I hate Dr Oz

 General Health  4 Responses »
Apr 112012
 

I’ve always thought of him [and still do] as nothing more than a shill for the vitamin and supplement industry, promoting products that do nothing more than line the pockets of himself, and the industry that produces the products he is constantly touting.

I’m not even sure why I bother watching him, but I did so yesterday, and it just further solidified my position.

His first guest was a self appointed diet guru. He was providing information on how to eat healthier, and while some of the info may have had some merit, two bits of information stood out that I had a great deal of trouble with.

The first was adding sugar to vegetables, supposedly to make vegetables taste better, encouraging people to eat them more. While eating more vegetables is certainly good advice, I’m not so sure adding sugar is such a good idea. Sure it will make your vegetables taste better, but adding sugar to anything will make it taste better. And how much sugar is enough or too much? Where do you draw the line? He didn’t provide that information.

The second thing that got me, was about energy drinks. His contention was instead of drinking the energy drink, simply swish it around in your mouth, and then spit it out. This supposedly will trick your brain into thinking it’s receiving an energy boost from the sugar.

Now while it may trick your brain into thinking it received an energy boost from the sugar, I doubt very seriously it can trick your body into performing like it just received the energy boost it never received. Trust me as someone who has bonked before, when that happens, your body needs real energy, not an imagined one.

He then had some expert, I think from the Mayo Clinic, talking about the importance of antioxidants. The contention was you need to increase your intake of antioxidants to counter the effects of breathing. It was implied [at least I inferred] that oxygen molecules from the air you breathe attach to your DNA (or something like that) increasing your risk of cancer, and only by increasing your antioxidant intake can you counter those effects.

There was also some mention of increasing the effectiveness of your white cells, i.e. boosting your immune system, to fight disease. At that point I couldn’t take it anymore, and had to shut it off.

I hate repeating myself, but YOU CAN’T BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM. And even if you could, you wouldn’t want to. How can you control what effect a boosted immune system will have? Will it start attacking your good cells, and forget about the bad cells? That’s exactly what cancer is, and I don’t think it’s a risk worth taking.

Certainly you need to eat a healthy, well balanced diet, something most of modern society doesn’t do. It’s the surest way to helping prevent diseases, obesity, etc. Just don’t waste your money on vitamins and supplements you don’t need, and won’t do you any good, except maybe to cause the exact things you’re trying to prevent, and definitely lighten your pocketbook.

Instead, spend that money you’ve saved on a gym membership, new running shoes, or even a new bike, and get out and exercise more. You’ll find that a lot more beneficial.

Just my opinion!

 

10 surprising steps to staying cancer free

 General Health, Life  No Responses »
Apr 042012
 

Whenever I come across articles such as this one I’m intrigued. If only it were that simple. Exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet, get plenty of sunshine, and you’ll be healthy forever. The thing is, I already knew that, and it didn’t help.

Despite what you may hear or have heard, there is no magic formula! You can no more prevent cancer than you can boost your immune system. Maybe you can delay the inevitable, but truth be told, if you live long enough, you’re going to get cancer.

Then there’s the two biggest factors contributing to cancer, the environment, and your heritage. Two items you have little, if any, control over. It’s been pretty well established, if your parents lived to be 100, you’ll likely do the same.  Of course living in a polluted environment has been known to cancel that out.

So while there’s nothing much new in this article, and there’s at least one step I have a problem with, i.e. talk to your doctor about the benefits of taking a statin drug, I had some time on my hands, and there were two items included that I have stressed repeatedly since my diagnosis, which I felt were worth repeating.

The first being,

Ditch the vitamins and supplements. Unless you’re addressing a confirmed vitamin deficiency, are considering pregnancy or are already pregnant, you can steer clear of multivitamins and save money without sacrificing your health, …………..

I still contend, all the hype surrounding the taking of vitamins and supplements is nothing more than a well designed scam to separate you from your money. I’m also of the belief, it was the taking of various vitamins and supplements, during my life, that contributed to my diagnosis. You can get all the vitamins you need naturally, simply by eating a well balanced, nutritional diet.

