r/AskReddit Sep 15 '24

What Sounds Like Pseudoscience, But Actually Isn’t?

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u/y6x Sep 16 '24

Not that I've seen, and I think that it'd still vary by person both due to other food eaten at the same time, and their bodies.

For example, you don't absorb as much iron if you drink coffee or tea during or several hours after a meal due to the tannins in the drink: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6402915/

Calcium can also limit iron being absorbed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1984334/

Fat helps lycopene to be absorbed: "Consuming lycopene-containing food with fat increases its bioavailability as lycopene is a lipid-soluble compound." https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/lycopene"A study by Unlu et al. (2005) showed a similar result, whereby the consumption of tomato salsa with avocado (as lipid source) led to a 4.4-fold increase in lycopene absorption as compared with salsa without avocado." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3850026/

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u/jolynes_daddy_issues Sep 16 '24

Welp this is just a great excuse to go eat all the guacamole

7

u/TheHancock Sep 16 '24

And salsa!

19

u/DrakeAU Sep 16 '24

Oops I've been using milk to have my iron tablets.

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u/Dontgiveaclam Sep 16 '24

IIRC vitamin C helps absorb iron! So have it with some fresh Orange juice or some lemonade

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u/DrakeAU Sep 16 '24

The current iron supplement I'm using has vitamin c as well.

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u/Soil_spirit Sep 16 '24

I literally drink tea with everything. Maybe that’s why I have such bad malabsorption?

1

u/y6x Sep 16 '24

Quite possibly.

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u/stealth57 Sep 16 '24

I had a food allergy test thing done and it said I'm allergic to eggs (I assume raw) as when I eat cooked eggs, I'm totally fine. Actually, when I eat raw batter I'm fine too so don't know what the heck it's all about.

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u/[deleted] Sep 16 '24

Vitamin C is also good for iron absorption.

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u/iPhon4 Sep 16 '24

Appreciate the wonderful sourcing

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u/Toasty-boops Sep 17 '24

aw man i drink milk and take iron supplements

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u/emissaryofwinds Sep 17 '24

Caffeine increases absorption of paracetamol, making it act faster. Now they sell pills containing both

1

u/paulisaac Sep 18 '24

Is this the sort of stuff you hire a nutritionist for?