If the troubled river has always been a profit for fishermen, the moment in which we live is real gold for hoaxes, fake news , trolls or whatever you want to call them at home on the net. The fear, free time, ignorance and WhatsApp chat of the brothers-in-law as a means of information, added to the feeling of unreality that we are all having during these days, are fertile ground for the quackery 3.0 to live golden moments.
That is why during this confinement, in addition to having used the oven more than in the last 15 years to curdle any variety of dough with flour, sugar and egg, we have to face the hoaxes that use the theme of the moment to grab our ears with no matter what miracle solution. The string is almost infinite: the last census of hoaxes before sending these lines was 226 months, which is said soon. Many of them refer to what to eat and drink to deal with the bug, endow us with an immunity that neither that of the X-men -and X-women- or pass the symptoms in the best possible way. We proceed to deny them, ordered by families.
THE SEARCH FOR SUPER IMMUNITY
It would be great if we could acquire superhuman qualities from the performance of certain spells, but unfortunately we cannot. Neither the healthiest human being in the world, healthier, better fed and with the immune system in the best possible conditions - and it is not worth talking about vaccines, because they do not yet exist - would be guaranteed immunity against Covid 19. That said, let's see some of the follies that are being proposed.
Maintain our body in an "alkaline" state
The commitment to alkalinity is not at all new in the world of alternative medicine. The concept has been associated typically, but not exclusively, with cancer (let's acknowledge that cancer is a silver bullet for rascals related to healthcare). Its advocates promote the consumption of water or alkaline diets to lower the pH of our internal environment. His slogan could not be more eloquent: "a body with an alkaline pH does not get sick, and with an acid pH it does."
It is easy to dismantle this hoax since our internal environment admits minimal variations in its pH, the blood for example between 7.35 and 7.45; and any variation outside the established margins would put life at stake in no time. So soon - we would be talking in seconds or minutes - that in that situation, the risk of infection, whatever it is, should be our last concern.
In order to alkalinize, supposedly, our body, the brainless people who propose this fix recommend incorporating products such as turmeric, fennel, lemon juice, olive oil, baking soda, of course, etc., to which they add some exotic element such as chloride. magnesium, and beef liver among others. Surprise: none of them - nor the combination of all - will help us not to catch this virus (or any other).
Eat garlic
With the love that I have for garlic, look how it bothers me to have to dismantle this matter, but it is what it is: another classic when talking about alternative medicine that is also not miraculous. This is what the WHO itself tells us that it has dedicated an entire page to denying hoaxes about COVID-19, and an exclusively infographic is dedicated to the myth of garlic. The WHO comments, verbatim: “Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence that eating garlic has protected anyone from the new coronavirus. ” A variant of this myth suggests drinking "garlic water" (that is, water where garlic has been boiled) to deal with the virus. It is the same nonsense, in this case watered down.
The omega (well, no more)
Eye to the data, that here the intensity of the swing is of order, to what omega does it refer: 3, 5, 6, 7, 9? The term "omega" in relation to a fatty acid, refers to the position -3, 5, 6, 7, 9- of the first double bond of the chain from the methyl end. Saying omega and nothing else makes as much sense as asking someone to pass you a fixed key to dismantle a pot. But in addition to the nonsense of indefiniteness, no fatty acid has recognized in our food legislation -typically RE 432 / 2012- no property related to the proper functioning of the immune system. Without leaving the subject of oils, the renowned skeptic Edzard Ernst recently added to his Coronavirus Chatter Club multiple vendors of "essential oils" to tackle the issue.
Vitamin C
I couldn't miss it, you know that well. It is the queen of immunity, or if you prefer "of the defenses" as our grandmothers like to say (especially if it is to prevent it is a common cold). However, the epic failure of vitamin C supplementation against common colds is known, so imagine the safety of recommending its use against a virus that became known, almost literally, the day before yesterday. : zero player.
The lemon
It is something like the seedy-philosopher's stone of health. It is used for weight loss diets due to its "anti-fat" character - ask Don Limpio-, for constipation when taken on an empty stomach, for cancer (of course, thanks to its alkalinizing properties despite having a pH close to 2). Today, of course, also to face the coronavirus. Need to comment more?
KILLING THE VIRUS
The proposals to annihilate the bug once we have been infected seem like the occurrences of a deranged man. In them there is hardly a hint of science to grasp to dismantle the myth. They are occurrences that can be especially dangerous when put in the mouth of a supposed health professional; especially when that healthcare professional is actually a porn actor.
Drink sips of water every 15 minutes
Whoever proposes this silly thing, says that drinking water like this stimulates acid secretion. This assumption of affirmation seems to forget - perhaps you never knew it - that these sips of water do not stimulate acid secretion when the stomach is empty, since water passes through this organ and is absorbed mainly in the small intestine, without stimulating anything at all. in its path.