And the second most important thing is to

Get an annual flu shot. Having the flu triggers inflammation, which can set the body up for serious problems when it’s most vulnerable, he says. The flu vaccine, …….., helps the body tone down its harsh immune response. “I want [people] to think of a flu shot in terms of not just what it means today but a decade from now,” ……

Even if you don’t want to do it for yourself, at least do it for others, so there’s less likelihood you’ll pass along the flu to unsuspecting friends and relatives, and especially those with compromised immune systems.

I’ll also add to drink lots of green tea, and get lots of sunshine! Just be careful not to burn. Remember, you can’t overdose on Vitamin D from the sun, but you can from a supplement.

Supplements – Buyer beware!

 General Health, My MCL  2 Responses »
Jan 212012
 

After a recent email, and several exchanges on a few of the message boards I frequent, I felt is was imperative of me to reiterate my stance on the use of vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies.

As long time readers of my blog may already know, I am against the taking of all vitamins, supplements and herbal remedies. But I wasn’t always that way. Prior to my diagnosis I truly believed the taking of Vitamin C, E, Calcium, fish oil (and a few other items) were essential for good health. Obviously that didn’t work, and now I’m even of the opinion it was that belief which led to my diagnosis of MCL.

That’s not to say all of the hype is a complete fabrication. After all, I am a firm believer in the efficacy of EGCG, a by product of green tea. Nor am I saying maintaining proper nutrition isn’t important, because it definitely is. What I am saying is, if you can’t get it naturally, it’s probably not worth getting. And that’s a policy I adhere to religiously, taking no artificially produced vitamins, supplements or herbal remedies.

There have been no clinical studies authenticating or substantiating any of the claims made for the numerous supplements sold on the market. In my opinion, all the hype about many [most, all] of these products is simply a scam by the pharmaceutical and supplement industries to instill fear into the minds of consumers, and separate them from their money.

Worst of all, the supplement industry is not regulated. So buyer beware. Even if the claims were substantiated, there is no guarantee you’re getting what you expect when you purchase any of those products online or at the market.

Even Dr Oz, who I consider the biggest shill for the pharmaceutical and supplement industries, warned about this on a recent show.

So even if you don’t want to take my word for it, at least take Dr. Oz’s.

The dangers of science denial

 General Health  No Responses »
Apr 142010
 

The following doesn’t need any commentary. It speaks for itself. (No pun intended)

Oh, and BTW, in case anyone’s interested, I’m feeling minutely better today. I’m not sneezing or blowing my nose as much, but I am still doing both. And my headache is mostly gone. I’m hoping as the day goes on I’ll feel even better.

Vitamins and supplements: Do “actual harm”

 Food & Wine, General Health  No Responses »
Mar 142010
 

Still believe in the benefits of vitamins and supplements? Still have trouble grasping the idea that vitamins and supplements are a well devised scheme by the pharmaceutical and supplement industries to separate you from your hard earned money?

Then maybe this article from Consumer Reports will finally convince you otherwise.

Americans ………….. spent an estimated $10 billion on them [vitamin and mineral pills] in 2008, according to the Nutrition Business Journal. But recent studies undertaken to assess their benefits have delivered a flurry of disappointing results. The supplements failed to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes, and premature death.

“We have yet to see well-conducted research that categorically supports the use of vitamin and mineral supplements,” says Linda Van Horn, Ph.D., a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “Most studies show no benefit, or actual harm.”

While some people may need supplements at certain stages of their lives, nutritional deficiencies are uncommon in the U.S. “Almost all of us get or can get the vitamins and minerals we need from our diet,” says Paul M. Coates, Ph.D., director of the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Just more evidence supporting what I’ve been trying to tell everyone all along. Vitamins and supplements do more harm than good, and it’s what I attribute my contracting MCL to, and it’s the complete stopping of taking any vitamins or supplements that I attribute my longevity (8 years without treatment), along with high intensity exercise, and [of course] wine. :)

Even if you don’t believe me, at least believe Consumer Reports. They don’t have any axes to grind.

Read the entire article.