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These television reports are quite eye-opening.

Although the programs are about the issue in Canada, I assume the problem is similar in other countries. For example, in the United States the FDA does not have to approve dietary supplements prior to sale, and supplements don't get the kind of testing applied to prescription drugs.

I liked the comment of one reader who said his Doctor described vitamins and herbals as only being good for making expensive urine.

It's good to see that the benefits of snake oil are still appreciated (with apologies to my two pet snakes).

The easy rule of thumb with vitamins and supplements is "the body only uses what it needs, and discards the rest, there is no benefit to a surplus". Also, it's possible to overdose on them. The most famous of these is "eskimos don't eat polar bear liver". Because they would suffer from and possibly die of Hypervitaminosis. (in this case, toxic levels of Vitamine C)

Does make a person wonder, why a polar bear's liver holds onto so much of the stuff?

Actually it is Vitamin A, specifically retinol, which binds with fat and may be why polar bears have high levels—lots of fat. A single ounce of polar bear liver—the size of a golf ball, or a healthy size bite—has over five times the amount of Vitamin A considered toxic for humans.

In "Dances with Wolves" Kevin Costner takes a liver bite from his first kill, but that was a buffalo.

Wrong. And wrong.

Eskimo is long since considered a derogatory term. We don't use it north of the 49th. You can check the Apple Dictionary:
ORIGIN via French Esquimaux, possibly from Spanish esquimao, esquimal, from Montagnais ayas̆kimew ‘person who laces a snowshoe,’ probably applied first to the Micmac and later to the Eskimo.
Usage: In recent years, Eskimo has come to be regarded as offensive because of one of its possible etymologies (Abnaki askimo ‘eater of raw meat’), but this descriptive name is accurate since Eskimos traditionally derived their vitamins from eating raw meat. This dictionary gives another possible etymology above, but the etymological problem is still unresolved.
The peoples inhabiting the regions from northwestern Canada to western Greenland call themselves Inuit, but in the US, Eskimo is the only term that can be properly applied to all of the peoples as a whole, and it is still widely used in anthropological and archaeological contexts. The broader term Native American is sometimes used to refer to Eskimo and Aleut peoples.

Polar bear liver contains toxic levels of vitamin A — not C, which is water-soluble and therefore can rarely reach toxic levels in humans under any conditions. All of the fat-souble vitamins (such as A and D) can build up in fatty tissue to the point of toxicity. That said, it's extremely difficult to have hypervitaminosis D; on the contrary most Northerners are deficient in vitamin D, which in turn has deleterious effects on any number of body systems.

Inuit or Eskimo? | Alaska Native Language Center


and


So outside of "because", there doesn't appear to be much reason to not use "Eskimo".

In view of the fact that Eskimos apparently embrace the term, it looks like just another instance of PC for the sake of PC.

Not in Canada, they don't! They take major offense to the term, much as other aboriginals do to names "assigned" to them.
In Canada, we use Inuit, as well as terms such as aboriginal (not used in the derogatory sense of "Abo" in Australia), indigenous and first nations. And the term Indian is by and large used only for those from India.

"Not in Canada" is precisely where V1 comes from.

What's your point?!
The issue evolved into a discussion of nomenclature, not an issue of where one originates (be it a corn field or a bayou or downtown Manhattan).

That you more or less jumped down V1's throat from across the border with a value that originates and lives across the border.

Sorry that you view it that way. I had no intention of jumping down anyone's throat, only to provide some information and insight (as well as correct the obvious error as to what the toxic vitamin is in polar bear liver). And I don't think that the way I phrased the information gives any indication of malicious intent. So please don't fault me for your interpretation.
(If anyone else finds my phraseology offensive, please so advise with rational/explicit argument.)

My interpretation?

Edit: OK, a "rational/explicit argument": a simple, polite "'Eskimo' is considered derogatory in Canada" would have been an unnecessarily far more than sufficient response to an American.

(Mods, can this last sequence be deleted, grelber's protestations notwithstanding?)

Perhaps Virtual1 could chime in and advise whether he feels hard done by. If so, I'm more than willing to apologize for offending him (and him alone).

Grandstand play! Booo!!!

Guys differences of opinion will happen but this is getting personal and that is inappropriate even in The Lounge. Take it outside if you want to continue the discussion.

My sentiments exactly. Basta!

So be it! (I already requested closure in post #37171.)