We don’t know how much of these plant chemicals is safe or helpful — too little does nothing, too much hurts, but we don’t know the sweet spot.
Scientific Claim
The hormetic dose-response curve for plant-derived phytochemicals in humans is undefined, with no established thresholds for beneficial versus harmful effects.
Original Statement
“Dosage is completely unknown and undefined. Nobody knows which toxins are actually beneficial, what the correct doses, and where it stops helping people and starts causing them harm.”
Context Details
Domain
toxicology
Population
human
Subject
Plant-derived phytochemicals
Action
have undefined
Target
hormetic dose-response thresholds in humans
Intervention Details
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (2)
The study says that plant chemicals people worry about aren’t usually harmful, but we don’t know exactly how much is good or bad for you—so no one has figured out the safe dose range yet.
Unknown Title
Plants make their own chemicals to protect themselves, and some of these can be harmful in large amounts — but we eat so little of them in food that we don’t know exactly when they help or hurt us.
Contradicting (2)
Brosimine B and the biphasic dose-response: insights into hormesis and retinal neuroprotection
This study found that a plant chemical called Brosimine B helps eye cells at a low dose but hurts them at a high dose, and scientists were able to pinpoint exactly which dose is best and where it becomes harmful — proving that at least some plant chemicals have clear safe and dangerous levels.
Hormesis and hydra effects revealed by intraspecific overcompensation models and dose-response curves.
This study shows that scientists can model when small stresses (like low doses of toxins) help organisms recover better—but it didn’t study plant chemicals in people, so it doesn’t prove whether those chemicals are safe or harmful at different doses in humans.