The Myths of Patrick Holford

11th January, 2008 26

Bertrand Russel said, What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires — desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting [read more…]

Patrick Holford’s Advertising Standards

19th September, 2007 7

Poor Patrick Holford. Doing business has its ups and downs and, alternative nutritionist and pill salesman Patrick, has his own fair share of business successes and failures at the moment. He has recently sold himself to NeutraHealth for £464,000. Quite an achievement; maybe not so poor Patrick. But he is also increasing coming under more and more criticism for his ideas on nutrition. A Google search of ‘Patrick Holford’ shows [read more…]

Patrick Holford – No Comment

14th September, 2007 7

I sometimes get emails from people offended by the quackometer asking me to remove all traces of them from my web site. I usually politely respond by asking exactly what I have written that is wrong and I will be glad to remove it. I never hear back. This week I had an email from Patrick Holford telling me that I should not have posted on Professor David Colquhoun’s blog, [read more…]

Patrick Holford and Scientology: the Church of Optimum Nutrition?

12th May, 2007 40

Here is an odd one. Why would Patrick Holford’s Food for the Brain charity have associations with a Scientology linked organisation? His charity is working with schools to improve the ‘mental health’ of children. Should we be alarmed by this? What on earth has Scientology and Patrick got in common? My last rather large post concentrated on the philosophy of Patrick Holford, Optimum Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy. I made a [read more…]

Holfordism: Understanding Patrick, Optimum Nutrition, and the Nutritionist Industry

10th May, 2007 66

Patrick Holford has built up a very impressive and comprehensive empire; networks of web sites, charities, a college, educational trusts and of course, books, TV shows, supplements sales, and licensing deals. It is a very impressive achievement and it would be hard to argue that Patrick, and his philosophies, did not pretty much dominate the UK nutritionist scene. Some nutritionists might outsell him in book sales, but none have created [read more…]

Watch Holford Watch

17th April, 2007 0

Just to let you know that I am proud to be able to contibute a little to a new blog, “Holford Watch”, a site about ‘top media nutritionist’ Patrick Holford. This site aims to provide a counterpoint to much of what “Britain’s best-selling author and leading spokesman on nutrition and mental health issues” has to say as there are very many people who would consider that much of what he [read more…]

Holfords and Halfords

5th March, 2007 5

I’m going to stick my neck out here. I could be horribly wrong. But that is science; come up with a hypothesis, see if it fits with evidence from the real world. If so, create a powerful explanatory theory, if not, then shut the hell up. This contaminated petrol thing. For non-UK readers, thousands of motorists have been reporting their cars breaking down due to dodgy fuel. What has this [read more…]

Professional Standards Authority Speaking at Quack Autism Conference.

25th August, 2015 107

Just what is Christine Braithwaite of the Professional Standards Authority doing speaking at a homeopaths’ conference on treating children with autism with sugar pills? The Society of Homeopaths is holding it annual conference with a theme based around treating children with autism. Braithwaite is the Director of Standards and Policy. You may think that the regulator would be doing its best to protect parents and children from the absurd fantasies of homeopaths [read more…]

Nutritional Therapists Call for Equal Statutory Footing with Dieticians.

2nd December, 2014 31

In a surprise move, the British Association for Applied Nutrition & Nutritional Therapy (BANT) have formally written to the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) requesting that the register of dietitians is modified to allow for the entry of nutritional therapists. This would give Nutritional Therapists equal statutory footing to Dieticians and give them all the privileges and protections that only Dieticians currently have. In a notice to their members, BANT says, [read more…]

Incurable stupidity and irresponsibility at WDDTY

1st February, 2013 206

Today, the latest version of What Doctors Don’t Tell you goes on sale in WHSMiths, Waitrose, Sainsbury and many other high street locations. The February issue makes some of its most startling and irrersponsible claims yet. The front cover proclaims “Mega-cure for the incurables – Vitamin C fights it all, from measles to AIDS”. That is quite a startling claim. The feature article is by WDDTY founder, Lynn McTaggart, and [read more…]

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