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cali

(114,904 posts)

15. Himalayan Bath Salts Will Not Save Your Life

Tue Oct 7, 2014, 04:12 PM

Oct 2014

Have you heard that eating whole lemons prevents cancer? Or that bathing in Himalayan salt rids the body of harmful toxins? That eating hijiki seaweed can delay hair graying? If you have a few Facebook friends, you’ve probably encountered some of these claims. The website Natural News —which seems like a parody but is unfortunately quite serious—published these preposterous stories, and many others just as silly, last week alone.

Hokum like this is best ignored, but hundreds of thousands of Americans fail to do so. Natural News has achieved astonishing traction on social media, garnering Facebook shares in the high five and low six figures. These numbers should trouble you—Natural News has an uncanny ability to move unsophisticated readers from harmless dietary balderdash to medical quackery to anti-government zealotry.

<snip>

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2014/02/natural_news_is_a_facebook_hit_never_click_on_itsr_stories_about_cancer.html

Top 10 Worst Anti-Science Websites

<snip>

1. Natural News

naturalnews.com
Alexa ranked #1,000
Google PageRank 6

When Natural News began, it was basically the blog and sales portal of anti-pharmaceutical activist Mike Adams. His basic premise has always been the Big Pharma conspiracy, the idea that the medical industry secretly wants to keep everyone sick, and conspires with the food industry to make people unhealthy, all driven by a massive plot of greed to sell poisonous medicines. Adams appears to have become a protégé of Alex Jones, for he now writes on Natural News at least as many police state conspiracy articles as he does anti-science based medicine articles. They carry ads for each other on their sites as well.

Some examples of current articles on Natural News are:

New World Order: Implantable RFID chips capable of remotely killing non-compliant 'slaves' are here

Vaccines lower immunity

Fluoride means lower IQs and more mental retardation

and of course:

Jumping rope and 9/11 truth - how the sheeple have been trained to avoid unpopular truth about WTC 7

Natural News' misleading title — I see very little on the site that I would think to classify as "natural news" — and pretense of being a health resource has helped it to become an often cited and heavily read site. For its frighteningly large influence, and abysmal quality of information, it earns the #1 spot on this list.

http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4283

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Highlight:

NaturalNews: On Ebola, mainstream media, government and health authorities censoring natural cures [View all] wyldwolf Oct 2014 OP

scam artists and fuckwads are what they are. cali Oct 2014 #1

Just served on your jury LOL, I think you were alerted on within seconds snooper2 Oct 2014 #3

someone actually alerted on that? wowzer. cali Oct 2014 #4

i swear. some of the alerts i see lately, is DI members over here playing the system. seabeyond Oct 2014 #103

DU's Woo Brigade wyldwolf Oct 2014 #6

0-7 leave it... Callmecrazy Oct 2014 #14

that's a riot. OK. who was juror 2? cali Oct 2014 #17

#2 was funny... Callmecrazy Oct 2014 #20

thanks. cali Oct 2014 #26

I was four :) snooper2 Oct 2014 #32

An example of an 'attack cooment" would be geek tragedy Oct 2014 #22

I'm in love with Juror #2... SidDithers Oct 2014 #69

Me too. 0:7 to leave! LeftishBrit Oct 2014 #23

Hammer meet nail. GoneOffShore Oct 2014 #5

NaturalQuacks is a more applicable name. eom MohRokTah Oct 2014 #2

What's wrong with ducks? shenmue Oct 2014 #11

Clocks are right twice a day JimDandy Oct 2014 #7

These quacks are the ones who are going to get people killed Hugabear Oct 2014 #8

It reminds me of the blogger in Contagion who claimed forsythia was the cure for the outbreak. MohRokTah Oct 2014 #16

I have some more to say about these shitmeister scammers cali Oct 2014 #9

Post removed Post removed Oct 2014 #36

What does being female have to do with her fucking language? msanthrope Oct 2014 #47

