How to influence news viewers

Ok this got me thinking a bit. I was watching the news when a headline bothered me and it went like this:

Scientists found that citrus can become dangerous in combination with certain medication

The effects of these combinations may become fatal and can lead to side effects ranging from kidney failure to bone marrow supression.


The thing that bothered me was that its like they were trying to show that fruits were bad not that those certain 85 medicines are dangerous.

Apparently this is old news but the way they present it, fruit are bad and medicine is good.


Some links:
www.cbc.ca...
www.sciencedaily.com...
www.mayoclinic.com...
www.foodbeat.com...

reply to post by AlexIR


as a low carb eater, i would say that fruits are bad (in general).

reply to post by AlexIR


Excellent observation. S&

In fact, it's the medication that's dangerous when it interacts with citrus. ...and you're right - the information is presented that way to distract, deflect and shift blame.

More prescription drugs are on the market that can interact with grapefruit juice with potentially serious effects including sudden death, ...

"Taking one tablet with a glass of grapefruit juice is like taking 20 tablets with a glass of water," ...

Of the 85 known drugs that interact with grapefruit, 43 can have serious side-effects, including sudden death, acute kidney failure, respiratory failure, gastrointestinal bleeding and bone marrow suppression in people with weakened immune systems.

The authors noted that all sources of grapefruit — the whole fruit or 200 mL of grapefruit juice — and other citrus fruit such as Seville oranges (often used in marmalade), limes and pomelos can lead to drug interactions.

It's easy to influence news viewers. Just tell a really unbelievable lie with juicy misapplied evidence behind it like the government and tptb use.

reply to post by soficrow


I'm studying how this property of grapefruit can be beneficial. If it increases the uptake of something and may lower the excretion, grapefruit could be used to boost the effectiveness of natural medicines that are weak. I see this information as extremely beneficial when studying the effects of food and spices/herbs on the human body. Taking grapefruit juice with some strong herbs may have the same effect. Study the good and the bad of everything, that is my motto.

reply to post by rickymouse


Nice.

...grapefruit and other citrus have many amazing properties.

reply to post by rickymouse


I hope to see some impresive results from your studies.

reply to post by soficrow


Part of that is the Balsam of Peru that they contain. If you study the good and bad about that it is very interesting. Balsam of Peru can be bad for people who smoke, it can accelerate the benzene levels in the body too high. Benzoates are needed and are present in many foods but overloading them can cause a whole slew of problems. Balsam of Peru was at one time thought as a panacea, but the medical industry didn't completely comprehend societies obsession with self medicating and this caused problems. It was added to a lot of food, now they still use it, benzoates and benzoic acid in foods.

Balsam of Peru contains more chemistry than these food adatives though, a grapefruit contains more than just Balsam of Peru. I think the Balsam of Peru causes the breakout of coldsores when you eat citrus fruit. It seems to somehow effect the herpes virus I think. I don't think it is the vitamin C itself.

reply to post by AlexIR

Yeah, that's messed up for sure! What they should say is... "avoid these medicines whenever possible when eating fruit."

reply to post by AlexIR

The thing that bothered me was that its like they were trying to show that fruits were bad not that those certain 85 medicines are dangerous.

Apparently this is old news but the way they present it, fruit are bad and medicine is good.

They're just trying to warn people taking certain medications (that they more than likely need) that grapefruit can cause big health problems and possible death.

The prescription is a constant, while the grapefruit is a variable that can easily be replaced with another food source.

In this case, I think grapefruit should be presented as "bad"

reply to post by Zarniwoop


Makes sense to me.

I'm not sure what those medications are, but suppose the doctor prescribes you insulin that you have to take daily. You have to take it to live. If it interacts with grapefruit, then you just stop eating grapefruit.

It's the same with any prescription medicine. Presumably the doctor is giving it to you because you need it; do you need grapefruit?

I know that Grapefruit juice helps with absorption of some Opiates. So for instance a dosage that normally might only kill your pain when combined with GFJ could get you "high". Doesn't sound like this interaction is what is being discussed in the article but thought I would throw it out there. The interactions with other drugs might be similar.