I noticed a meme recommending the daily ingestion of “okra water” as treatment for diabetes: nip the okra ends, pierce the sides, and leave in water overnight. Drink the resulting swill in the morning. Every morning. Okra sorely offends me, but moreso would diabetes.
Interested, I grabbed the meme-fashioned tutorial and tucked it away in my Health folder. When I had time, I sought to vet the claim. Snopes -- who I trust as much as I trust fat cat Purrle to not dump the wastebasket in the night if there are chicken bones in it -- to my surprise, was not able to entirely dash the claimed benefits of leaving okra overnight in a glass of water and ingesting the resulting liquid.
I found this particular snippet in the Snopes article, quoted from Bioactive Food as Dietary Interventions for Diabetes (2012), noteworthy:
“There is anecdotal evidence for the amelioration of diabetes by dietary consumption of okra but what are lacking are controlled clinical trials. There are constituents of okra such as polyphenolic molucules [sic] that provide encouragement for such studies in the future.” Snopes ArticleYou don’t say. It’s a positive admission I wasn’t expecting to find. Which august body, though, would deign to conduct such trials? The FDA? The pharmaceutical industry? Heh. I daresay this will be one left to the general public, with only anecdotal evidences from which to draw knowledge.
Information garnered from the Internet is as trustworthy as is the stranger who posted it. Perhaps okra water (or daily eating the slimy vegetable) should be filed in everyone’s Health folder, so it can be tried by those we know who might benefit from it.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. -Matthew 10:29-31
No comments:
Post a Comment