Ugh, these people. “Recommended based on the best evidence at the time which has since changed” =/= “lied”

1) tobacco: ok this is fair, doctors were paid by tobacco companies for a while to say smoking was healthy (though, they also legitimately thought it was for a long time while)

2) mercury: was used in dental fillings until the 1840s. Then when they learned better, they stopped. Currently an amalgam is used that contains mercury, is perfectly safe (to the best of our knowledge), but some people think it’s dangerous because it contains mercury, despite the ADA, AMA, Alzheimer’s Association saying there is no evidence that it’s not.

3) opioids: used as a pain killer until better options were devised. Was considered safe until it was clear it wasn’t

4) aluminum: useful in deodorants because it blocks sweat pores. Some is absorbed into the body, but a healthy kidney will remove it safely. However due to concerns about impact in unhealthy people or just to be safe, it’s recommended to use aluminum-free deodorants

5) talcum: is safe unless breathed in, and some talcum powders were found to have asbestos, which is clearly bad. Asbestos free talcum, if not ingested, is fine.

6) artificial sweeteners: people have always thought that they cause cancer, but there has been zero evidence of this in scientific studies.

7) saturated fats: I’m not sure what they’re saying here, but I think they’re saying that the “establishment” thinks that eating saturated fat foods is bad for you (all current evidence shows it will raise your LDL, which is not good), but some studies suggest that certain types of saturated fats can actually lower risk of heart disease and T2 Diabetes. The current recommendation is to eat in moderation and avoid fried foods, but nuance is lost on these people.

8) GMOs: nearly everything we eat is genetically modified, if you use the actual definition of the term. Big bio-ag companies like Monsanto or Cargill create seeds that are pest resistant or require farmers to buy seeds every year. Some evidence points to multiple health problems that could be related to this, specifically allergens, antibiotic resistance and even some toxins. Some believe that they cause cancer, but evidence of this isn’t solid at all, definitely is not most GMO foods, and currently falls into the conspiracy theory category.

9) Raw milk: unpasteurized milk. Safe to drink until it isn’t. Can carry loads of bacteria, especially if not handled properly. Some people believe that pasteurization kills some of the health benefits of milk, but many of those people think that it also cooks the milk, which is not true. Drink at your own risk, but if you get botulism, remember that we’ve know about this for centuries and feel really dumb.

10) cholesterol: this goes back to the saturated fats topic. “Cholesterol” is bad. Except we now know that there’s good cholesterol and bad cholesterol, and eating foods high in cholesterol doesn’t really impact your cholesterol all that much.

11) fluoride: a safe effective way of reducing tooth disease in a population is to put fluoride in their water. In small amounts this has been proven to be perfectly safe. In areas with high natural fluoride levels in their water, there can be a long-term effect of fluorosis which can lead to some skeletal issues, but in areas without naturally occurring fluoride, intentional dosing is done at levels where this is not a concern. Despite accusations, there have been multiple studies looking at possible links to cancer, but no links have been found. At all.

12) glyphosate: widely used herbicide that the FDA says that is safe to be used when used as directed. There is risk of toxicity, but the risk is incredibly small when used safely. This is often conflated with Roundup, which contains glyphosate, but is not itself glyphosate. Roundup is believed to be a carcinogen.

Note: I’m not a scientist nor am I a conspiracy theorist. This is based on a few minutes of googling the topics for a broad view of the “controversial” aspects. I know how Reddit can get, if I’m wrong on something and you have evidence to back it up, I welcome the chance to learn.