Quack Watch: 'Dr' Gillian McKeith

[Cron]

A menace to science | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

[ticktockclok]

Wow..... professional public scam artist....

[da1prophet]

I'd suggest that a good portion of the medical/pharmaceutical industry could also be culpable if your definition of "quackery" is obfuscating or interpreting medical facts to earn a buck.

I don't know anything about this woman, but I'd also suggest that the medical community has shown a vested interest in branding anyone who advocates non-traditional remedies, herbal remedies or whatever as "quacks". Some of them very well may be, but a lot of the animus is based entirely on the fact that herbal remedies don't make anyone in the medical profession any money...

People are always getting worked up about the "military-industrial" complex but the "medical-pharmaceutical complex" is just bad if not worse...

[Akashic_Librarian]

Well I have watched on TV, read her books and I can say quite honestly that anyone who believes she is a scam artists is far too gullible. Do you believe everything the Government or Medical societies tell you? Would you believe that vitamins where bad for you, if government officals released a report about it?

[Cron]

Read the article. She is saying things that contradict boiler plate science. For example, if you eat cholorphyl it will oxygenate your blood after you eat it.

At some point what people say have to be checked against facts.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Cron

Read the article. She is saying things that contradict boiler plate science. For example, if you eat cholorphyl it will oxygenate your blood after you eat it.

At some point what people say have to be checked against facts.

"McKeith to the Advertising Standards Authority, complaining about her using the title "doctor" on the basis of a qualification gained by correspondence course from a non-accredited American college"
always a quack red flag for me. Either
a. get a real degree
b. say the degrees don't mean anything (i believe this is true say for art)
reminds me of 'dr' dawkins

[dalante]

Great article.
I must admit, I have been applying her principles on my diet for the past month and have lost loads... Why? Maybe her book is a good introduction to dieting. She has introduced me to a lot of new products (seeds, nuts, oils, veggies) and I believe in her food combining.

However, I never bought into her "miraculous" products (and never bought any either); and I think the Guardian is doing a good job exposing her. The amount of money one can make when having the balls to advertise something as miraculous (by forging stupid evidence) makes me wonder why I am too honest She's not the only one doing it... Tony Robbins and his green drink and pendulum... please, give me a break. Quite a lucrative business. I guess people would rather believe in miracle and pay money to confirm their beliefs...

[Cron]

Originally Posted by dalante

y I am too honest She's not the only one doing it... Tony Robbins and his green drink and pendulum... please, give me a break. Quite a lucrative business. I guess people would rather believe in miracle and pay money to confirm their beliefs...

I think people find it easier to believe in magic than to believe in themselves.

They don't have to live with magic if magic fails, but if they fail they have to live with themselves. That takes courage. It also takes a lot of self examination, something else that can be frightening for people.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Cron

I think people find it easier to believe in magic than to believe in themselves.

They don't have to live with magic if magic fails, but if they fail they have to live with themselves. That takes courage. It also takes a lot of self examination, something else that can be frightening for people.

Great point Cron, as illustrated by this article someone posted:

Belief in exercise may make it more effective - Yahoo! News

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People who think they're getting a good workout obtain more benefits than those who perform the exact same activities, but don't think what they are doing is exercise, according to the findings of a study by Harvard researchers. These results support the idea that the benefits of exercise may involve a placebo effect.

Hotel cleaners who were told that their work of cleaning roughly 15 rooms each day was enough physical activity to maintain a healthy lifestyle were more trim and fit four weeks later than their peers who weren't given this message, Dr. Ellen Langer and her student Alia J. Crum report in the February issue of Psychological Science.
...One possible explanation could have been that women in the informed group became more active and ate more healthily, the researchers note, but they found that this was not the case, making it unlikely that the fitness improvements were due to changes in behavior.

[Velvet]

Dor, I'm not sure how that Yahoo article supports what Cron just said. In fact, it seems to support positive thinking and mind over matter, not people's gullibility.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Dor, I'm not sure how that Yahoo article supports what Cron just said. In fact, it seems to support positive thinking and mind over matter, not people's gullibility.

When people believe in something, it often works. that's the point ( though doubt taking arsenic and being told it was good for you would work )

[Mitch]

Can't be no worse than the drugs the pharmaceuticals tell you that you need to make you better. The mind is more powerful than people give it credit for.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by dor

When people believe in something, it often works.

I agree, but how does this illustrate Cron's point? That's what I am asking.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Velvet

I agree, but how does this illustrate Cron's point? That's what I am asking.

he said: "I think people find it easier to believe in magic than to believe in themselves."

in doing so they are demonstrating the power of belief.