I have to admit, I was tempted to call this post “B***h Right 4 Your Type,” in honor of the review (”Eat Right 4 Your Type“) – and subsequent comment by “Elizabeth Victoria” – that inspired it. But since I already have a post titled “Small, Angry People,” I figured I’d turn this one into a sequel. It’s not as clevah, perhaps, but the shoe (definitely) fits.

So what’s the deal?

Here’s the background:  Like most sensible people, Paul found D’Adamo’s blood type/diet “theory” to be based on pseudoscientific BS…. so he said so in his review. And, like most sensible people who write sensible things, he drew the ire of several “true believers” confused about “cause and effect.”

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And it’s a definite thumbs down. According to the Guardian:

Today the Science and Technology Select Committee delivered its verdict on homeopathy and it was devastating. The committee has called for the complete withdrawal of NHS funding and official licensing of homeopathy.

This should come as no surprise to anyone who witnessed the almost farcical nature of the proceedings, with the elite of homeopathy mocked by their own testimony.

…Even the claims that more research is needed have been rebutted. Plenty of evidence has accumulated regarding the effectiveness of homeopathy, and a verdict has been reached. It is useless. As the report states: “It is … unethical to enter patients into trials to answer questions that have been settled already.”

Ouchie!

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You don’t spit into the wind,
You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And you don’t mess around with Jim.

Jim Croce

In this case, “Jim” = Judge Robert Gettleman.  And he’s none too happy with our good buddy, infomercial scam artiste and all-around shyster Kevin Trudeau. Why?

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Kellogg is the target of a class action suit over the company’s Nutri Grain bars.  According to Jon Hood of ConsumerAffairs.com:

This article by Chris Woolston – “The Healthy Skeptic” - made me do a facepalm.  Obviously, there are people out there with more money than sense.

Ionic foot baths are a “detoxifying” treatment that have become popular at health fairs, alternative health clinics and spas. Many companies also sell ionic foot baths online for home use. Wherever they show up, ionic foot baths follow the same basic approach to detoxification. Users stick their feet in a basin of salt water that’s buzzing with a small electric charge from two submerged electrodes. The water starts out clear, but after 30 minutes or so it tends to get brackish and foamy.

…A 30-minute foot bath at Le Petite Retreat day spa in L.A. costs $85. Lysa Kustek, the spa owner, says that about a dozen people get the treatment each day and that foot bath detoxes are popular for couples, although she warns them not to kiss during the procedure: “They could get a spark.”

If you want to detox your feet in the comfort of your home, you can — but it’ll cost you. The website ionicfootbath.com, run by Meridian Lifeforce Inc., sells Aqua Health Ionizer kits of various kinds for $1,495 to $1,995. The ionSpa Professional Foot Bath Kit from Bella Spa Products sells online for $1,395.

Kinoki Foot Pads are cheaper, and certainly just as effective (which is to say, not at all).  This quote says it all:

According to Gilbert, there’s simply no way to draw large amounts of chemicals, toxic or otherwise, through skin. “The skin is a darn good barrier that’s designed to keep things in the body. [Claiming to pull] stuff across that barrier is nutty.”

Indeed it is.

Normally, I roll my eyes when I see anti-supplement articles printed in the mainstream media.  But I’m going to make an exception for this article in the Chicago Tribune by Trine Tsouderos.

An industrial chemical developed to help separate heavy metals from polluted soil and mining drainage is being sold as a dietary supplement by a luminary in the world of alternative autism treatments.

Called OSR#1, the supplement is described on its Web site as an antioxidant not meant to treat any disease. But the site lists pharmacies and doctors who sell it to parents of children with autism, and the compound has been promoted to parents on popular autism Web sites.

…In an interview, Haley said that the compound had been tested on rats and that a food safety study was conducted on 10 people. Asked to provide documentation of the studies, he stopped communicating with the Tribune.

Experts expressed dismay upon hearing children were consuming a chemical not evaluated in formal clinical trials for safety, as would be required for a drug prescribed by doctors.

Ellen Silbergeld, an expert in environmental health and a researcher funded by the National Institutes of Health studying mercury and autism at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, said she found the sale of the chemical as a supplement for children “appalling.”

Creepy…

Now, it’s possible that the stuff is perfectly safe at recommended doses… and the hand-wringing is so much ado over nothing.

BUT: anyone who knows me, also knows that I’m a stickler for good science and transparency.  In addition, children represent a real gray area when it comes to drugs and – by extension – supplements.  So there’s no excuse – particularly for a former professor like Boyd Haley – for failing to produce toxicity/safety data.  Needless to state, controlled studies looking at efficacy are indicated too - especially when desperate people are involved. To offer false hope is cruel beyond belief.

This time, it’s the “Health Man” and associates, who were peddling the “7 Day Miracle Cleanse Program.”

