Neutrahealth in Trouble

5th October, 2008 8

In the last few days, vitamin pill company Neutrahealth (NUT.L), has seen a precipitous drop in its share price. Its investors look like they believe the company is going to have a difficult time weathering the credit crunch. Neutrahealth is known to us through its involvement with Patrick Holford. He sold his online pill company to them for £464,000. He then joined their team as Head of Science and Education [read more…]

It’s a Stitch Up

15th April, 2008 9

It’s the big story this morning all over the British papers – the new killer in our midst – vitamin pills. Today, a new Cochrane review tells us that guzzling antioxidant vitamin pills ‘do us no good and may be harmful’. The Independent tell us that, We swallow them by the bucketload at great expense but there is no evidence vitamin supplements do us any good, and they may even [read more…]

Natural Disasters, Corporate Nutrition and the Confusopoly of Diet

20th January, 2008 4

The louder a food screams ‘natural’ or ‘healthy’ at you, the further you should run. That is the somewhat counter-intuitive message of Michael Pollan’s essay, Unhappy Meals. Pollan tells us to avoid those food products that come bearing loud health claims. They’re apt to be heavily processed, and the claims are often dubious at best. Don’t forget that margarine, one of the first industrial foods to claim that it was [read more…]

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…]

Equazen eye q™ and their Fishy Adverts

12th December, 2007 3

Today, the Advertising Standards Authority have upheld complaints against Equazen and their eye q™ products, finding them to have made untruthful and unsubstantiated advertising claims. This is about time. Their antics in promoting fish oil pills to school children have been well documented. Equazen (now owned by Swiss pharmaceutical company Galenica) have been using local authorities to promote the idea that taking a daily fish oil supplement can boost children’s’ [read more…]

An Allergy to Truth

24th October, 2007 5

According to Allergy UK, they are “a national medical charity established to represent the views and needs of people with allergy, food intolerance and chemical sensitivity.” Amongst their aims they say they are there to Enabl[e] people with allergy, food intolerance and chemical sensitivity to receive appropriate diagnosis and treatment through education of healthcare professionals and the provision of dedicated services. Allergy UK give awards to services they feel help [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…]

York Shambles

4th September, 2007 2

or, The Curious Case of Patrick Holford’s CV It was funny when ‘Dr’ Gillian McKeith got slapped for using unaccredited qualifications to promote her quackery. However, it is now looking as if Patrick Holford’s CV is far more interesting. Patrick has been criticised for a while now for having no formal qualifications in any nutritional subject. He claims to have a BSc in psychology and his Honorary Diploma in Nutritional [read more…]

Broccoli for Brains

17th July, 2007 3

Last Friday, saw Trevor McDonut’s ‘Tonight with’ programme showcase Patrick Holford’s ‘Food for the Brain’ charity and its involvement with a school. The school apparently saw lots of improvements with their children and so will obviously boost the standing of the Food for the Brain charity. And today, we see that Food for the Brain is starting to see itself as an accrediting authority now as it gives its first [read more…]

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