Information is Beautiful has a wonderful interactive infographic today. I would not expect any less from them, especially given their name. They take a look at common remedies for certain ailments. For example, Vitamin C is supposed to be good for curing a cold. Cranberries are supposed to be good for curing a urinary tract infection.
Personally I remember when, back in the 1990s, Vitamin E was supposed to be great for you. The Wellness Letter from UC Berkley recommended taking 400 IU per day. Then in 2001, they halved their recommended dose to 200 IU. In 2005, they stopped recommending taking Vitamin E.
Thus the obvious question is, are these home remedies really worth it? Well, that is what the inforgraphic shows you. From the accompanying article:
This image is a “balloon race”. The higher a bubble, the greater the evidence for its effectiveness. But the supplements are only effective for the conditions listed inside the bubble.
Some of the supplements are listed twice, for curing different ailments. Thus Green Tea may be above the “Worth It” line for curing one ailment, but below the line for curing a different ailment. Best of all, the visualization can be updated as new research comes on line.
This visualisation generates itself from this Google Doc. So when new research comes out, we can quickly update the data and regenerate the image. (How cool is that?)
Very cool indeed!
via Snake Oil? The scientific evidence for health supplements | Information Is Beautiful.
