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Comment by kolev | Hacker News Reader

Hmmm... I think "healthy" is very relative and Google is planning to put all its powers to determine exactly what that means. How about not relying on something so subjective and just do a little extra effort to cook the problematic foods?

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Even calling them "problematic" is hugely exaggerating the risks, getting an iodine deficiency from eating too much kale would be an exceptional case (iodine deficiency is a rare condition to begin with).

I've discussed this with my physician, they said it was nothing to worry about if you're healthy.

Healthy meaning "doesn't have kidney disease." Not very subjective.

You probably wanted to say "doesn't have a diagnosed kidney disease." If you think you can fully diagnose kidney health just by lack of symptoms and basic blood and urine tests, you're wrong. No physician will do, for example, an ultrasound without symptoms - this is how the flawed system works. Iodine deficiency actually is common in many geographies and, if I remember correctly, it's became more common with the vilification of salt as iodized salt is the main source of iodine for many.

Are you suggesting its prudent to assume you have kidney disease? If so, you'll want to avoid a whole lot more than just kale.

Not sure why you're suggesting thats a flawed system, the vast majority of people don't have kidney disease. Are you suggesting we should subject people with no risk factors or symptoms to expensive tests for every disease, no matter how uncommon?

The suggestion is that raw kale, spinach etc. would reliably cause iodine deficiency, which just isn't the case. If someone is eating a diet w/ adequate iodine, some raw veggies are not going cause any problems.

No, I'm suggesting that you should not assume that you don't have a kidney disease just because you had basic blood and urine work done.

Well, for me, I hate cooked broccoli, love it raw. Although come to think of it, I never eat all that much in one sitting.

So I'll be looking into the details of this.

Trans-lycopene in cooked tomatoes is times more compared to raw, for example. Steamed broccoli is definitely more pleasant to eat to most and those chewing it raw mostly do it thinking it's healthier this way. The popular wisdom is that in a soup, cell walls of vegetables are broken and nutrients are released in the broth - is there a PubMed article on this? How about centuries-old practice instead? Just now medicine finds, for example, the merits of Ayurveda. For example, the combination of turmeric and black pepper in curry is now scientifically proven to increase curcumin's bioavailability by orders of magnitude. Should you always wait decades or forever for science to prove something that's passed the test of the ages?

> How about centuries-old practice instead?

Centuries-old practice had people leeching the vile humors out of their bodies when they got sick, too. The ancients got a lot of stuff wrong, and what they got right was largely by accident. I'll trust scientific rigor along with the confidence intervals and error bars over received wisdom every time.

Also, here's a link to a Pubmed article on chicken soup:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002768/

Nothing about breaking down the cell walls of vegetables to release the nutrients, so I don't know if that's true.

And here's another Pubmed article about soup, highlighting the danger of food fads (because people don't want to wait for nutritional science to prove something and instead rely on the "test of the ages"):

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279073/

I meant to say "practices that survived till nowadays". Your position of "PubMed it or it didn't happen" is really entertaining.

Homeopathy has survived until nowadays, despite a lack of evidence of efficacy.

You also mis-characterize my position on PubMed. It is a search engine with which I am familiar, not the summation of all scientific medicine. If I can't find something in PubMed, my thoughts on a matter remain "dunno", which is orthogonal to "believe/disbelieve" or "accept/reject". I included links to PubMed articles on soup as a humorous rejoinder to your rhetorical question. That was probably unnecessary, and I apologize.

Well, homeopathy, Dr. Schuessler's salts, and Dr. Bach's flower remedies are most probably just a placebo, which is better than many drugs especially in the States, although I know many who swear the Boiron flu "meds" really work and I don't think placebo performs well with viral and bacterial infections.

Have you had cooked broccoli and melted cheese? One of the best ways to ruin the healthiness of a vegetable.

Pfft, cauliflower-cheese in a baking tree is where it's at, yo.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rosminah/6005082151/

Yep, same here. I also love cole slaw, but can't stand any form of cooked cabbage.

Unfortunately, fermentation does not neutralize the goitrogens either, i.e. sauerkraut although much healthier alternative of the raw cabbage still takes its thyroid toll.

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