Yellow journalism is a type of journalism that uses sensationalism and exaggeration to catch the attention and sway the beliefs of readers. It is poorly researched and often presents only one perspective of the story. Sometimes, it may even have misleading graphs and exaggerated illustrations. Although it is not always false, it often tends to be overly dramatic and manipulative, playing on our emotions, our desire to belong to the majority or our fears. When the articles corroborate prevailing popular ideas, they are even easier to believe. My recent research into vitamin C led me to an article by Atli Arnarson, Ph.D. in Healthline.com, entitled 10 Nutrients That You Can't Get From Animal Foods, " which I consider yellow journalism. It implies that meat is bad and vegetables are good for you, both popular notions already, so the information it contains makes it much easier to believe. Furthermore, search engines skew their results, further exacerbating our quest for information. I will critique the article and also cover the shortcomings of internet searches of health-related subjects in this post.
Read MoreI usually spend my career focusing on the first part of our GI tracts-the mouth, but today I will talk about its far end. In 1971, D.P. Burkitt proposed that a lack of dietary fiber caused diseases such as diverticulosis, hemorrhoids, and colorectal cancer, and to this day, most people agree. 1 Furthermore, it is now widely accepted that dietary fiber is a necessary component of a healthy diet and is required for normal bowel movements. 2 In other words, we increase our chances of constipation if we don't eat enough fiber. The science refutes most claims that fiber is required to be healthy. Still, it also blames fiber for many gastrointestinal symptoms like constipation, bloating, GI bleeding, and straining to move one's bowels.
Read MoreWe always hear that we must eat fiber to be healthy, but I have had none and am healthy. I even have the lab test results to prove it. Fiber gets fermented into beneficial short-chain fatty acids, but other food sources can be fermented into them as well. One of them is called propionate, and it helps us burn fat. There is a simple and safe supplement that promotes the formation of propionate. Read on for more information.
Read MoreOne of my central warnings on this site is we must avoid eating processed carbohydrates to stave off disease and optimize our health. I have written about it so much that I believed everyone who reads my posts understands what they are. Recently, I have spoken to people who think processed carbs are donuts and cake, not bagels and sandwiches. This post is dedicated to them and all who need a reminder about what processed carbohydrates are, and why they should be avoided. If you don't want to read the whole thing, skip to the end, where I tell you how to identify them and list the most common sources of processed carbs.
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