Short video spoiler history: The beginning of modern warfare

Chapter 125 The Harm of Sugar and Academic Fraud
In front of Fengtian Hall.

The director and judge of the Imperial Medical Bureau all had angry expressions on their faces. Looking at the faces of the officials, they couldn't help but feel their hearts sink again.

They absolutely cannot agree with what Tianmu said about the placebo effect. How can a glass of water or some coaxing cure a disease? Isn't this a slap in their faces and calling them quacks?

So he said in a deep voice: "What Tianmu said may not be entirely correct. It's like when a person has a fever, someone just endures it and it goes away. It doesn't need any placebo. Instead of attributing the credit to someone giving a glass of water or a bunch of nonsense to deceive people, it's better to say that he healed himself."

Everyone was stunned, but after thinking about it for a while they felt that it made sense. Everyone in the Science Department laughed, and they all understood what he meant.

Du Ping thought for a while and said, "Then how can we distinguish: is it that the drug is effective, or that the patient has recovered on his own? The placebo effect that Tianmu mentioned is just a description of this phenomenon."

"As you said, it is possible that the patient recovered on his own. A glass of water and a piece of candy are just insignificant triggers. What should be emphasized is to distinguish the effectiveness of the medicine."

Zhang Yuanshi opened his mouth and realized that he had made a stupid mistake. He really couldn't answer this question. He could only blush and say, "You are right, but this situation is only a minority."

"." Du Ping was silent. He did not deny the importance of doctors and drugs. He was just explaining the logic in a realistic way. Confirmation of the effectiveness of drugs derived from the placebo effect might be the most important thing.

One of the methods of quality control is the double-blind experiment. Any drug that fails the double-blind experiment may not be as effective as a glass of water.

Another point is that the placebo effect can also be applied in daily diagnosis and treatment, greatly increasing the patient's chances of recovery.

[Beauty lovers have been working hard to spend money to "seek abuse"]

[Using yourself as a spring was a fashionable practice in the United States in the 1960s. You can fold yourself in all directions with a sports folding bed. It’s hard to say how effective it is, but this folding bed does look very durable.]

[In addition to folding beds, this kind of rotating wooden board was also popular at the time. You only need to stand on a rotating wooden board and use the rotation of the board to drive the twisting of the abdomen to achieve the purpose of weight loss, because every minute you stand on the board can exercise and tighten your abdominal muscles. ]

[To be honest, isn’t this the kind of exercise equipment used in parks for old men to stretch their muscles and twist their waists when they stand on it? ]

[The painting style in the 1950s is clearer. The previous stretching torture device was improved into a traction sofa. During the pulling process, the salesperson will tell you that this will make your muscles more symmetrical and your body more beautiful, emmm]

[Of course, wealthier women would go to professional beauty salons and enjoy a whole set of customized services, such as covering their bodies with paraffin wax to look like statues.]

[In the 40s, getting an ideal body shape became a new pursuit. People squeezed themselves into thick springs. Although the models seemed to enjoy it, it was actually very painful. However, the trainers would emphasize that it was okay to feel pain because they would lose weight immediately.]

[In the 30s, the United States introduced the vibration belt, which relies on high-frequency vibration to get rid of fat. Fix the massage belt on the part you want to lose weight (such as the abdomen, thighs, arms, etc.), and then turn on the switch. The device that can vibrate about 3000 times per minute will drive the vibration of the belt, thereby achieving the effect of local weight loss.]

[This was popular among men and women at the time, but many people found it to be completely useless and eliminated it. But why does this look so familiar? Isn't this the fat-shaking device placed next to the escalator in the mall or at the entrance of the supermarket? ]

Jinling City, Hexing Tea and Snack Shop.

Looking at the clear black and white picture on the sky, everyone was choked.

The video screen shows one "weight loss" method after another. Although the folding bed and rotating wooden board in front are strange, the brain is still normal. The upper part of the sofa is put under the chest and the other part is put under the abdomen. After starting the device, you can see that the upper and lower belts exert force at the same time, stretching in opposite directions.
"Pfft, isn't this just dismemberment by five horses?"

"If that's the case, isn't 'getting your ideal body' just grinding beans with a stone mill?"

"Hahahaha." Everyone felt inexplicably funny. It turned out that women in ancient and modern times are all the same. They are willing to try anything for beauty.

But it is clear that these methods are largely ineffective.

"This doesn't look fat, does it?"

"You're stupid. It has no effect. Of course we have to invite some thin women to demonstrate it. Otherwise, it will be exposed, right?"

"It makes sense, but will anyone really believe it?"

"There should be, otherwise where would all the fancy weight loss equipment come from?"

