@holywarrior77 I use Blue Lizard for both lotion and stick 
Tired of “words I can’t pronounce”
- Thread starter genxjeff
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- just a rant parenting science
@genxjeff Agreed. I feel like it was Michael Pollan or one of those types that really popularized this philosophy around food. At least that’s who I got it from when I used to live and die by that phrase. It’s such unnecessary fear mongering. Ugh. Many food labels use the chemical names of vitamins. Your ability to pronounce a chemical name your unfamiliar with has nothingggggg to do with its safety. @foodsciencebabe and @labmuffinbeautyscience do such fascinating explainers on this stuff!
gormanilius
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@genxjeff It is a pretty trash argument. Personally, that trick was never going to work for me because I am not person that loves to learn new words and geek out. The dictionary was my favorite book before I even started school. I can say most of the words on most packaging. That wouldn’t make an ingredient safer for me and my children than it would for someone who can’t pronounce them
katrina2017
New member
@katrina2017 Lol yes, she was actually preaching her homemade sunscreen, made with essential oils!
katrina2017
New member
@genxjeff I think this is a straw man because I feel some people have a preference for simple ingredient lists not because the people themselves are of unscientific mindset but as a heuristic for too many chemicals. In my experience, people who use such heuristics aren't so stupid as to think unpronounceable = bad.... Nor so stupid as to think all chemicals are bad. Those who do take such heuristics at face value perhaps do deserve to be educated 
Anyway I just want to say that we should understand that often people use "smaller and simpler ingredient lists" as a heuristic for less harmful
(although, all that said, if someone goes and actually checks out all the chemicals in some product and validates that they're all okay, that's the ideal thing to do and beats using such simplistic heuristics yes.)
Anyway I just want to say that we should understand that often people use "smaller and simpler ingredient lists" as a heuristic for less harmful
(although, all that said, if someone goes and actually checks out all the chemicals in some product and validates that they're all okay, that's the ideal thing to do and beats using such simplistic heuristics yes.)
@tsue I am not quite sure I understand your meaning here. I think the ideas of "large ingredient list = bad" and "can't pronounce ingredients = bad" are both not great mindsets, and OP is only discussing the latter. I don't think it matters if the former is the heuristic present instead, because both are equally non-evidence based reactions to products.
I will say though, it is exhausting how much research the consumer needs to do into every single product they buy, and I don't blame people for resorting to these unconsciously or consciously because they can't face yet another hour wasted trying to pick the most ethical/sustainable/healthy product out of a line up in a world with too many products and too little regulation.
I will say though, it is exhausting how much research the consumer needs to do into every single product they buy, and I don't blame people for resorting to these unconsciously or consciously because they can't face yet another hour wasted trying to pick the most ethical/sustainable/healthy product out of a line up in a world with too many products and too little regulation.
@genxjeff Personally, I find it works a lot better with food. I've made my own breadcrumbs before and All that was in it was bread (flour, water, salt and yeast). If I see the ingredient list of some breadcrumb brands it raises an eyebrow.
But I'm also not going to stop putting gas in my car, because I don't know what octane is...
But I'm also not going to stop putting gas in my car, because I don't know what octane is...
cul8rw841t
New member
@genxjeff In the context of food, "ingredients I can't pronounce" is a proxy for food products that are not part of what humans evolved eating, i.e., food that at some point grew out of the ground, walked, or swam, eaten in concentrations that our ancestors might recognize.
Sure, its possible to eat too much of one thing, but some artificial ingredients put the effects of "too much" into a relatively small volume.
Doesn't make sense with sunscreen, though.
Sure, its possible to eat too much of one thing, but some artificial ingredients put the effects of "too much" into a relatively small volume.
Doesn't make sense with sunscreen, though.
peterblom30
New member
@cul8rw841t I prefer to eat foods that I understand how they came from a plant or animal. Not saying that all food additives are unsafe, but I try to limit them in our family and serve more whole foods instead.
heatherbliss
New member
photini1967
New member
@genxjeff Just wait until they hear about the "unpronounceable" chemicals found in bananas:
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chemicals-in-bananas/
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/chemicals-in-bananas/
@amcminn84 I am very much a liberal and very much on OPs side as well?Why the hell would a non liberal be in a science based parenting group on Reddit 
Let’s not be as sensitive as the actual people taking away our freedoms * ahem * the republicans
Let’s not be as sensitive as the actual people taking away our freedoms * ahem * the republicans