#623: Harvey & Marilyn Diamond

“Fit for Life” is a fad diet book based on “Natural Hygiene” and on the legendary woomeister Herbert Shelton’s reality-oblivious theories of food combining – if one eats the food in the wrong order they “cause fermentation” in the stomach, and “dead foods clog” the body, whereas “living foods cleanse” it. The ideas have been refuted by research, but this seems not to matter for Harvey and Marilyn Diamond, who have sold millions of books promoting the bullshit. Harvey Diamond has his degree in nutrition from a diploma mill, and it shows – most of the book is firmly based on the ecological fallacy, including the ridiculously false and misleading but exasperatingly common idea that “animals in nature are magnificently healthy in comparison to the health that we humans experience” whereas pets and zoo animals develop “many of the problems of humans” (there are alternative and better explanations for why it is rare to see debilitating diseases in the wild than invoking natural as some sort of white magic). The main claims of the Diamonds are covered here, though see also this admirably comprehensive list of dubious health practitioners.

Diagnosis: There are quite enough of these loons around, and exposing them will probably help little or nothing. Still, we have a duty to try, and the Diamonds constitute yet another scheme to exploit human biases and anecdotal evidence for purposes that have little to do with truth or well-being, regardless of what the Diamonds themselves may believe. 

#588: Gabriel Cousens

Gabriel Cousens is a health writer who describes himself in the following manner:

“Dr. Sir Gabriel Cousens, M.D., M.D.(H), D.D. (Doctor of Divinity), Diplomate of American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine, Diplomate Ayurveda, a physician of the soul, teaches and lives the sevenfold peace. To the process of awakening and healing, Gabriel Cousens, M.D., M.D.(H), weaves a background as a holistic physician, medical researcher, world-recognized live-food nutritionist, psychiatrist, family therapist, homeopath, Rabbi, acupuncturist, Ayurvedic practitioner, expert on green juice spiritual fasting and detoxification fasting, ecological leader, Reiki master, internationally celebrated spiritual teacher, author, lecturer, culture-bridger, world peaceworker, to give a unique holistic approach to nurturing the hungry soul.”

That ought to tell you quite a bit about what kind of cretin we are dealing with here. Cousens’s work, in all its glory, centers around New Age woo and bullshittery (a mixture, it seems, of sycophancy and criticism of those whose unsupported claims differ from his own – e.g. Johnny Lovewisdom (criticism) and Adi Da (endorsement)). A mainstay of his particular kind of woo is Raw foodism, and he employs a wide arsenal of crackpottery (particularly the Gerson protocol) and New Age religious fluffery to prop up his advice, as well as primitive medieval vitalism: the uncooked baby carrot is “alive”, while the cooked carrot is “dead”; Hence, cooking and pasteurization “kill” food, and raw food is “living”. Why it would be an advantage that the carrot is alive is not entirely obvious, but Cousens does at least have pictures of the auras of energy surrounding the food to prove it. His rainbow diet is aptly featured here.

Apparently Cousens is the founder of the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center, “the world's leading spiritual, vegan raw and live food retreat center,” and the author of Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days, in which he claims that enzymes are food-qi and that treating diabetes is easy. It is discussed here. He’s got … anecdotes to back it all up, endorsements by one Joel Fuhrman – who appears not to know the first thing about reality – and plenty of thoroughly false and rather random-sounding assertions. In the accompanying video he does tone down the woo a little to make it more mainstream (without making it anywhere near reality-based), but both the video and the “Raw for Life” Encyclopedia on his website feature “expert” commentaries from Morgan Spurlock, Mike Adams and Gary Null, which shouldn’t exactly confer much authority to his claims.

Cousens has been involved in a lot of nasty bullshit over the years, including raising some controversy over his fantastically crankycellular therapy, and he has been responsible for at least one death, though according to Arizona’s board of homeopathic medicine (yes they have one) Cousens wasn’t guilty of malpractice by their standards – “standards of homeopathy” aren’t much to write home about, though.

With one David Wagner Cousens has also written Tachyon Energy: A New Paradigm in Holistic Healing. No, it is not evidence-based; and yes, it is quantum woo taken just a few steps further.

Diagnosis: A staunch enemy of humanity, Cousens is a monstrous supercrank who unabatedly continues his campaign to fool people into ruining their own lines. Repugnant.

#580: Gene Wall Cole

Due to the untimely demise of celebrity physicist Samuel T. Cohen, whose contribution to the myth of Red Mercury cannot be exaggerated, we move on to the “visionary, author, speaker, composer, teacher, metaphysician, motivator, and musician” Gene Wall Cole, who is perhaps best known for his promotion of the Jesus Diet for a healthy, thin life (Jesus was thin, right?). His book “Jesus’ Diet for the Whole World” has been claimed to be “from deep inside the Vatican Vaults!” but it is unclear to what extent the claim is supposed to be true. From its description on Cole’s website: “If you are one of the millions of readers fascinated with the historical implications raised in The Da Vinci Code and found yourself wanting more; if you are one of the millions of people struggling with weight issues and haven't found a program that fits, […] then Jesus' Diet is a must read.” That’s the logic and generally sensitivity to evidence and reality permeating Cole’s contributions to civilization.