Drink hot drinks
It is said that drinking hot drinks, tea, coffee or infusions in general eliminates the virus since it cannot resist certain "warm" temperatures. This range varies according to the source the landfill consulted: from 26 ° C - which would be funny if it died when it comes into contact with the human being because it is at 37 ° C - up to 65 ° C (I anticipate that you will have an unpleasant feeling of being ripped off as you put the body into something more than 60 ° C). As the level of uncertainty is maximum, I propose that, for this insurance, those who invent this type of absurdities try to drink an infusion of hydrofluoric acid enriched with plutonium 239 at 120 ° C: there is not much evidence that this drinker is going to work, but it looks like something will do.
Cold food
In this case, it is proposed that the consumption of frozen foods or very cold drinks would favor its contagion. Something that must be given the same level of confidence as saying that wearing green underwear makes contagion difficult. Why? Because I am worth it.
Drink alcoholic beverages
Both taking them and scrubbing with alcohol are two methods that have been proposed to kill the virus. Scrubbing can make sense - but not too much, soap is better - for those viruses that are on the surface of the body, but at the same time it will be harmful to the skin, since it will dry it out, thus increasing its vulnerability. If you already have COVID-19, scrubs will have the same effect on the evolution of the disease as praying to Vishnu (or whoever you prefer). Raising your elbow to combat COVID-19 -or any other infectious disease- can help you excuse your vices in front of a very dumb brother-in-law, but nothing more. In this regard, few laughs: in Iran, 44 people died last week from poisoning when they tried to cope with the spread of the coronavirus by drinking alcoholic beverages that included methyl alcohol, much more toxic -even- than ethyl, and which also had bleach. Keep in mind that in Iran the consumption of alcohol is prohibited by law, therefore, drinks of this nature are sometimes perceived as a cure-all remedy. The people who died acquired these drinks contraband with the promise of protecting themselves against the spread of the coronavirus.
VIRUSES AS A BUSINESS
In our environment there are also those who try to do business through fraud, whether ideological or legal, by trading with false remedies or aids that are not. As for example, this pharmacy that, appealing to fear, proposes the sale of a mineral vitamin supplement to improve the immune system (and as a gift some masks, which at this rate will reach the price of toilet paper). It should be remembered that the recent document from the Spanish Academy of Dietetics and Nutrition on Food and Nutrition Recommendations for the Spanish population in the face of the COVID-19 health crisis clearly and insistently maintains that the consumption of vitamin-mineral supplements should not be encouraged to improve the immune system; neither of herbal preparations. Remember, a 'good' supplementation does not fix a bad diet and, in addition, it can be dangerous.
Turning to alcohol, but now in the case of Spain, without the slightest hint of shame and taking advantage of the current state of alarm generated by COVID-19, the Spanish Federation of Oenology comes to the fore to issue an 'important' statement: “ Moderate wine consumption, linked to responsible consumption, can contribute to better hygiene of the oral cavity and the pharynx, the latter area where viruses nest during infections ”. In light of this absolute decontextualization of the matter, there was no shortage of people who asked the Ministry of Health about the legality of this point.
Some supporters of homeopathy also intend to make their August by proposing remedies in their style: very expensive and as effective as a placebo (for this or any other situation). Perhaps they have been encouraged by the position of the government of India, which has proposed the use of this camel despite the fact that one of the main manufacturers of homeopathic caramels -Boiron- has come to recognize its uselessness with a statement that says "we do not recommend that our Products are used for the treatment or prevention of coronavirus symptoms. We urge you to follow the advice of government officials and healthcare providers during a health crisis like this. "
There is absolutely nothing wrong with drinking lemon juice with your steamed mussels, incorporating turmeric where it comes out of the grocer, eating battered sardines - which have plenty of omega three - or preparing fennel and cinnamon teas. Another thing is that: A) that you buy something based on properties that it does not have, and that is called fraud; or B) that you think you are protected, giving fuel to any memez, and therefore neglect those measures that we know are optimal at present. Namely: #YoMeQuedoEnCasa, safety and distance when we go to make the purchase and proper hand washing when appropriate.
The difficulty of disassembling a hoax
Brandolini's Law -also known as the Principle of asymmetry of hoaxes- holds quite correctly that the amount of resources necessary to deny a hoax or hoax with the appearance of having a scientific roots is -at least- an order of magnitude higher than the resources necessary to create the hoax itself. In other words: if we have 1,000 brothers-in-law saying silly things about no matter what, we would need to give visibility - at least - to 10,000 sensible people with enough resources to counter and knock down the silly person on duty.
The problem is exacerbated when the brother-in-law is not the original promoter of the memez in question, but is only dealing with an unconscious instigator. The inventor of the hoax, normally, knows what is done, and what he usually pursues ultimately is to obtain some kind of benefit with its dissemination, whether it be commercial, economic, or simply visibility or reputation on social networks.
Brandolini's Law could disappear if, for example, the competent administration - typically the health administration in these cases - exercised more expeditious control. As for example in this case from Canada, where a yoga teacher who said that, since the coronavirus did not survive the heat, proposed to continue his hot yoga classes at 40ºC. The mayor of the township where these classes were held, the city of Delta in British Columbia, decided to withdraw the license to the business that this charlatan operated.