September 30th, 2010 by Steve Novella, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Quackery Exposed, Research
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If you believe everything you read on the Internet, then is seems that a chemical found in thousands of products is causing an epidemic of severe neurological and systemic diseases, like multiple sclerosis and lupus. The FDA, the companies that make the product, and the “medical industrial complex” all know about the dangers of this chemical, but are hiding the truth from the public in order to protect corporate profits and avoid the pesky paper work that would accompany the truth being revealed.
The only glimmer of hope is a dedicated band of bloggers and anonymous email chain letter authors who aren’t afraid to speak the truth. Armed with the latest anecdotal evidence, unverified speculation, and scientifically implausible claims, they have been tirelessly ranting about the evils of this chemical for years. Undeterred by the countless published studies manufactured by the food cartel that show this chemical is safe, they continue to protect the public by spreading baseless fear and hysteria.
Hopefully, you don’t believe everything you read on the Internet, and you don’t get your science news from email SPAM, where the above scenario is a common theme. While there are many manifestations of this type of urban legend, I am speaking specifically about aspartame — an artificial sweetener used since the early 1980s. The notion that aspartame is unsafe has been circulating almost since it first appeared, and like rumors and misinformation have a tendency to do, fears surrounding aspartame have taken on a life of their own. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
September 24th, 2010 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Quackery Exposed, Research
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(Guest post submitted by MD Anderson Cancer Center)
Aisles in grocery stores and pharmacies are stacked with vitamins, minerals, herbs or other plants that you take in pill, capsule, tablet or liquid form. And, many of us buy these supplements and take them regularly, hoping to lower our chances of getting cancer and other diseases.
But do supplements really work wonders? Should you take them to help prevent cancer? Our experts say beware.
“Don’t be fooled by the label on the bottle,” says Sally Scroggs, health education manager at MD Anderson’s Cancer Prevention Center. “Researchers are still unsure about whether or not supplements actually prevent cancer.” Some studies have suggested that supplements may actually increase cancer risk by tilting the balance of nutrients in the body. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
September 18th, 2010 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion
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I’m trying to get off the topic of fatness, but just when it seems right to move on to something less hopeless, we hear that even doctors can be felled by obesity’s resilience.
To the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group of well-meaning doctors who are buying expensive TV ads blaming McDonald’s for heart disease, I have just 5 words: McDonald’s is not the problem! Gosh. It’s maddening to think that such smart people could be that misguided — a whole committee of doctors completely devoid of any master-of-the-obvious is hard to fathom.
Don’t misunderstand — I’m not advocating McDonald’s food as overly nutritional, but blaming MacD’s for our obesity epidemic is like blaming guns for violence (for the record, guns scare me), brew pubs for alcoholism, or religion for war. (Sorry, that last one is a bad example.) Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
September 14th, 2010 by Maria Gifford in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Interviews, Research, True Stories
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Appearing as a Second Life 3D virtual-world avatar at Mayo Clinic’s “Transform 2010” symposium (watch the video here), Mrs. Q — a teacher and the anonymous author of the blog “Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project” — told the story of how her unique health mission has come to be. She’s determined to help people understand just how sick our “healthy” school lunches really are.
Mrs. Q has sparked the interest of child health advocates around the country. Thanks to programs like First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move Initiative” and Jamie Oliver’s “Food Revolution,” the nation is paying more attention to childhood obesity and school lunch reform.
Mrs. Q’s blog was started because of her own experiences with school meals after she ate the food prepared at school because she forgot her lunch at home. She keeps her identity a secret due to fear of losing her teaching job. Read more »
September 14th, 2010 by Shantanu Nundy, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, Research
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The science of nutrition is changing and not in the way you might expect. After years of “reductionist” thinking — where food has been viewed as the sum of its parts -– a call to treat food as food has been sounded. No more poring over nutrition labels to calculate grams of fat or chasing down the latest go-to chemical –- be it vitamin E, fish oil or omega-3. Instead we are being asked to call a potato a potato and a piece of steak — well, a piece of steak.
If you haven’t heard about this sea change yet, you are not alone. The food science industry that markets “food products” for our consumption has done a good job giving their laboratory creations a semblance of health with phrases like “low fat” and “high in vitamin C.” For our part, the medical community is also to blame. Despite evidence to the contrary, we have been slow to renounce the “fat is bad” mantra or break away from the nutrient-based approach to eating that first swept the country over 30 years ago. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at BeyondApples.Org*
