Category Archives: nutrition
Joanna Blythman: Please Read the Data Appendices About Organic Food Before Conjuring ‘Cancerous Conspiracies’: Part 1
Joanna Blythman and the Soil Association accuse the Food Standards Agency of ignoring the statistics in its own review for differences in nutrient levels between organic and conventionally produced food. We suggest, respectfully, that Blythman and the Soil Association are wrong and refer them to the original data. Continue reading
Filed under Current events, nutrition
Patrick Holford, Shark Liver Oil and Walnuts
Holford over-extrapolates the evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis to support his own, inconsistently-expressed views on nuts and seeds; neglects to mention appropriate caveats; is currently premature in promoting squalene as a “cancer preventive”; makes inappropriate comparisons of the ORAC values of substances that have very different water percentages (let’s overlook the issue of the relevance of ORACs for now); and perpetuates the familiar, embarrassing nutritionism assertion concerning the awesome nutrient power of nuts and seeds. Continue reading
Filed under dietitian, nutrition, patrick holford
How To Compile an Affordable Diet that Includes Recommended Vitamins and Minerals
Experienced Registered Dietitians can find it difficult to createa diet that meets all the dietary guidelines for vitamins and minerals within a day’s worth of calories. However, perhaps the message is to balance the calculation of nutrients over the week, rather than the day? Continue reading
Filed under dietitian, nutrition, supplements, vitamins
What Prevents People From Eating a Healthier Diet?
Media nutritionists such as Gillian McKeith and Patrick Holford advocate a diet which is unaffordable for many of those whom they claim would benefit from their nutritional wisdom. There are many stark socio-economic reasons why some people can not eat well. HolfordWatch will examine the practicalities and affordability of eating a balanced diet on a budget. Continue reading
Filed under GL diet, nutrition, patrick holford
Working Lunch, Skinny Candy and the Implausibility of Sugar-Free Sweets
BBC’s Working Lunch has effectively given an uncontested platform for Sahar Hashemi to claim that her Skinny Candy products are ‘sugar-free, natural and guilt-free’. We think you’ll find that it’s a bit more complicated than that and you will end up delving into the meaning of sugar-free as distinct from ‘no added sugars’ and the actual calorie count and glycaemic load of maltitol when compared to table sugar (they may not be a substantial difference). Working Lunch may be a business programme but they ought not allow the casual promotion of nutritional wibble. Continue reading
Seriously, What Do They Teach at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition Judging by the IONistas in the Public Eye?
Dr Ben Goldacre pwnd detox and Detox in a Box on the BBC Today programme. Oddly enough, Detox in a Box has nutritional expertise that is supplied by Diane Green, a diplomate nutritionist from the Institute of Optimum Nutrition. The sample menus are full of unevidenced assertions and the sort of nonsense that passes for wisdom in nutritionism. One wonders precisely what is taught at the ION. Continue reading
Filed under Ben Goldacre, Holford, institute of optimum nutrition, ION, nutrition, nutritionists, patrick holford
Daily Record Promotes Nutritionism Nonsense: There Is A Patrick Holford Connection, Of Course
Former Visiting Professor Patrick Holford of Teesside University has a subscription 100%health service. Subscribers pay for information that will transform their life and health. Daily Record carries an item from a recent newsletter: it is riddled with the obvious and also some remarkable errors – e.g., the nutritional composition of chicken breast. When UK universities pay for accreditation of their catering facilities by such experts, precisely what are they spending their money on? Continue reading
