Rejected Reddit TIL Today

TIL=Today I Learned

TIL is a very popular reddit group with 22.9 million members as of today. The posts have a 300 character limit. You have to explain what you learned in 300 characters or less and provide a credible source.

The event described below was instantly rejected for multiple reasons. So I'll share it with the world here. This was my final revised and rejected:

TIL the blue mold floating in my expired protein powder water mix was a blue-green algae dietary supplement, spirulina. According to the US National Library of Medicine, spirulina is "POSSIBLY SAFE for people when used short-term," but "POSSIBLY UNSAFE" if contaminated.

Long story short

I spend 1-2 hours writing and revising versions of what I learned. The first draft wouldn't have been rejected, but it was too boring and trying too hard to make something trivial profound.

My wife was very annoyed at how long I was working on it. When I asked her for feedback, she brutally told me how boring it was. In adding a couple twists to my learning, I made the post personal which is a no-no, causing my learning to be rejected instantly.

The longer version

I have a very old plant based protein, Essential Living Foods Organic Smoothie Mix Wild Protein. It is an older bag than the picture on the right.

The protein taste terrible, so I never used it.

We are moving in a few days so I finally decided to finish the protein by drinking it with water all day.

My wife saw my water bottle and asked what is that?

It didn't look good. And because the protein is old we both thought mold even though the bag was still air tight and it smelt fine.

We both started searching the internet to figure out the blue floating substance. After repeatedly finding nothing, I grabbed and bag and started checking the ingredients.

Near the bottom of the list and foreign ingredient, Spirulina.

First searches identify the blue-gree algae as a super food who will save humanity someday.

Further investigation, trying to find a credible source for my TIL post, and I found warnings and lack of evidence for all the super food qualities purposed by supplement companies. Here is the full quote according to the US National Library of Medicine entry on Blue-Green Algae (also known as Spirulina):

When taken by mouth: Blue-green algae products that are free of contaminants, such as liver-damaging substances called microcystins, toxic metals, and harmful bacteria, are POSSIBLY SAFE for most people when used short-term. Doses up to 19 grams per day have been used safely for up to 2 months. Lower doses of 10 grams per day have been used safely for up to 6 months. Side effects are typically mild and may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, fatigue, headache, and dizziness.

But blue-green algae products that are contaminated are POSSIBLY UNSAFE. Contaminated blue-green algae can cause liver damage, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, weakness, thirst, rapid heartbeat, shock, and death. Don't use any blue-green algae product that hasn't been tested and found to be free of microcystins and other contamination. 

I have been aware of the health industries ability to create and make up all these marketing scams and fads to trick people into purchasing their products, but still, it is always funny how health products can almost say whatever they want because there is no incentive to disprove and or checks in balances in place.

Conclusion

Supplements are not replacements for a healthy diet, and don't worry about the floating blue stuff in your protein mix. It's POSSIBLY SAFE!