October 29th, 2009 by Peter Lipson, M.D. in Better Health Network, Quackery Exposed
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Dr. Weil is often seen as the smiling “mainstream” of alternative medicine. He’s a real doctor (unlike, say, Gary Null), and much of what he advocates is standard and uncontroversial nutritional advice. But Weil illustrates the two biggest problems with so-called alternative medicne: once you’ve decided science is dispensible, the door is open to anything, no matter how insane; and no matter how altruistic you may start, sooner or later you start selling snake oil. Most doctors out there are working hard to help their patients prevent and overcome disease use the available evidence. Others decide that science is too constraining and start practicing at the periphery of knowledge, throwing plausibility and ethics to the wind.
The fact that Weil claims to donate to charity all of his ill-gotten gains does not mitigate the harm he causes. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Science-Based Medicine*
June 26th, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network
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Get Your Fruit On! I love this new tagline from Tropicana. Statistics show that 7 out of 10 Americans are not getting enough fruit in their daily diets. The Dietary Guidelines encourage us to get 2 cups of fruit per day. For those who do get their fruit, many are getting it from 100% orange juice.
Children are especially susceptible to not getting enough fruit. An 8 ounce glass of 100% orange juice has:
- 2 servings of fruit
- 120% of Vitamin C
- 13% of Potassium
- 15% of Folic Acid
- No Sugar Added
- 110 Calories
Tropicana is actually donating up to a quarter of a million fruit servings in the form of Tropicana Pure Premium 100% orange juice to the USDA Summer Food Service Program and the School Breakfast Program. Both programs offer free or reduced price nutritious meals to children in low- income areas. Tropicana did this by getting 5,000 Americans to pledge to increase their fruit intake.
Other tips to Get Your Fruit On (courtesy of Elizabeth Ward, RD):
- Add in-season fruit to your morning bowl of oats or cereal.
- Blend a smoothie using your favorite fresh or frozen fruit and a cup of OJ
- Create a breakfast trail mix by combining dried fruit, nuts, and cereal. You can also use this as a snack.
- Assemble breakfast fruit kabobs using pineapple chunks, bananas, grapes, and berries.
- Drink a glass of 100% fruit juice at breakfast.
This post, Get Your Fruit On, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Brian Westphal.
November 1st, 2008 by Dr. Val Jones in Expert Interviews
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Tanya Altmann, MD
It’s been a little while since I had a “blonde moment” during an expert interview, but this one was pretty funny. I was in the middle of a podcast with Dr. Tanya Altmann, media personality and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics, about vitamin D – when I thought I heard her say that there were now special formulas of vitamin D for incense.
I knew that Dr. Altmann practiced medicine in Southern California, so I wasn’t terribly surprised about this new method of vitamin delivery. However, I hadn’t heard about vitamin D inhalation previously, so I asked her to explain how this new incense formula worked.
She paused to gather her thoughts and then corrected me: “No, I was saying that there’s a new formula for INFANTS…”
Oh. My bad.
So here’s the rest of our delightful interview. You may want to listen to the podcast, though I did edit out the awkward “incense” section so as not to start a new cult. One doesn’t want to give others too many ideas on the Internet! I hope that Dr. Tanya won’t think less of me for that misunderstanding.
Dr. Val: What is vitamin D, and why do we need it?
Dr. Tanya: Vitamin D is an essential nutrient for your entire body. Although it’s called a vitamin it actually functions as more of a hormone, playing an important role in the immune system. Vitamin D can help to protect people against illness, diabetes, and even cancer, though its role in helping to build strong bones (and protect infants from rickets) is probably its best known attribute.
Dr. Val: Tell me about the new AAP guidelines for infants, children and adolescents. Why did they change?
Dr. Tanya: Based on data collected in several recent research studies, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued new guidelines last month which essentially doubled the recommended daily amount of vitamin D (from 200 to 400 IUs) for infants, children, and adolescents. Historically people were able to get sufficient amounts of vitamin D through sun exposure (the body can create vitamin D when the skin is exposed to sunlight), but now that we need to protect kids from sun’s harmful rays due to future skin cancer risk, vitamin D levels have dropped significantly. Sunscreen, of course, blocks the sun from stimulating the creation of vitamin D in the skin. Read more »
