neurological, nose, ointments, opposite, orally, oregano oil, otitis, pain, penetrate, pepper, pharmacies, pharmacist, physician, pills, plaster, plausible, potato, poultice, preference, prolonging, properties, pure, real life, recipe, recovery, rectum, remedies, resistance, resistant, respiratory, rub, rubbing, run, safe, saline, salt, sauna, scented, science-based, scientific, secretions, seizures, selling, sick, sinus, sinuses, skin, smell, socks, soles, soothing, soup, stinging, strains, strengthens, strong, studies, substances, sucked, suffocation, superbacteria, suppository, swallow, swallowed, sweat, sweating, swelling, swig of gin, syrups, tablets, taste, teaspoon, tested, throat, throw up, towel, toxic, tract, turmeric, value, vapor, vegetable, Vicks, virus, vitamin C, vitamin E deficiency, vocabulary, warm, wet feet, wool, wrong, zinc

The Pharmafist’s HONEST juice cleanse

Posted on August 23, 2017 | 4 comments

Do you feel like JUICING?

Yes? Well that’s great, because as it happens, I’m launching my own juice cleanse!

Such cleanses are ultra-popular and expensive right now, so I figured I could make big, fast money.

But first and foremost, I wanted to create something that did not exist: a juice cleanse with honest health claims. Popular cleanses promise detoxifying, alkalizing and anti-cancer properties… but the people who sell them obviously don’t understand (or voluntarily exaggerate) what science really says.

So I took typical descriptions of various juice cleanses found online (shown below, with the red X on them), and I made them more realistic.

Get ready for an overdose of turmeric, ginger, chlorophyll and activated charcoal!

Translated by Valentin Nguyen.

The Pharmafist's HONEST juice cleanse

cocoa ginger cayenne cilantro

beets turmeric curcumin chlorophyll

apple lemon pineapple bromelain

maca activated charcoal

How to do the cleanse before during and what foods to eat

Physical activity and after the cleanse

4 Comments

Posted in Comics

Tagged activated charcoal, added sugar, alcohol, alertness, allergies, Alzheimer's, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antidepressant, antiemetic, antiviral, apple, asthma, athletes, athletic, bad breath, beets, beneficial, benefits, blend, blood, bloodflow, bodily functions, body, bogus, bones, bottle juice, bromelain, broths, caffeine, cancer, carotenoids, cayenne, cell, cellular level, cereals, chelator, chlorophyll, chocolate, cigarette, cilantro, claims, clean, cleanse, cleansing, cocoa, coffee, companies, contaminate, curcumin, cure, dairy, dangerous, days, defenses, dendritic, deprived, detox, detoxify, diet, digest, digestive system, disturb, drain, eat, effective, eleminates, emunctory, energies, energy, excessive, exercise, extrapolation, eyes, farts, fatigue, feel like crap, fibers, flatulence, formidable, free radicals, fruits, ginger, gluten, green, habits, hair, headache, healthy, heavy metals, heme, hemoglobin, hippie, holistic, humans, hungry, hydrate, immune system, in vitro, inflammatory, intensive, internal, juice, lead, lemon, lemonade, lifestyle, lightness, living foods, lymphatic, maca, magical, meat, medications, medicinal, mercury, metabolism, molecule, mucous membranes, nails, natural, natural protection, naturally sweet, nausea, neurotoxins, nitrates, nutrients, nutritional value, organs, oxygenate, pain, partial, photosynthesis, physical performance, pineapple, plants, poison, pollutants, pollution, prevent, processed food, progression, properties, proteins, proven, purify, rats, receptor, red blood cells, regenerate, rehydrate, remedy, research, risks, shady, skin, sleep, smoking, soda, solid foods, soothes, sprouts, stomach, stress, sugar, superfood, tap water, taste, taste buds, tenderize, theobromine, tissues, tonic, toxic, toxicity, toxins, turmeric, useless, vegetables, vigilance, vitamin C, vitamins, waste, water, well-being, whole grains, yoga

Anxiety… prisoner of the metal collar

Posted on July 6, 2017 | 3 comments

Stress and anxiety are helpful in life.

