/oss/taxonomy/term/4901/all en /oss/article/critical-thinking-pseudoscience-you-asked/rub-vicks-vaporub <p>I was forwarded a short video with the alluring title, 鈥淢iracles Happen When You Apply Vicks VapoRub to Your Feet.鈥� The speaker tells us in a compelling tone that the miracle is about inducing sleep and calmness, especially when suffering from a cold, by applying Vicks VapoRub to the soles of our foot and then donning socks. The speaker turns out to be a chiropractor and that already starts the alarm bells tingling.</p> Fri, 21 Mar 2025 17:19:51 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10589 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/exclusive-videos-show-dr-joe-mercolas-dangerous-ideas-whipped-alleged-medium <hr /> <p><em>A full video from our Office is included at the bottom of this article, which includes clips from these exclusive video sessions.</em></p> Tue, 18 Mar 2025 16:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10530 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking/remembering-joe-nickell-skeptical-icon <p>I don鈥檛 hold onto business cards anymore. I鈥檓 rarely given business cards in the first place, these days. But I have a wooden nickel in my collection that I doubt I will ever carelessly throw out.</p> Fri, 14 Mar 2025 10:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10526 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/sports-supplements-are-not-always-what-they-appear-be <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article774755.html">The Montreal Gazette</a></em></p> Fri, 07 Mar 2025 20:36:10 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 10442 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-general-science/ive-been-wearing-sunscreen-wrong <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in <a href="https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/ive-been-wearing-sunscreen-wrong/">The Skeptical Inquirer.</a></em></p> Fri, 07 Mar 2025 03:54:38 +0000 Ada McVean M.Sc. 10440 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/why-us-assault-science-making-me-sick-my-stomach <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in聽<a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article773808.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>鈥淚t makes me sick to my stomach.鈥�</p> <p>That鈥檚 the line I blurted out when asked by a reporter about the U.S. government鈥檚 assault on science. I hadn鈥檛 thought about the expression, it just came out automatically. Why? I hadn鈥檛 actually been sick to my stomach. Surely, I thought, there must be some foundation for this common utterance that links the mind and the gut. That needed delving into.</p> Fri, 28 Feb 2025 19:59:02 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10373 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-medical-critical-thinking/how-we-know-vaccines-are-safe <p>鈥淪enator, I support vaccines. I support the childhood schedule. The only thing I want is good science, and that鈥檚 it.鈥� These words were spoken by Robert F.</p> Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:34:58 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10331 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/are-sex-and-pickleball-keys-longevity <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in聽<a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article745632.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>Want to lead a long life? Play pickleball and have sex. Who says so? Dan Buettner, a guy who knows something about longevity. After all, he is responsible for popularizing the concept of 鈥渂lue zones,鈥� regions of the world where people apparently have exceptionally long lives. And therein lies an interesting and somewhat controversial story.</p> Fri, 14 Feb 2025 22:44:36 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10262 at /oss /oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/mitochondrial-dysfunction-bit-fad <p>There is a shell game at the heart of Robert F. Kennedy Jr鈥檚聽<u><a href="/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/kennedys-coalition-quacks-wants-feed-america-diet-lies" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="/oss/article/medical-critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/kennedys-coalition-quacks-wants-feed-america-diet-lies">Make America Healthy Again campaign</a></u>, and it has to do with the mitochondrion.</p> Fri, 14 Feb 2025 22:06:49 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10260 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-did-you-know/ode-chocolate <p>I have always liked chocolate. I grew up on it. Every morning my mother blended a heaping spoonful of cocoa powder with a little milk, some sugar and a touch of salt (to decrease the bitterness). She then stirred the mix into gently boiling milk. This was my breakfast beverage. I was told it was 鈥済ood for me.鈥� I never questioned that fact. Why should I? It tasted great. I really didn鈥檛 see the need to put up a fuss, like say, for spinach. As I got older, the love of hot chocolate naturally paved the way towards chocolate bars. Mostly Lindt and Suchard.</p> Wed, 12 Feb 2025 17:45:15 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10254 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-did-you-know/dark-chocolate-reduces-risk-diabetes-dont-count-it <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in聽<a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article727996.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>Valentine鈥檚 Day is rolling around and we can expect a flood of articles about chocolate. Some will trot out the tired old trope about phenylethylamine in chocolate stimulating amorous adventures by enhancing the release of dopamine, the 鈥渇eel good chemical鈥� in the brain. Don鈥檛 bank on it! While chocolate does contain phenylethylamine, it is metabolized before it can reach the brain.</p> Fri, 07 Feb 2025 21:12:38 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10251 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking/square-one-fallacy <p>I recently had the chance to speak to an anti-vaxxer in person. Of course, he did not identify as such: they never do. He didn鈥檛 want to be pinned down and was just asking questions about vaccine safety.</p> <p>He told me that he wasn鈥檛 opposed to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. being confirmed as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States. After all, Kennedy wanted to see studies done on vaccine safety. Was I against that? Shouldn鈥檛 we know if all these vaccines are safe?</p> Fri, 07 Feb 2025 20:37:51 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10250 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition-pseudoscience/medicinal-garden-kit-will-probably-not-save-you <p>The ad is quite confrontational. 鈥淭he Plants That Will Disappear First in a Crisis.鈥� Given the disaster that is unfolding in the United States right now, it caught my attention. In a crisis, the ad continues, people will turn to plants to nourish and heal themselves, as their ancestors used to do. With this Medicinal Garden Kit, you can grow a whole pharmacy in your backyard and be self-sufficient in an emergency.</p> Fri, 07 Feb 2025 18:58:10 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 10249 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-history/rhinoceros-horn-ginseng-or-spanish-fly-boost-romance-hardly <p>Named after Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and passion, these substances are meant to specifically stimulate the libido and represent the Holy Grail for people who in some way feel unfulfilled.</p> Wed, 05 Feb 2025 21:42:39 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10246 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-and-nutrition/red-dye-3-isnt-felon-lurking-food-supply <hr /> <p><em>This article was first published in聽<a href="https://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/article690801.html">The Montreal Gazette.</a></em></p> <hr /> <p>In the late 19th century, Germany was at the forefront of chemical research and it was an ideal place for Purdue University chemistry professor Dr. Harvey Washington Wiley to spend a sabbatical to broaden his horizons.</p> Fri, 24 Jan 2025 22:13:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 10238 at /oss