NCAHF Newsletter articles from May 1992

NCAHF Newsletter archives from May 1992

What Time left out. (Time's article on the health aspects of dietary supplements)
May 1, 1992... Victor Herbert urged Time to include the cautions that no study of feeding supplements to any group of generally healthy Americans has shown supplements produce less disease or longer life spans. In fact, the only study of vitamin E megadoses...

Time's overly optimistic vitamin cover story.
May 1, 1992... The April 6 issue of Time read like health food magazine as it shouted the headlines: "New research shows they (vitamins) may help fight cancer, heart disease and the ravages of aging." [ed. note: 'may' is a weasel word* that automatically...

Deceptive tactics used to promote sports aids. (athletic performance enhancing aids)
May 1, 1992... An article by exercise physiologist David Lightsey, MS and Jerry Attaway, MEd, Physical Development Coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers, details deceptive tactics used to promote alleged ergogenic (ie, athletic performance enhancing) aids....

Dangerous dental product. (Sargenti paste for root canal therapy)
May 1, 1992... formaldehyde-containing paste known as "Sargenti paste," "RC-2B," or "N-2," has been used as a low-cost, quick one-stop root canal technique for many years. The paste "mummifies" the tooth by replacing the pulp with a toxic substance. The...

The Anti-NLEA scampaign, who will win: the special interests or consumers? (Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990)
May 1, 1992... Congress had the wisdom to pass the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 (NLEA); we soon shall see if it has the courage to see it through. The health food, supplement and herbal industries coalition is pulling out all of the stops...

Juiceman. (Jay Kordich)
May 1, 1992... One of the most aggressive promoters of dietary magic around today is Jay Kordich, the "Juiceman." We first learned of Kordich's claims in a Las Vegas Review-Journal (c.1991) story. Kordich, a mostly raw-foods vegetarian, claims to have...

Diet and cancer prevention.
May 1, 1992... Epidemiology teaches that a diet high in fruits and vegetables, and low in calories especially fat calories-is preferable to lower the risk of cancer. But, overly enthusiastic advocates of supplementation to prevent cancer regularly confuse...

Blue-green algae is baack. (K.C. Laboratories)
May 1, 1992... In 1986, the FDA prosecuted K.C. Laboratories of Klamath Falls, Oregon, for its promotion of blue-green algae. Typical of today's nutrition hucksters the company claimed that its product was a food and needed no FDA approval. FDA contended...

FBI doubles health fraud agents.
May 1, 1992... Health fraud has become expensive enough that the FBI has doubled the number of agents who will work on the problem. The fiscal 1993 budget asks for 24 additional assistant U.S. attorneys (to a total of 50) to work on health care fraud....

NCAHF profiled in Canadian press. (National Council Against Health Fraud)(The Bulletin Board)
May 1, 1992... NCAHF was profiled in "The Wellness Report" of The London Free Press (3/30/92) of London, Ontario. The mainly favorable piece makes two common errors. First, it describes NCAHF as a "self-professed group." The fallacy in this half-truth...

Detecting science fraud and abuse. (The Bulletin Board)
May 1, 1992... Fraud in the name of science is a very old problem. Such activity has traditionally been part of an area called "pathological science." Some science fraud is motivated by survival instincts (eg, hanging on to a grant), but the type of...