I never said there was anything against using medicinal herbs. I use them myself cali Oct 2014 #57

+1 kestrel91316 Oct 2014 #62

if there is one person I will go off on for attacking..It's Cali backwoodsbob Oct 2014 #72

Yes, as always, non-western medicine will be frowned upon... polichick Oct 2014 #10

that site has NOTHING whatsofuckingever to do with legitimate alternative medicine cali Oct 2014 #18

Not commenting on that site, but on the way non-western medicine is... polichick Oct 2014 #21

Theres a reason collodial silver and other hokum is frowned upon on DU... Erose999 Oct 2014 #68

There are plenty of herbs and medicinal foods that help people... polichick Oct 2014 #70

I'll just quote Tim Minchin here: GoneOffShore Oct 2014 #76

Hippocrates: polichick Oct 2014 #80

That was then. GoneOffShore Oct 2014 #92

You're throwing out the baby with the bath water... polichick Oct 2014 #94

Read the link, then get back to me. GoneOffShore Oct 2014 #96

what is the purpose of putting science in quotation marks? cali Oct 2014 #98

I wonder if you even know, on the most basic of levels, how... polichick Oct 2014 #100

That wasn't nasty. GoneOffShore Oct 2014 #115

That was awesome, thanks for posting! Erose999 Oct 2014 #114

This message was self-deleted by its author ann--- Oct 2014 #37

Are we having a cow over seeing Old English words being used? hobbit709 Oct 2014 #40

This message was self-deleted by its author ann--- Oct 2014 #41

One person's vulgarity is another's common speech. hobbit709 Oct 2014 #42

Oh my. Please don't have a fainting spell. HERVEPA Oct 2014 #107

because there's no rule against 'vulgarity' on DU. cali Oct 2014 #53

Oh, memories of Lenny Bruce. Because we are defenders of personal liberty? Hortensis Oct 2014 #109

Thanks for your concern. GoneOffShore Oct 2014 #117

I think that at any rate DU would frown on a site.. LeftishBrit Oct 2014 #25

As I've said above, it's not the site I was commenting on. polichick Oct 2014 #27

well, the site is the topic and you didn't make that clear. cali Oct 2014 #29

lol polichick Oct 2014 #30

when cornerd fall back on 'lol'. sad. can't you do any better than that? cali Oct 2014 #31

I'm amused at your overwrought reaction to this thread. polichick Oct 2014 #34

call it a pet peeve. I have a reason for it, but it's personal. cali Oct 2014 #35

Everybody has their perspective based on experience... polichick Oct 2014 #43

I have long had a great interest in herbs cali Oct 2014 #45

We don't really know what will cure Ebola... polichick Oct 2014 #49

we know from microbiology and virology what will not cure it. cali Oct 2014 #58

But that's just science, which is always wrong, dontcha know??? kestrel91316 Oct 2014 #63

It's western, what ever the fuck that means MattBaggins Oct 2014 #78

+1 HuckleB Oct 2014 #83

When they cure ebola with it, I'll stop frowning n/t arcane1 Oct 2014 #28

There will be other approaches around the world... polichick Oct 2014 #33

other approaches? what nonsense. if you think herbs or folk dances cali Oct 2014 #48

Time will tell - right now your typical rudeness is showing. polichick Oct 2014 #51

You could use a mirror about now. HuckleB Oct 2014 #105

If a cure for this disease appears, no matter where from, we'll hear about it. arcane1 Oct 2014 #59

Sure, the BBC and Al Jazeera will cover it no matter who comes up with a cure. polichick Oct 2014 #61

I don't think either outfit would appreciate your fandom, quite frankly. HuckleB Oct 2014 #86

Like it or not, they cover things our corporate media doesn't. polichick Oct 2014 #89

