The thing that gets me about a lot of pseudoscientific medicine is the baffling way in which they view the human body.
It isnāt the inaccuracy that gets to me; we have a long history of just fucking guessing how the body works. Itās not even the extreme simplicity of their models. Itās how vulnerable they seem to think it is.
I mean, the skin is a barrier. It keeps stuff in and it keeps stuff out. Yes, there is some limited permeability; if you smear the right kinds of things on your skin then a little bit will get into your body (this is how topical anaesthetics work, and why we wear gloves in chemical labs). But some people are like āsmooth this acai berry cream on your skin to boost your immune system!ā [note: you DO NOT WANT to boost your immune system], or āput a raw potato under your armpit to draw to toxins out of your body!ā or some shit. I look at those foot bath things that fill up with yellow rust as you use them and people go, āall that yellow stuff is the toxins being drawn out through your feet!ā and I am horrified at their mental model for how the body works. They know your insides are protected by skin, right? Right?? If I thought my body was that permeable Iād wear a hazmat suit at all times. What if I touch some mud thatās got Toxins in it and they all get absorbed into my body? What if I use the wrong root vegetable under my armpit and it sucks all the vitamins out of my blood instead? Thatās terrifying!
āDrink alkaline water every morning to keep your blood pH high!ā Friend, how vulnerable is your blood to pH changes? You know that a fairly small variation can kill you?? If I thought this worked Iād never eat fermented foods again. Iād never clean with vinegar in case my Super Permeable Frog Skin absorbed all the acid into my blood and I died of acidemia.
āThis essential oil gives you energy! This one boosts your immune system!ā Theyāre for smells! They make smells! In your view, how much of my metabolism and immune regulation are dependent on what my environment smells like?? Am I going to die because I bought the Strawberry Surprise scented candle instead of sandalwood and my body forgot how to make ATP?? What???
The extreme fragility that they perceive in the human body, with apparently no barriers or regulatory mechanisms, vulnerable to such tiny changes in diet and environment, would terrify me. If I thought of the body like this I would never leave the house.