Shopkeeper Wan listened silently to the diners' conversation and thought to himself that this was probably just like praying to God. What you spend money on is peace of mind, whether it works or not is another matter.

However, judging from the picture shown on the sky screen, this foreigner is too fat. He is as big as two people. How greedy must he be?
In front of Fengtian Hall.

"The M country at that time was so powerful?" Zhu Yuanzhang was shocked. Without a stable and prosperous era, how could ordinary people have the chance to become so powerful?
The later generations of the same period had just established their country not long ago, and were still poor and had to engage in production everywhere.

In comparison, Country M is simply a prosperous country. Judging from the picture on the sky, the fat men and women there are almost as wide as two people, and the proportion of fat men and women on the streets is not low.

"How much did he eat to get so fat?" Even Hu Weiyong and others, a group of people standing at the pinnacle of power in the Ming Dynasty, had never seen such a fat person in their lives. The belly was so fat that it couldn't be covered up, and the fat was hanging down layer by layer, which was shocking. The weight was probably fatter than the pigs raised in the countryside.

I guess the Dong Zhuo in history wasn’t this fat?
These people are just ordinary people.
"Just look at these outrageous instruments and you'll know that there are probably many obese people among the common people. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many outrageous weight-loss methods emerging in every era," Liu Ji's analysis was incisive.

"What on earth can one eat to gain so much weight?" Someone in the Science Department's eyes lit up, thinking that maybe it would be a good idea to learn this technology and use it to raise pigs. Then the people would love me to death and name me the 'Father of Fat Pigs', making my name famous through the ages.

"God knows" Sun Chuanshi and others were also slightly dazed.

[But to be honest, the M country people have always had such a strong demand for weight loss. This is related to their national conditions. Those who have lived in the M country for a period of time know that whether it is Aunt Susan who cleans the airport, Uncle Paul who works as a security inspector, or Brother Steven who works as a fast food clerk, they are all fatter than we can imagine, and there are a lot of fat people there.]

[How much? In June 2015, a report was published in JAMA Internal Medicine, which pointed out that less than one-third of the American population has normal weight, and the rest are overweight or obese.]

[They use the BMI index to measure overweight or obesity. BMI = weight ÷ height. The unit of weight is kilograms, and the unit of height is meters. Over 25 is overweight, and over 30 is obese. The standard in my country is: BMI over 24 is overweight, and over 28 is obese.]

[Let me put it this way. If you hadn't seen it with your own eyes, you wouldn't have believed that there were people in this world who were so incredibly fat. Giant pear-shaped bodies were common here.] [In fact, most of them didn't want to be so fat, but they were manipulated. Since the 1960s, the United States has taken the lead in completing agricultural industrialization, and food production has increased significantly, especially corn, an extremely high-yield crop, which is so abundant that it can't be eaten up.]

[Too much food to eat is sometimes a hassle, so in order to avoid waste, they came up with a wave of operations, that is, increasing the portion size of fast food, selling hamburgers with cola, raising the price of vegetables, and increasing the sugar content of various foods]

[In order to reduce costs, they even replaced sucrose with cheaper corn syrup, but corn syrup will be directly absorbed by the liver. We learned in junior high school that the food consumed by the human body can be roughly divided into three categories: protein, sugar, and fat. The human body consumes the corresponding energy in order during daily activities.]

[Sugar and fat will be consumed only when protein is insufficient. Similarly, these three can also be converted into each other. After the liver absorbs sugar, it will be converted into fat and accumulated in the liver, which will not only lead to obesity, but also various diseases such as fatty liver and diabetes.]

[In 1955, the then president's heart disease caused people to be suspicious of sugar. In order to make profits, the sugar giants hired a group of "highly respected" scholars to conduct academic fraud, widely publicize and weaken the harm of eating sugar, and put the blame on fat. Under this offensive, the national sugar intake skyrocketed, and then it became like this.]

[This academic fraud scandal was only exposed in 2016, but the eating habits of the past few decades have long been deeply rooted in people's minds, and it is extremely difficult to change the situation of excessive sugar intake. ]

In front of Fengtian Hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang and others were not shocked by the abundance of food, but were stunned by the act of harming the people of an entire country for the sake of profit. How could it be done this way?
Tianmu easily covered up the matter with just a few words, but it is truly infuriating that the businessmen in the sugar industry chose to collude with the academic community for the sake of profit and continue to harm the people.

It can be seen that businessmen and academics collude and use the great prestige of academics to grab huge profits. This behavior is simply harmful. This is just a small case. What about other foods? Or what about medicines?
When Zhu Yuanzhang thought of various possibilities, he lost his composure. He really couldn't just leave it alone, otherwise the whole country would be in ruins.

