[tnbp]

I'm a bit confused why the author is unfazed by "eleuthero root" and "cordyceps mushrooms", but puts "nascent iodine" in scare quotes.

Is it not nascent iodine? If no, then what is it? Oh no, it's nail clippings, isn't it. Gwyneth has tricked me yet again!

Edit: Thanks to everyone who replied--I learned something!

[jknoepfler]

One imagines it's the term "nascent" which is an obsolete/anachronistic descriptor for a chemical substance. It would be a little bit like using "caloric" (a substance once postulated in order to explain heat) or "luminous ether" (a medium once postulated to explain propagation of light) in an ad pitch.

Not to give anyone any ideas....

(To be maximally clear/fair, all three of these concepts were part of healthy scientific discourse at one period of time, but have since faded into obscurity. That said I don't know that "nascent" anything was ever demonstrated to have health benefits, at least in virtue of its purported nascence).

[jfengel]

I assume it's because eleuthero root and cordyceps mushrooms are real things, while "nascent iodine" is made up. It is a marketing term for woo-woo supplements, not a technical term.

[varenc]

This is explained further down in the article. Nascent iodine is in quotes because it doesn’t even seem like real quantifiable product.

The other supplements are real things with at least some semblance of scientific inquiry, but to quote the article:

> We couldn’t find any reliable scientific information on “nascent iodine.” ... The “nascent” stuff is supposed to have an “electromagnetic charge” that makes it easier to digest. ... iodine in this “charged” form cannot even exist in liquid form, which is how Alex Jones and company distribute it.