Reminds me of Richard Feynman's extremely skeptical take on scientific "knowledge" - vs. how much of that is just baloney that sounded good at the time, then got repeated a lot.
And - Not a Chemist, but I'm thinking that "what things do and don't humans actually digest?" is vastly easier to reality-check than the nuclear physics which Feynman specialized in.
PaulHoule · 2h ago
These days it is generic that some substance that doesn't get through the intestines could get metabolized by your gut bacteria, causing them to make some secondary metabolite that could affect you. This could be the case with artificial sweeteners, for instance:
with the not-so-generic aspect that if you happen to have an unusual microbiome your unusual bacteria might do something unusual. It adds up to questions of digestion making nuclear physics look like Tic-Tac-Toe.
(Can't say I like taking hallucinogens much anymore because they tend to make me aware of how many nerve endings I have in my gut and they make me feel like I've been turned inside out. I wouldn't say it's a "bad trip" but it's not a good trip.)
And - Not a Chemist, but I'm thinking that "what things do and don't humans actually digest?" is vastly easier to reality-check than the nuclear physics which Feynman specialized in.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10144565/
https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/research-alert-artific...
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/13/4/115
with the not-so-generic aspect that if you happen to have an unusual microbiome your unusual bacteria might do something unusual. It adds up to questions of digestion making nuclear physics look like Tic-Tac-Toe.
(Can't say I like taking hallucinogens much anymore because they tend to make me aware of how many nerve endings I have in my gut and they make me feel like I've been turned inside out. I wouldn't say it's a "bad trip" but it's not a good trip.)