Misinformation in media about estrogen

[emunah]

I'm not sure if it's the correct place to post, but my intention is not to debate R. Peat theory, but to point to the fact how others are misinformed. I just finished reading an article on Mercola site and he recommends estrogen as something that prevents dementia. Also he warns against sugar and fructose, claiming that both lower important hormones. I've read some comments and of course most of them are affirming his theory, except from few, one especially moving from a woman with breast cancer, who points to the fact that estrogen is carcinogenic. This article made me upset. It's not that I believed that Mercola site is a very high quality source, but at least I believed it's relatively harmless.

Anyway, I was always pondering what is the relationship between these guys? I know that you can find Peat article on Mercola site, in general what he proposes is somewhat overlapping Peat recommendation, but also differs in important points (fructose is probably the main contention). Dr. Mercola must have read R. Peat.

The commentators there are another story. My favorite is one who claims that after eating ONE spoon of sugar your immune system shuts down. This is so absurd! Yet nobody is disagreeing with him.

It makes me so sad. Similarly, often people who try to eat more healthy start to eat more greens with canola oil dressing...

 

[j.]

If Mercola believes what he writes, even after reading Peat, he is pretty stupid.

So I think he either doesn't rectify his claims for financial reasons, or he is an idiot, maybe partly due to low thyroid function.

 

[Blossom]

It seems like everyday there is more and more of this misinformation out there or maybe I'm just more aware. It's sad and tiresome. Yesterday two nurses on separate occasions came to me about taking fish oil. It seems I have a reputation at work as a healthy eater so I did my best to explain why I quit taking fish oil. I hope it helped them but how is little ole me going to overcome all of the false evidence circulating? I guess I should just be happy to be noticed as a good example. It seems like the advertising for medical services and procedures has ramped up too with the obamacare. Kind of makes you want to become a hermit some days. My adult daughter who thinks of herself as a radical can't manage to get away from the extremist health food/alternative medicine scene. She buys into it hook,line and sinker. She asks me for advice but gets pissed when I tell her something simple like drink OJ. I guess if I didn't witness sick people in a health care setting everyday the rest wouldn't be so annoying. Enough of my ramblings but I definitely feel your frustration.

 

[Mittir]

Mercola is not a M.D. He is a DO,Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine .
It is an alternative health type education. Though they claim their curricula
is very similar to that of M.D. But they have their own school, not regular
medical school. I have noticed Naturopath, DO, chiropractors are
very active in internet and they are the major source of misinformation.
Some knowingly lie to make money and most of them do not have enough
training in science to know anything in depth.
If someone does not have PhD in biology related field ,it is a waste of time
getting right information from them. Not everyone with PhD in biology will
be fine. But it increases the probability of getting good information.
I have also noticed that PhD in nutrition people are bad source of information.

 

[emunah]

Mercola is not a M.D. He is a DO,Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine .
It is an alternative health type education. Though they claim their curricula
is very similar to that of M.D. But they have their own school, not regular
medical school. I have noticed Naturopath, DO, chiropractors are
very active in internet and they are the major source of misinformation.
Some knowingly lie to make money and most of them do not have enough
training in science to know anything in depth.
If someone does not have PhD in biology related field ,it is a waste of time
getting right information from them. Not everyone with PhD in biology will
be fine. But it increases the probability of getting good information.
I have also noticed that PhD in nutrition people are bad source of information.

I can't stand most of the nutritionists. Once I wanted to become one, but when I realized that most of my education will be about false dogmas like low-fat, whole wheat etc. I decided it's not for me.

 

[charlie]

I hope it helped them but how is little ole me going to overcome all of the false evidence circulating?

Maybe print out a couple of the "oils" articles and give it to your friends at work who asked directly about it?

 

[Blossom]

I hope it helped them but how is little ole me going to overcome all of the false evidence circulating?

Maybe print out a couple of the "oils" articles and give it to your friends at work who asked directly about it?

That's great advice Charlie! One of the ladies did say"but is there scientific evidence?" So I can just hand it to her and tell her it's the evidence she asked about. We have talked a couple times about using only coconut oil, butter and olive oil and she did seem convinced. What brought the subject up was her asking me how I had such a great memory! I told her I don't eat toxic fats and we started talking from there. Maybe sometimes being a healthy example does make a difference in more than just how you feel. It's like a ripple effect. Hooray!!

 

[lexis]

This doctor gets everything right except the issue of estrogen

http://www.newsmaxhealth.com/Dr-Blayloc ... /id/478070

And he thinks sugar is toxic and brain damaging

 

[Atalanta]

"Though they claim their curricula
is very similar to that of M.D. But they have their own school, not regular
medical school."

You are wrong about DO.

In the United States, DO's are not alternative doctors. In the United States, a DO is equivalent to an MD. I know DO's who are working in hospitals right alongside MDs and there is no difference between the two. I know a DO who is a cardiologist and I know a DO who is a neurologist. They do not practice alternative medicine. They prescribe drug therapy, just like MDs. Of course some DOs may choose to practice alternative medicine, just as some MDs choose to do so. In the distant past, the two were not equivalent, but the DO schools changed their programs to become pretty much the same as MD. When I was an undergrad, I considered going to medical school and I researched both MD and DO programs at several schools and all agreed there was no difference.

"Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O. or DO) is a professional doctoral degree for physicians and surgeons offered by medical schools in the United States. Holders of the D.O. degree have attained the ability to become licensed as osteopathic physicians who have equivalent rights, privileges, and responsibilities as physicians with a Doctor of Medicine degree (M.D.).[1] D.O. physicians are licensed to practice the full scope of medicine and surgery in sixty countries,[2] including all 50 states in the US, and make up 7 percent of the total U.S. physician population. In 2013, there were 87,300 osteopathic physicians in the United States.[3]

The curricula at osteopathic medical schools are very similar to those at M.D.-granting medical schools.[9] Four years in total length,[9] the first two years of medical school focus on the biomedical and clinical sciences, followed by two years of core clinical training in the clinical specialties.


Upon leaving medical school, D.O. graduates may enter internship or residency training programs, which may be followed by fellowship training.[9] Many D.O. graduates attend the same graduate medical education programs as their M.D. counterparts,[10] and then take M.D. specialty board exams,[11] while other D.O. graduates enter osteopathic programs[12][13] and take D.O. specialty board examinations.[14]

One notable difference between D.O. and M.D. training is that D.O. training adds 300–500 hours studying philosophically-based techniques for hands-on manipulation of the human musculoskeletal system. These techniques, known as osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM),[1] have been criticized as "pseudoscientific"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of ... c_Medicine

 

[Blossom]

I hope it helped them but how is little ole me going to overcome all of the false evidence circulating?

Maybe print out a couple of the "oils" articles and give it to your friends at work who asked directly about it?

Here's my plan: I'm going to print the beauty article that peata posted about PUFA being harmful to the skin which mentions Peat and with that I'm going to give her Peat's article on oils in context. That should be a good start. She raves about my skin and my memory so that should help her see the connection between PUFA and the entire body.

 

[charlie]

@Blossom, let us know how it goes. :)