The Truth Behind the Myths

Junk Science - The deliberate manipulation of data in order to forward your own agenda without regard for the truth.......

By Michael Masterson

A Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study of more than 36,000 postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79 found that calcium has just a small effect on bone density and no significant effect on the rate of fractures. This contradicts what we've been told for decades.

Last month, another WHI study reported that low-fat diets do not protect against breast cancer or heart disease. Two years ago, the same group found that hormone treatment after menopause does not protect against heart disease. In fact, the study suggested, its risks outweigh its modest benefits.

I asked Dr. Sears (a contributor to ETR) what he thought about these findings. This is what he said:

"In all three of these cases - the calcium myth, the HRT myth, and the low-fat myth - there were major financial incentives for distorting the hard evidence.

"The modern epidemic of osteoporosis isn't caused by a lack of calcium. Hormones, not calcium, regulate bone strength. In fact, too much calcium (above 1,500 milligrams per day) will actually make the problem worse. For women, progesterone and testosterone control how much calcium stays in the bone. In the West, these hormones are out of balance (mostly because of estrogens we put in our food).

"The idea that fat causes heart disease is a myth that's hard to put to rest, partly because of the huge industry promoting the very high-profit low-fat foods. Prototypical hunter-gatherers have always eaten much more fat, and without heart disease or obesity. We are eating much more carbs ... partly because that's where the money is.

"I find a similar institutionalized bias in traditional "hormone replacement therapy." These things aren't hormones at all. Hormones, by definition, are produced in your body. These chemicals are drugs. And, you're not "replacing" anything by experimentally introducing these drugs into your body.

"In my own practice, I've been using real hormones for many years with amazing results. Unfortunately, doing this is currently under attack by the drug industry. "But right is right. Over time, voices like our's, not afraid to confront convention, will win out."