Comment by leshow | Hacker News Reader

Comment by leshow | Hacker News Reader

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> .. " kill 6 tonnes (6.6 short tons) of cockroaches at a time with heat and extracts the essence from them."

Essence? What the hell is a cockroach essence?

> “The effectiveness of cockroaches has been tested by the bodies of our ancestors and proven by lab experiments,” Geng said.

What lab experiments? Which ancestors?

> Geng said kangfuxin ye, made entirely from cockroaches, can cure oral and peptic ulcers, skin burns and wounds, and even prevent stomach cancer.

I really hope people don't take this as a preventative measure for stomach cancer.

All of that within a few paragraphs, the amount of bullshit in this article is incredible. While I'm sure mashed up roach guts is probably not the worst thing for you, the claims in this article are unsubstantiated and just don't make any sense.

They call it a "healing potion" in the article. My first response was also "Wow I can't believe they're creating a ton of cockroaches and playing with them to create this snake oil medicine" but it appears somewhat legit?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27375766

Although maybe those studies are just fudged data by Big Cockroach. Or maybe these studies are in the same vein as the studies that spawn clickbait like "red wine is good for your heart, you don't need to exercise you can just drink!"

> red wine is good for your heart, you don't need to exercise you can just drink

lalalalala I can't hear you

If whiskey counted toward this, I'd have the heart of an athlete.

Instead I have the knee injuries of one.

> Essence? What the hell is a cockroach essence?

Makes me think of La Croix sparkling water because all their drinks have fruit "essence" [1] in them. > Essence is created by heating items such as fruit and vegetable skins, rinds, and remnants at high temperatures, producing vapors. These vapors are condensed and then sold by the barrel.

I wonder if it's a similar process?

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/la-croix-mystery-ingredient-n...

"Traditional medicine" aka not medicine.

Is it all that different than the junk pitched regularly in the west? Homeopathic "remedies" for children are sold at my local wholefoods. At least the powered roach essence probably has more nutritional value than water.

I mean I get your point, but just because there's other snake oil salesmen doesn't make the practice any less wrong.

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