“To think that a dietary supplement could actually reverse the effects of a very effective drug is contrary to much of the perceived benefits of soy isoflavones, and unsettling,” said William Helferich a professor of food science and human nutrition at Illinois and principal investigator on the study. “You have women who are taking these supplements to ameliorate post-menopausal symptoms and assuming that they are as safe as consuming a calcium pill or a B vitamin.”

Many women take genistein supplements to control hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. The researchers found that the doses commonly available in dietary supplements were potent enough to negate the effectiveness of aromatase inhibitors.

You know, this should disquiet anyone who says that ‘natural products’ don’t need to be tested because they are just commonsense.

Harriet Hall made a comment that highlights some different standards in the comparison of drugs v. ‘natural remedies’.

Suppose you learned that a prescription drug you were taking had only been tested in preclinical trials on animals, but had never been tested on humans. Suppose an expert panel reviewed all the available data on this prescription drug and concluded that it was only “possibly” effective and “possibly” safe. Would you keep taking it? I think most people would stop taking it and would be very critical of the FDA for letting it on the market without proper testing.

Nature always provides a solution,
To help us with our evolution.
It seems obvious to me,
We need vitamin C,
To combat excessive pollution.
[pg 92: The Whole Health Manual, 1981]

A couple of people wondered if it was appropriate to include something from so long ago – but we recently learned that Holford is proud enough of this piece that he had it included in his Jan 2008 interview in Organic Life (pp. 16-18 and 20).* So, he is obviously still heavily engaged with the marvels of the early 80s and maybe this study of 7 reminds him of those heady days.

*On the cover, he is the story: The Man Who Knows the Secret of Life. The hagiographer is Helen Vintner Eaton.

Isn’t this one of the things Ben Goldacre argued was a hallmark of pseudoscience? I mean citations of long-expired (and often unobtainable without a trek to a Univ library to get the paper version from the stacks) papers while ignoring all the far more comprehensive later work.

Cher Patrique truly is …a phenomenon.

Edit: Fixed – I think.

“pseudocolour”

- I wonder if it is the bright colours, or just the pseudo-, that explains the mesmerising effect of such things on certain folk?