Imagine you’re hiking in Alaska, and you suddenly find yourself in front of a Kodiak bear that’s fresh out of hibernation and looking for his first meal. You can actually see drool coming out of his mouth, and the only defense you have is a spoon…

…Okay, bad example.

Let’s say you’re allergic to wasps. Stress is what tells you to be careful when they’re nearby. When you see a wasp, anxiety is what drives you to move in the opposite direction. These are normal defense mechanisms, and they’ve allowed human beings to evolve.

However, with evolution, the causes of anxiety changed in modern times: work, family, money, health, and so on. Cavemen didn’t care about all of that… but today, these are the things that stress us the most.

Today I’m going to talk about Generalized Anxiety Disorder, like I did before with depression. Although it’s a really common disorder, few people easily accept it or feel comfortable talking about it.

Note: You might need a little effort and imagination to get into this comic strip… but you’ll definitely appreciate it more if you try to go along with my unusual analogies. Enjoy!

Translated by Ellie Rieber with edits by Patricia Rainville; proofread by Stéphanie Alcaraz-Robinson.

How the electric metal collar works

The anxiety thought experiment test

Panic attacks and real-life concerns

Going to the doctor and physical symptoms of anxiety

The psychological and chemical keys of the anxiety collar

The amygdala and the prefrontal cortex in the brain

Anxiety denial and how to test yourself and others

What to you for your family and friends and hope

CBT and a book recommendation

3 Comments

Posted in Comics

Tagged amygdala, anxiety, anxious, back, balance, body, book recommendation, brain, brakes, can't breathe, career, CBT, chemical, cognitive-behavioural therapy, collar, concerns, depression, diagnosis, diarrhea, doctor, electric, everyday life, evidence-based, exaggerated, examined, exams, experiment, family, feelings, focus, GAD, generalized anxiety disorder, get rid of, going to die, health, healthy, heart problems, help, homework, hope, hurting, imaginary, keys, legs, locks, loved ones, mechanism, medical file, medication, metal, missed opportunities, money, muscles, neck, neurotransmitters, pain, panic, panic attacks, prefrontal cortex, prisoner, professionals, psychological, psychologist, psychotherapy, real world, reassuring, restless, self-help, serious, shock, sick, sleep, stiff, stomachaches, stress, stressful, symptoms, tense, test, therapist, thought patterns, tired, uncontrollable, unlocking, work, worried, worries

5 lies about detox and toxins

Posted on March 22, 2016 | 88 comments

Have you heard about toxins?

I know a few. Let’s see: snake venom, the botulinum toxin, the tetanus toxin… well, that’s it. I can’t name any more of them.

Unfortunately, the word “toxin” has entered the popular language and is now used for pretty much anything: pollutants, heavy metals, fecal matter, microbes, gluten… hell, even stress supposedly generates toxins.

According to some shady individuals, toxins are everywhere. They also talk about “metabolic waste” that accumulates and must be eliminated from our bodies; otherwise it’ll make us sick.

At the holistic shop (and at the pharmacy, sadly), you’ll find a range of products that promise to eliminate these toxins and “clean up the system.” They often carry statements such as:

Detox
Cleanse
Internal cleansing program
Supports a healthy liver
Protects and eliminates liver congestion
Promotes fat burning and weight loss (yeah, because that’s the real goal)
Etc.

Manufacturers of these products make a fortune after the holiday season as they manage to convince people that they must “find balance after this period of excess“.

Unfortunately, detox is a huge scam. So-called “cleanses” contain nothing but obscure herbal mixtures with no real purpose, as well as diuretics and laxatives that make you go to the toilet more frequently. Sounds like fun, huh?

For educational purposes, let’s laugh a little at these ridiculous products. Let’s also examine the key deceits their manufacturers use to extort money from people. All statements found below were taken directly from their websites.

Translation by Olivier Bernard, proofreading by Lauren Knight.