The marketers of the 7 Day Miracle Cleanse Program, a purported herbal colon-cleansing program, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they falsely claimed that their program would cure cancer and other serious diseases. Among other things, the settlements broadly ban them from involvement in future infomercials for any product, service, or program, except for infomercials for informational publications, and from advertising health-related products in the future in any medium.

According to the FTC’s complaint, one of the defendants, Paris DeAguero, appeared as “the Health Man” in nationally televised infomercials, claiming that his program cured him within weeks of skin and breast cancer without the need for surgery or other treatments. Advertising for the program allegedly claimed that it also effectively prevented, treated, and cured many other diseases, including AIDS, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and arthritis, and that it safely caused rapid and substantial weight loss. The defendants allegedly also claimed that their product, Parasine 2, was “clinically proven” to eliminate parasites and worms, including tapeworms. The FTC alleged that their claims were false or unsupported by reliable scientific studies, in violation of the FTC Act.

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The Nov. 2 issue of TIME magazine has a great article on the latest report from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity: “Sweet Spot: How Sugary Cereal Makers Target Kids.”

Rudd researchers just finished crunching Nielsen and comScore data — which track television and Internet marketing — to figure out exactly how much cereal advertising kids see. The result: obesity researchers for the first time have hard data proving that the least healthy cereals are the ones marketed most aggressively to children.

…The Rudd findings, which will be detailed at CerealFacts.org in time for the Obesity Society’s annual meeting in Washington on Oct. 26, show that each year preschoolers (ages 2 to 5) see an average of 507 cereal ads that are designed to appeal to kids. The report also details how sugary-cereal makers are interacting with young consumers online through video games like Lucky Charms Charmed Life and Cinnamon Toast Crunch Swirl. 

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We haven’t visited Ye Olde Superfruit controversies in a while, so I thought I’d link to this recent Men’s Health article on acai by Bryan Smith.

The upshot, say experts, is that no one fruit or berry, no matter what its ORAC score, fires an antioxidant silver bullet. “What I tell people is that you need to eat all these types of compounds, in all different colors,” says Navindra P. Seeram, Ph. D., who studies the bioactivity of berries and other plants at the University of Rhode Island.

“Açai berries are wonderful, tasty, delightful fruit,” says Blumberg, “but I have never seen any report demonstrating that they are any better than apples and oranges and cranberries and blueberries and so on. Where is the evidence?”

Given the undertow of controversy pulling on açai, it might seem surprising that we’re so willing to brave the current for more. But for psychologist Ditto, it’s an all-too-familiar phenomenon among American consumers.

“There’s this long history of ‘just drink this and all your problems will be solved,’ ” he says. “That’s why these superfruit berries like açai are so successful. They’re sort of exotic, and they have the trappings of something that sounds good for you. It’s easy. It’s painless. So people tend to be kind of gullible — ‘Sure, I’ll give that a try.’ And they’ll spend a lot of money for it.”

Ouchie!  It’s a long (3 page) article, but Smith did his homework… it’s a good read.

It’s time fruit juice loses its wholesome image, some experts say.

Yes. Yes. YES!

Paul posted a rant about Kellogg’s Froot Loops and Apple Jacks last week, so I figured I’d pile on too… Can’t let him have all the fun, after all.  According to a recent press release:

Kellogg Company Discontinues Immunity Statements On Rice Krispies Cereals

BATTLE CREEK, Mich., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Kellogg Company today announced its decision to discontinue the immunity statements on Kellogg’s Rice Krispies cereals.

Last year, Kellogg Company started the development of adding antioxidants to Rice Krispies cereals. This is one way the Company responded to parents indicating their desire for more positive nutrition in kids’ cereal.

While science shows that these antioxidants help support the immune system, given the public attention on H1N1, the Company decided to make this change. The communication will be on pack for the next few months as packaging flows through store shelves. We will, however, continue to provide the increased amounts of vitamins A, B, C and E (25% Daily Value) that the cereal offers.

We will continue to respond to the desire for improved nutrition, and we are committed to communicating the importance of nutrition to our consumers.

Why are they doing this now?

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…You get up with fleas.  It’s an old, old saying, but there’s truth to it.

Earlier today, I was exchanging e-mails with a friend, Will Brink.  He drew my attention to a recent study published in JANA – the Journal of the American Nutraceutical Association.  While scanning the list of papers, I came across one that made me do a double-take…

Inhibitory Effects of a Novel Nutrient Mixture on MMP Secretion and Invasion on Human Thyroid Cancer Cell Line SW 579

Ok, it wasn’t the title… it was the list of authors that caught my eye… specifically the senior author.

M Waheed Roomi PhD, Bilwa Bhanap MD, Vadim Ivanov PhD MD, Aleksandra Niedzwiecki PhD and Matthias Rath MD.

Dr. Rath Research Institute, Cancer Division, Santa Clara, California

I looked up the Dr. Rath Research Institute to verify that it was the same Matthias Rath I’d read about… and nearly gagged.  It was: there was NO mistaking that face, and the address on the paper matched the one on the site.

OMFG.

