So, there's this computer program they're selling which claims to make your PC emit 34,000 homeopathic bioresonance patterns that improve your health and repair damage done by electromagnetic waves from your computer. And it's only around $80. What a bargain, eh? Wouldn't you buy it?
Enter Sense About Science, which has put out an entertaining pamphlet debunking junk science in consumer products. For example, the makers of a popular brand of yogurt claim thair their "Activ8" B-vitamin complex enhances energy. The pamphlet features a young scientist calling them up and asking them to prove it.
See, B vitamins do help with energy, but your body can only use so much of them, then it reaches a maximum point and the rest get excreted in your urine. Same with vitamin C. That's why, when you take too much of either, your pee turns a pretty color.
So, they pose to the nutritionist for the yogurt brand: If you're already getting enough B vitamins from a balanced diet, would the Activ8 complex have the advertised effect on your energy levels?
Of course, they didn't get a satisfactory answer.
While the pamphlet seems to be more aimed at other scientists than consumers, it's accessible enough that the transcripts of their chats with the makers of these products can be both informative and entertaining. My suggestion is to skip the boring initial part and jump straight into the transcripts on page three of their PDF file. If you enjoy watching the sellers of junk science get debunked, you'll enjoy this.
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