Quoting accountt1234 :
“[...] In practice, science allows people to feel as if they speak from a position of objective authority, thereby leading us to change things before we understand their function. Today people use science as a rationale to justify the same arrogant and authoritarian mindset that was once justified under the guise of religion.
There are a few examples that I like, aspartame is one. In the reductionist model, excess calorie intake causes obesity, so replace sweeteners with artificial sweeteners and the problem should be solved. It breaks down into methanol, but it was assumed that shouldn't concern us, because we are exposed to methanol in higher amounts from tomatoes. A tiny dose of lycopene as found naturally in tomatoes co-administered with methanol however is sufficient to counteract the effects that methanol has on the body. Evidence that artificial sweeteners don't work in weight control is now abundant and the evidence that they damage our health is starting to stack up too. It was a bad idea, motivated by scientific arrogance.
We can look at other cases as well. Microbiology advances allowed scientists to easily get rid of the sour taste from our bread in the 19th century, by isolating yeast strains and we've lost our traditional breadmaking practices since then. Until that time, we fermented bread naturally with Lactic acid bacteria, which drastically increases the limiting amino acid in grains, lysine. It also breaks down the gluten protein so Celiac disease patients can eat it, while the sour taste is produced by acetic acid and prevents blood glucose peaks, finally, the butyric acid produced heals the gut.
Alternatively look at nixtamalization. Niacine in maize is poorly bioavailable, unless the kernels are cooked in very alkaline water. When people brought Maize from America to Africa and Europe, they abandoned nixtamalization, ensuring that millions of people suffered pellagra. The people who practiced nixtamalization didn't need a Phd in human nutrition or some peer reviewed study from a high impact journal to figure this stuff out. Indigenous knowledge is time-tested knowledge, gained from experience in a living world.”
