Snake Oil

Once upon a time, snake oil really was medicine.

Chinese immigrants in the US during the 19th century faced a bleak, rough experience. Besides dealing with blatant racism every day, nearly all of the work they were permitted to do was among the most physically grueling and dangerous work around.

The job that first comes to your mind is probably building railroads, a grinding gig where you traded in years of good health in exchange for a dollar per day (white people were typically paid more than double). This work was physically risky—hundreds of Chinese workers died simply because they were considered expendable.

Blasting through mountain ranges was where Chinese deaths piled up, but it was those who lived who had to deal with chronic joint pain, among other things.

Many of these men (and, perhaps, their old wives) knew a few different ways to deal with this sort of pain, caused by inflammation. Today, it is well understood that omega-3 fatty acids reduce inflammation, and, in fact, the oil of a particular type of snake—the Chinese water snake—contains a lot of omega-3.

While none of these workers knew about the specific scientific details, they knew that this type of snake oil really did work.

White American entrepreneurial types took note.

Some began to produce their own version of this miracle cure, touting their wonder-drug as the only medicine you’ll ever need. They spoke about the ancient wisdom embedded in Chinese medicine, but what they sold was more like fake oil than snake oil. At any rate, it wasn’t Chinese water snake oil.

If you’ve ever seen the show Carnivale, you’ve seen a classic snake-oil salesman. Today, we have a similar designation: used-car salesperson. It feels icky just reading that, right?

These salesmen hawked mixtures that included all sorts of cheap (but exotic-looking or smelling) substances like turpentine, mineral oil, or camphor. Let’s just say that these cures had little to no medicinal value at best.

It’s not like there was a CVS or Walgreens on every corner, either. Whenever these grifters came through, there was seldom a shortage of interested parties with aches and pains, and real maladies they thought this fake oil could cure.

You might think we’re way past this here in the 21st century, and you’d be half right, I think. There really are pharmacies available all over the US, and the medicine is regulated by the FDA, at least for the time being. Doctors and pharmacists prescribe medicine that you can be fairly confident you’ll actually take.

On the other hand, supplements are not regulated in the same way drugs are. People are free to make wild, bold claims about their products. A law passed in 1994 that states that supplements aren’t required to prove that they do anything at all. In fact, they don’t even have to prove they’re safe for consumption before people start using them en masse.

If there’s an issue, that’s when the FDA typically steps in with supplements. It certainly pays to be extra vigilant these days if you’re considering taking one.