Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Agreeing with Atomic Rose on this one...

The internet is full of articles and so called research and facts about everything and anything... Being a scientist myself I know you can't trust anything you read just because it says it's been proved in a study... I believe more in serious studies performed by serious people than random things I find on the internet.

Over here in Sweden we have a tv program called "You are what you eat". The woman in that program is all for alternative stuff and she claims to have the answers to how to cure everything from skin problems to IBS. And believe me her IBS advice is nothing like Heather's and my bowels would go crazy if I followed her advice instead of Heather's. She has also repeatedly pointed out that eating micro waved food will make you ill and she motivated that statement by referring to so called research. When a Swedish evening paper investigated it more thoroughly it turned out the researchers behind the article didn't even exist. It seemed it was just some random thing she had found on the internet.

It may be true that there can be some things that aren't good for your health but that still aren't forbidden by "national food agencies" whatever the right term is for that in English. I avoid MSG although the Swedish national food agency says it's ok in the small amounts that are allowed here. But in general I trust the information given by our national food agency much more than reports that pop up here and there and the current views of alternative nutritionists. The food agencies don't pick up on every little thing all the time, because research results often change rapidly and so they need to wait for substantial proof before they change any guidelines. Because research does change quickly I don't listen too much to what pops up occasionally. As an example: a few years ago people went on and on about how brilliant it was to use fructose instead of sucrose in food. Now research has instead shown that fructose is not good as a replacement for sucrose since it can lead to decreased insulin sensitivity and subsequently type two diabetes.

/Ulrika, IBS-D

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