even if it’s rooted in ignorance, it’s not the worst strategy for healthy eating. things that contain harmless but “chemical-sounding” things like carageenan, EDTA, methylcellulose, etc. tend to be junk foods engineered to be hyperpalatable calorie bombs.

if “I’ll stick to ingredients I know” means someone starts eating more fruits and vegetables, beans, whole grains, etc. they’re most likely going to start feeling better.

good results can come from flawed strategies, and people who use flawed strategies are probably more likely to want to learn stuff when they’re not being attacked (not that I’m a complete saint in that department I’m still working on being less judgmental myself)