The idea of hormesis is an interesting one, but I don’t think there is any hard evidence that eating plants gives us a hormetic advantage over not eating then at all. Also, you have to ask yourself which chemicals are acting hormetically, and in what doses? Because if you get too much you are going to harm yourself, and too little and it doesn’t do anything. And then on top of that there are sometimes hundreds of thousands of chemicals in any given plant, many of them designed to be toxic to animals and insects, and so even if one is acting hormetically at that exact dose of whatever you’re eating, which not likely to do by chance, are the others in that exact proportion as well and working hormetically? Even less likely.
Each plant contains hundreds if not thousands of defense chemicals, are they hormetic and are they all hormetic at the exact same dose that is provided within that plant at the same time? What exactly is that dose? Are all plant toxins hormetic? Half a leaf of hemlock will kill an adult. So is that hormetic? There are things that just cause harm and some things that may cause hormesis in the sense of building up a tolerance like alcohol but what benefit do you have when you have a tolerance to alcohol besides drinking more alcohol? It is not hormetic in the sense that it gives you a benefit to your overall life outside of consuming that poison. The other problem with this theory is that there is no evidence to show that they’re actually is hormesis, it’s really just a guess. But what hard evidence is there that these chemicals are hormetic, and where is the hard evidence to show that they are all hormetic at the same dose of however much of the plant you are eating?
The purpose and design of these chemicals by the plant is to stop animals from eating them, not to benefit our metabolism in any way, shape, or form. So, I think the arguement for hormesis here has a large burden of evidence to provide, but people seem to latch on to it without any evidence either asked for or provided.
- Which are hormetic?
- At what dose?
- What is the effect?
- Are all toxins hormetic?
- Are they all hormetic at same ratio in same plant?
- How would you know?
- How can you know the exact amount of each plant ine.g. a salad