"People who are cunning and treacherous can cause great harm." Zhu Yuanzhang paced back and forth, commenting with a frown. The lesson from Country M did serve as a wake-up call to him. Now that the suppression of commerce had been relaxed, the government and the local officials would inevitably suffer more serious erosion than before. This erosion would often be silent and hidden in the dark.

How to prevent collusion between officials and businessmen and prevent the Ministry of Science and other departments from being exploited by them has become a very important issue.

None of the ministers dared to say a word. His Majesty has always hated corruption and was wary of collusion between officials and businessmen. To say anything at this time would be simply courting death.

Show loyalty?
Perhaps His Majesty thinks that you are guilty and that it is safest to follow the crowd and remain silent.

Only at this moment did everyone remember the four major cases of Hongwu that Tianmu had mentioned once, in which so many people were killed.

Logically speaking, history has already been changed. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince should be able to survive the 25th year of Hongwu. After that, there will be no young ruler to succeed the throne, and Your Majesty will not be afraid that important civil and military officials will follow the ways of Sima Yi and Zhao Kuangyin and start a massacre, right?
The important officials were not pushovers. Based on the known information, they had already guessed the general direction of events, but everyone just kept it to themselves. With Tianmu's intervention, the direction of history after being affected became even more confusing.

However, the four major cases of the Hongwu period were like a sharp knife hanging over their heads, forcing important officials to keep a low profile. Even Hu Weiyong restrained his arrogance, restrained his wife, children and servants, and did not dare to do anything illegal.

Those rough guys on the military commander's side were the same as usual. I don't know whether they were proud of their hard work and achievements or were simply brainless.

Everyone in the Science Department felt their scalps tingling after listening to Tianmu's statement. They had never thought that using the authority of the Science Department to endorse businessmen to make huge profits was such a shameless operation. After Tianmu pointed it out, they didn't know whether to show surprise or hatred.

They only knew that any words would be of no use at this moment, so everyone could only remain silent.

Jinling City, the residence of Prime Minister Hu.

Mrs. Hu, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes and still had charm, had a pale face, obviously frightened by what Tianmu said. Her heart was beating fast. She loved to drink a cup of ice-cold sour and sweet plum soup on hot afternoons, eat some snacks from Liuxinju, or eat half a watermelon fished out of the well and scoop it out with a spoon.

I never thought that excessive sugar intake would bring such serious consequences. Does her situation count as excessive sugar intake?

Tianmu did not clearly state the standard for excessive intake, but with such a "previous lesson" in mind, she did not dare to be careless.

If she really becomes such a big pear-shaped figure, no matter how beautiful her face is or how delicate her skin is, it will become useless. After all, "being fat ruins everything". If that day ever comes, she would rather die.

Thinking of this situation, I could not help but walk quickly to the edge of the pool and check my reflection in the water to see if I had changed shape.

"Ma'am, be careful."

"Qiu'er, come and see if I have gained weight again recently." Mrs. Hu pinched her cheeks, then her neck, arms, waist, and stomach. She was about to cry.

"Madam, you are not fat. If you don't believe me, go out for a walk often. People who don't know you will think you are an unmarried girl." Under the influence of Tianmu, unmarried women have formed a habit of shopping, and everyone has gradually gotten used to it and no longer says anything.

"Really not fat?" Mrs. Hu felt relieved, but then she felt helpless: "Tianmu didn't say how much is considered excessive intake. Forget it. Eating too much candy will not only make you fat, but also cause various diseases. I'd better not eat it in the future to avoid being worried."

Qiu'er stuck out her tongue, covered her mouth and giggled. This iced bayberry soup was icy, sour and sweet, with a very rich taste. And the watermelon that was fished out of the well was still steaming when it was cut.

These are all summer foods. Given Madam's temper, I'm afraid it won't be easy for her to give them up.

She herself did not have this worry. The desserts and food she ate on weekdays were all leftovers from her madam, or she would occasionally sneak a small piece of dessert when no one was around. She did not have many opportunities to eat, so how could she consume excessive amounts?

The same is true for the vast majority of people in Jinling City. Perhaps this is the advantage of being poor.

"However, this woman becomes really ugly when she gets fat. I don't want to become like this." Qiu'er glanced at the water, and saw her slender figure swaying with the waves. She thought to herself that it would be better for her not to be greedy in the future.

"The biggest comment Chinese people make on delicious cakes: This one is not sweet [狗头]"

"The habit of not eating sweets can prevent you from eating too much sugar. The food you eat on a daily basis already provides enough sugar. Excessive sugar consumption is harmful to the body."

"Now people are aware of the harm of sugar, but habits are hard to change"

"That makes sense. Country M is a capitalist country, and profit comes first."

"The ice cream cones and cola in the United States are so sweet that you get sick of them after eating them for one or two times."

(End of this chapter)