That might be true, but they also don't do NaturalNews BS. HuckleB Oct 2014 #90

There is no such thing as "western medicine." HuckleB Oct 2014 #65

Obviously, some people are uneducated about Eastern Medicine... polichick Oct 2014 #67

Medicine is not western or eastern MattBaggins Oct 2014 #81

Two very different approaches to wellness. polichick Oct 2014 #91

Only in the minds of hipster woosters MattBaggins Oct 2014 #95

Oh good grief - you really don't know anything about... polichick Oct 2014 #97

"Two approaches." HuckleB Oct 2014 #99

Where should I go to read up? Natural News or mercola? MattBaggins Oct 2014 #101

I'd probably choose a university press but whatever floats your boat. polichick Oct 2014 #106

Not that you'll read the link - but here's one refutation of your thesis. GoneOffShore Oct 2014 #118

Unfortunately, that is true. HuckleB Oct 2014 #82

Non medicine is the problem MattBaggins Oct 2014 #75

Wonder if you get that many pharmaceuticals originate in herbs... polichick Oct 2014 #77

I worked in Big Pharma for 10 years MattBaggins Oct 2014 #79

What I said is true - sorry you don't get that... polichick Oct 2014 #84

Then prove it, with a consensus of peer-reviewed science from around the world. HuckleB Oct 2014 #87

Or, as is the case with acupuncture and much of TCM, a Maoist invention. HuckleB Oct 2014 #85

Worst. Health-related. Site. Ever. MineralMan Oct 2014 #12

I wonder if Fox News knows about these witchdocters............. wandy Oct 2014 #13

I wouldn't be surprised if they were supporting these woo-woo peddlers Hugabear Oct 2014 #19

What I don't see is where there is any major money to be made......... wandy Oct 2014 #39

Nobody ever accused teahadists of being rational Hugabear Oct 2014 #44

True. I fall into the same trap once again......... wandy Oct 2014 #52

you are wrong. go read the advertisements. cali Oct 2014 #50

Now, now, I didn't say they weren't making any money......... wandy Oct 2014 #56

Newsflash: Snake oil (Mercola, NaturalNews, Food Babe, etc...) Are Climate Change Deniers... HuckleB Oct 2014 #112

Well, Fox had "Food Babe" on to advertise the same kind of ridiculousness. HuckleB Oct 2014 #66

Himalayan Bath Salts Will Not Save Your Life cali Oct 2014 #15

"all truthful claims about herbs" - really? Avalux Oct 2014 #24

Except marijuana - gotta stay far away from THAT natural herb. Hugabear Oct 2014 #46

No one is claiming THAT natural herb can cure Ebola. Avalux Oct 2014 #54

Yes, better to take Tylenol, sleeping pills, an appetite enhancer... polichick Oct 2014 #55

None of that would cure Ebola either! LeftishBrit Oct 2014 #71

Natural News as a reliable source? hobbit709 Oct 2014 #38

Gee, dunno. Hmm wyldwolf Oct 2014 #64

Whatever the source, it's always a fun subject. polichick Oct 2014 #110

Traditional Chinese Medicine? KamaAina Oct 2014 #60

The #1 anti-science website on the internet... SidDithers Oct 2014 #73

Holistic... Always that fucking meaningless word MattBaggins Oct 2014 #74

awww, don't blame that perfectly good word. blame those who toss it around in ignorance. cali Oct 2014 #88

True MattBaggins Oct 2014 #93

I utilize TCM, herbs, other alternative therapies Tree-Hugger Oct 2014 #102

Essential oils = snake oil. And yet we don't stop the scam. HuckleB Oct 2014 #104

I think they are fine Tree-Hugger Oct 2014 #108

FDA warns three companies against marketing their products as Ebola treatments or cures HuckleB Oct 2014 #111

That's it Tree-Hugger Oct 2014 #113

Natural News is a thoroughly disreputable site. alarimer Oct 2014 #116

Yes, people should all take Yaakov's Elixir! stevenleser Oct 2014 #119