Is Natural Pet Food Better?

An article I came across yesterday says natural pet food is not always best. I find two things odd about this article right off the bat:

1. No author is listed. Makes you wonder if the person writing it had an agenda.
2. Only one source—a veterinarian—is quoted. This is very poor journalism. One source doesn’t make a story.

Now let’s look at the content itself:

Mainstream Media Covering Non-Mainstream Health Issues

Over the past week, I’ve come across three stories about alternative health topics in the mainstream media. On March 10, the New York Times Sunday Magazine published a substantial article on behavioral optometry, a field centered around the theory that children with attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities can be helped with eye exercises. This past Sunday, March 21, the magazine ran an interview with Dr. Michael Holick, who advocates getting a certain amount of sun exposure so that your body can make the right amount of Vitamin D. Also on March 10, Parade Magazine featured a story called “How Safe Are Cellphones?” The doctor who wrote it concluded that although the link between cell-phone usage and brain cancer has still not been definitively proven, people—and children in particular—should limit their mobile-phone use.

The Latest Vaccine Fiasco

I have been skeptical of the medical establishment’s campaign to vaccinate young girls for HPV (human papilloma virus) ever since the TV ads started running a few years ago. The latest disaster resulting from this shot is the near-total vision loss of a 16-year-old girl in the U.K. While the link has not definitively been proven, the teenager was fine before she got the vaccine. Ten days after her second dose, she lost her vision, and it is not clear whether she will regain it. This poor girl may be blinded for life.

Several states now have legislation pending to mandate this vaccine, Gardasil. It actually became law in Texas, but thankfully was overwritten by another bill. However, now another bill in the Texas legislature would allow the state Commissioner of Health and Human Services to make the vaccine a condition of going to school. (By the way, Merck, Gardasil’s manufacturer, was a contributor to Governor Rick Perry’s campaign. What a surprise.)

Veggie Vs. Meat: Which Is Better?

There’s a controversy brewing over Whole Foods’ new “Health Starts Here” campaign promoting the merits of a mostly vegetarian diet. Last week, the Weston A. Price Foundation, which promotes the consumption of healthy fats (including animal protein), issued a press release attacking the Whole Foods campaign, and saying that people can’t get enough nutrients from a plant-based diet.

I am involved with my local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation because I believe in the overall soundness of its nutritional principles. However, I eat very little animal protein because that diet works better for me personally. Therefore, I don’t side with either Whole Foods or WAPF because I don’t believe there is one way of eating that is correct for every person on the planet.

Fish Oil and Mental Illness

A mainstream psychiatric journal, the Archives of General Psychiatry, has just published a small study that tested the use of Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) for mental illness in adolescents and young adults—with positive results. It’s always welcome news when mainstream medical journals, who are heavily influenced by drug companies, publish research on non-pharmaceutical remedies. It’s worth noting, however, that the study took place in Vienna; Europe has traditionally been more open than the U.S. to the use of alternative treatments.

Light Therapy or Drugs for SAD?

Today’s Albuquerque Journal ran a story on seasonal affective disorder (SAD)—depression caused by lack of sunshine. Although not a big problem in sunny climates, it is more common in areas with lots of cloudy days and long winters. The story interviewed physicians who mentioned light therapy as an option, but it took a backseat to drugs. Surprise!

What is really odd about the story is that practitioners contradicted their own statements. One psychologist said that patients have to address the physical sources of the disorder, and then went on to say they need a psychiatrist to “prescribe the right drugs.” A psychiatrist said that light therapy can be as effective as Prozac, but still said she would prescribe antidepressants for SAD! 

Supplement Laws Need To Change

As you may know, manufacturers of dietary supplements must constantly be on guard against the powers that be. The Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration are extremely hostile to non-pharmaceuticals, and have prosecuted companies for making statements these government agencies deemed to be false.

Currently, the burden of proof is on manufacturers. If they make any claims about a supplement treating or preventing a disease, they must be able to prove it. Sounds fair on the face of it, but the only proof the government accepts is official double-blind research studies (in which neither the participants nor the researchers know who is getting the supplement and who is getting the placebo), which are prohibitively expensive for most supplement companies. Less formal studies don’t count.

How High Is Your “Green” Score?

Over the past year or two I’ve been paying a lot more attention to being environmentally conscious—reducing waste, saving energy, saving water. I thought I was doing pretty well. Today I found out I’m not.

I took one of those “How green are you?” tests and scored a miserable 56. Ouch! Although the Website, gogreenscore.org, tried to spare my feelings by saying a 51-60 score is “looking good,” when you compare it to 100…not so good.

While I scored well in certain areas, such as “How many days per week do you go without eating meat?” (I rarely eat it) and “Do you use all natural, non-toxic cleaning products in your home?” (almost always), in others I didn’t even come close (“Do you use public transportation/walk/ride your bike at least twice a week to reach necessary destinations?” (more like twice a year) and “Do you set your air conditioning at 78° or higher and your heat at 64° or lower?” (if the heat isn’t at 68, my lips turn blue).

Will FTC Guides Destroy Consumer Testimonials?

The Federal Trade Commission’s updated product endorsement guidelines took effect on December 1. These guidelines affect product advertising and marketing, as well as bloggers who review products.

Although I am now a blogger, I don’t review products because our company sells products. However, we do have user testimonials on our site. We get these testimonials from the products’ manufacturers, and we think they add a personal touch to the product description, as well as spur customers to try the product. Now, the FTC might tell us to remove them.

Law of Attraction Doesn’t Apply to Haiti’s Earthquake

I am (or was, until today) on the e-mail list of a company called Manifest Mastermind. It’s one of dozens (probably hundreds) of companies that teach people how to practice the Law of Attraction.

I am a big believer in the Law of Attraction (LOA). If you haven’t heard about it, it is, in a nutshell, the theory that your beliefs dictate your life. Positive thoughts yield positive results; negative thoughts yield negative results.