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According to Reuters, the “Smart Choices” labeling program has  “voluntarily” postponed “active operations” - pending an investigation by the FDA.  Some companies, like Kraft, intend to continue using the system on existing products, but will not expand its use. Kellogg, however, intends to phase it out completely.

It’s funny what a little public scrutiny can accomplish, isn’t it?

Paul sent me a link to this YouTube vid from skeptic, author and professor Michael Shermer.  No, it has nothing to do with supps, diet, exercise or health per se… but it IS relevant to those subjects.  Basically, the vid is about the kinds of questions people need to ask themselves when confronted by claims… so the mental steps Dr. Shermer discusses are quite applicable to the claims made in supp ads and other health-related info you find on the internet.

It’s a tad long, but worth every minute.  Enjoy!

About time, too.

As a part of its ongoing monitoring program and in conjunction with an initiative with the Council for Responsible Nutrition to expand the review of advertising claims for dietary supplements, NAD – the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum – requested that the company provide supporting evidence for advertising claims that included:

People who take Stemulite Experience:

• Deep REM Sleep
• Increased Muscle Gain and Endurance
• Increased Weight Loss and Fat Loss
• Increased Wellness and Energy

…NAD was also concerned about testimonials on the Stemulite website, including:

• “Within Two Days of Using Stemulite, I Slept Great!”
• “I Have Noticed A Tremendous Energy Boost.”
• “Using Stemulite, I Have Seen Results in 2-3 Weeks”
• “In Three Days, Suddenly My Sleep Was Fantastic.”
• “I Am Getting Eight Hours of Restful Sleep, It’s A Miracle”
• “I Had A 6 Pound Loss In A Short Period Of Time”
• “In Just 5 Days, My Endurance Has Increased 25%”

The advertiser contacted NAD, and despite requesting and being given an extension of time within which to file its response, failed to do so. The advertiser represented to NAD that it would be conducting a study in the future and would participate after the completion of the study.

Wonder why they decided to stonewall?  Anyone want to take a guess?

First, Oprah… according to the Chicago Tribune:

Alleging Internet marketers are using her name without permission, Oprah Winfrey–through her corporate vehicle, Harpo Inc.–on Wednesday filed a federal trademark infringement suit against 40 peddlers of dietary supplements.

…Last year, Oz praised the anti-aging properties of the acai berry.

Not long after, Internet marketers began to sell acai products with implications that they had been endorsed by Winfrey or Oz, said Marc Rachman, an attorney for Harpo. But neither has ever sponsored such a product, he said.

The same phenomenon has occurred involving the health benefits of other substances aside from acai berries. “The subject is discussed on the show, then the scams start. It’s brazen,” Rachman said. But acai berries have been a particular magnet for alleged misdeeds.

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Needless to state, I rarely stroll down the cereal aisle at the supermarket… it’s been years since I’ve eaten anything more processed than old fashioned rolled oats.  Roald Dahl neatly summed up my opinion of most ready-to-eat breakfast cereals in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”…

“Do you know what breakfast cereal is made of? It’s made of all those little curly wooden shavings you find in pencil sharpeners!

It’s only a slight exaggeration.  As far as I’m concerned, most of ‘em are fortified junk food.  So I’m definitely with the author of this Washington Post article…

Kellogg’s has reformulated its Rice Krispies and Cocoa Krispies cereals, fortifying them with vitamins A, C, and E and a bunch of B vitamins. The boxes and ads now tout that “each and every box” of Krispies has ingredients that “help support your child’s immunity.”

…Rice Krispies aren’t the worst cereal in the world. They’re pretty low-calorie and less sugary than most. But to suggest to parents that feeding them to kids will help protect the little ones against disease — and that’s what they mean when they talk about “boosting immunity” — seems absurd.

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I’ll be curious to see how this one plays out…

The Food and Drug Administration is being sued. (Not for the first time.) This time, it’s by supplement companies who don’t like the way the agency denies or waters down the “qualified health claims” they can put on their wares.

…You can see why the companies don’t like the way the FDA alters the qualified claims they allow. One claim cited in the lawsuit started out as “Vitamin E may reduce the risk of bladder cancer. The scientific evidence supporting this claim is convincing, but not conclusive.”

It was changed to: “One small study suggests that vitamin E supplements may reduce the risk of bladder cancer. However, two small studies showed no reduction of risk. Based on these studies, the FDA concludes that it is highly unlikely that vitamin E supplements reduce the risk of bladder cancer.”

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This time it’s FXsupplements.com, the makers of Acai Berry Maxx.

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Kewl: someone’s actually gone and developed comprehensive criteria for superfruit status… and the few relatively fruits that actually merit the title might surprise a few people.

The creator of the rubric is Dr. Paul Gross.  It consists of the following measures:

• Popularity and sensory appeal of the whole fruit
• Nutrient diversity and density
• Phytochemical diversity and density
• Basic medical research intensity
• Clinical applications

And the winners are:
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