Weber State College Comment, April 1988, Page7 Health food claims So-called “natural food” enthusiasts go to great lengths to sell their products. Unfortunately, some of their claims have little basis in fact, and act to confuse rather than clarify the situation. Let’s consider some fallacious claims of food faddism: Claim 1: Soil depletion produces nutritionally deficient food. Plants are autotrophic which means they are self-nourishing and able to use carbon dioxide and inorganic salts to build themselves. They can produce vitamins, proteins, fats and carbohydrates when supplied with only simple elements. If sufficient amounts of primary nutrients are missing from the soil the yield of the crop is affected, but not its nutritional value. Claim 2: Organically grown foods are superior to conventional foods. It is impossible to tell an organic food from a commercially grown food after it true is not true. Claim 4: Pasteurization causes major nutrient losses in milk, including the assimilation factor for calcium. Calcium utilization and phosphorus and nitrogen retention by the body are not affected by either pasteurized or raw milk. Minerals aren’t destroyed by pasteurization. Claim 5: Sugar is poison. Sucrose, the form of sugar most commonly used by Americans, is pure carbohydrate that is metabolized completely tocarbon dioxide and water. There are no toxic effects from reasonable consumption of sugar. Its use may, however, satisfy appetite and preclude the selection of a varied diet. Claim 6: Sugar lowers the body’s resistance to fighting disease. This statement is related to the number of bacteria that human white cells can envelop and destroy after sugar is eaten. The truth is that many substances reduce the white cell’s capacity, including honey, orange juice, starch, vitamins C and E, glucose, and others. It is typical of food faddists to select only sugar as causing reduced bacteria-fighting ability while ignoring the others. Claim 7: Honey is better for a person than sugar. | Taking moisture into account, there is only a slight difference between the kinds of sugars in honey and white sugar. Honey actually has a slightly higher content of fructose which is a negative factor for some individuals, and can lead to increased risk of heart disease for the individual. Additionally, honey may be contaminated with botulism, may have toxic nectars, and is somewhat more likely to cause tooth decay. Yet, faddism extols honey as traditional, healthful naturalism. Claim 8: Extra vitamins provide more pep and energy. Vitamins do not provide energy or serve as building materials. They regulate physical functions by serving as coenzymes. Only when a coenzyme is combined with a protein to form an enzyme is the coenzyme useful. Any vitamin excess, therefore, is not helpful, but only serves as an extra chemical in the body. There are problems associated with large doses of vitamins as well. Excessive amounts of vitamin D can result in calcium deposits, deafness, kidney stones, weak bones and high cholesterol levels in the blood. Excessive amounts of vitamin C can lead to scurvy when the vitamins are withdrawn, kidney stones, diarrhea, and blood clotting. Remember, good nutrition comes from well-balanced meals and not from pills. Claim 9: Natural vitamins are superior tosynthetic vitamins. There is no difference between natural and synthetic vitamins. A chemical is a chemical. Claim 10: Herbs are better than drugs. Herbs that are capable of pharmacologic effects are drugs. They are simply in a crude form, without standards of dose or purity. Faddists ascribe special qualities to herbs because they are natural. This has no factual basis, but it has great emotional and philosophic appeal. Consumers “should exercise caution before buying such products. You might just be wasting money, or worse, you could actually damage your health. was successful for them. rguor to 7. Faddists almost always find something wrong with the way each person eats. 8. They automatically place primary rseemshed ‘ism oid. SOVte roof cog- ally | emphasis on diet in all treatment or pre- Health food fanatics believe and promote the idea that diet determines both a person's health and diseases. ventive programs. 9. They select out-of-date information from true, scientific health-oriented organizations and suppress results of reevaluation or new research efforts. 10. Their major themes are: *Soil depletion and modern farming make foods unhealthy *Modern food processing destroys food value and adds dangerous chemicals. *Everyone needs to take food supplements to ensure good nutrition. *Large doses of nutrients provide super nutrition. “Special diets, nutrients or herbs are curative. Nutrition fads and fallacies have captured the minds of many people in the U.S. and abroad. Some of our greatest political figures, entertainers, industrialists, inventors and others have become unwitting victims of food faddism. The truth is, you are not what you eat. You are what genetics and many other factors dictate. niall rue. too per | for lieve ih, 4 MD dh sine, written in books and articles designed for the public rather than for critical peer review by qualified experts. Scientists recognize the role of peer criticism as it points out the weaknesses of their studies and conclusions, and they rely on peers to validate their documentation. Faddists are self-proclaiming and_ self-advertising. They provide nonsupportive bibliographies or self-quoting materials that promote circular reasoning designed to sell. 6. They rely on testimonials and case histories as proof of effectiveness. Testimonies have effect because they are so emotional. But consider their reality. If testimonials of patient satisfaction are evidence for validity, then every clinical procedure is effective, including witchdoctoring, wearing copper bracelets and sleeping along magnetic lines of the earth. Each of these systems has a group of people who will testify under oath that it t all eye = ae has been picked. No plant can be other than its genetically determined possibilities. The plant’s genetics determine its /| nutrient content and its chemical makeup. Claim 3: Food processing or cooking destroysenzymesthatare important to human health. As a rule, people do not obtain needed enzymes from their diets. The body manufactures virtually all the enzymes it requires. The organic enzymes found in food tend to be broken down when they contact digestive fluids. It is true thatsome people lacking digestive enzymes may take oral supplements. When these supplements are properly prescribed, they are coated to survive stomach acids. The notion that enzymes within foods survive digestion and enter the bloodstream to | selectively seek and destroy cancer cells not