He’s got plenty of other tricks up his sleeve as well. His main project seems to be something called “THE awakening imagiNATION”, a “growing community that lives by Einstein’s motto: ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ [which one suspects is taken slightly out of context] Using mere words to convey such a message is almost a contradiction [?], but when you have found water in a desert full of thirsty people, you have to shout – THERE IS WATER HERE!” No, I have no idea what he is talking about, but neither, it seems, does he. But then, the whole thing seems to be based on Cole having reached a higher level of wisdom: “We are learning to speak with an uncanny logic that can't be denied, but with an inner knowingness and ecstasy that portrays deeper meaning.” Motivational speakers are supposed to utter sentences devoid of content in a motivational manner, but Cole appears to have taken this principle to hitherto unexplored levels. According to his website Cole can be hired to “help prevent truth decay,” by telling people to “Follow Your Dreams.” He also seems to advocate Oprah for president, but I am not completely sure given his recurring problems with coherence.

Diagnosis: Exasperating, but probably not particularly dangerous.

#217: Dennis Paul Knicely

Dennis Paul “Dr.” Knicely runs a website called “Healingnews”, which is, basically, exactly what you think it is. Knicely claims to be able to heal pretty much every ailment known to man with fluff, woo and positive thinking (a remarkable remedy – if you didn’t get well, you just didn’t think positively enough). The website has some original content, but for the most part it collects links to all sorts of health-related new age fluff, preferably of the less reality-affected kind.

And do you know what the best part is? The website provides us with the “scientific validation of alternative medicine” as well (Tracy Planinz’s multi-part series, including the validation of homeopathy, herbs, and acupuncture, unfortunately without a trace of science or validation.

In short, his webpage has everything; super-foods, anti-ageing, mind-body-spirit balance, prosperity (law of attraction), detox, drum circles, cancer denialism, mercury dental fillings, Frankenfoods (all modified foods: “There is a systemic illness in modern society: Most are simply so "numb" from constant exposure to chemicals and poisons everywhere they go”), magical plants, anti-vaccinationism (lots), the swine flu was a conspiracy/the swine flu is actually healthy for you (), and so on, and so forth. The most prevalent theme seems to be that prescription drugs are generally killing you, and all serious conditions can really be avoided (and remedied) by veganism (but greedy doctors will of course not tell you that). Knicely’s list of references includes such luminaries as Barbara Loe Fisher, Gary Null and Leonard Horowitz.

It’s all about finding harmony and opening your mind, you see. (The quack Miranda is cleverly hidden.)

Diagnosis: Knicely and his guest writers are, in short, more or less equivalent to healthranger Mike Adams, though the raging insanity is toned down, and while Knicely’s network is probably not unique in any way, it deserves an entry as a representative for this kind of drivel. Knicely is dangerous, of course, but probably not very influential.

200: Jon Kaiser

This may be our 200th loon, but it’s really nothing to celebrate, so let’s go for a relatively negligible (but still crazy) one.

According to the PR letters he sends out (well, spam), Dr. Jon Kaiser is “an esteemed HIV/AIDS and nutrition specialist who specializes in supporting immune system function with nutrition”. You may see where this is going already. “In the 1980's, Kaiser pioneered the use of nutritional supplements in HIV/AIDS patients to help them build stronger immune systems”, he combines “the best of natural and standard therapies" for HIV, he can report on remarkable results, and there are absolutely no scientific publications or studies performed on his unorthodox methods – and he wants to sell you the nutritional supplement K-PAX.

What, by the way, are “natural therapies”? According to Kaiser, “[a]n aggressive natural therapies program includes a combination of diet therapy, vitamins, herbs, exercise, and stress reduction. Emotional healing encompasses a proactive program of psychological healing techniques that ideally includes a spiritually-oriented practice (prayer, meditation, yoga, etc.)”.

And there you go. More here. Kaiser noticed the mild criticism and responded in your typical crackpot manner.

Diagnosis: Kaiser may be a fraud, or he may be well-intentioned and misguided. He might even (in theory) be right in his claims, for all we know (well, not in his prayer, meditation, yoga claims). The scary thing is that someone with such complete lack of understanding of science, evidence or critical thinking is aggressively marketing their products to the sick and desperate with grandiose but completely unsubstantiated claims. Thus, Kaiser definitely qualifies for an entry in this Encyclopedia.

#154: Mark Gold

To some people, reason and evidence count when assessing claims about health benefits or hazards of various food products. To others, what matters is to find an appealing conspiracy and a plausible culprit. Mark Gold isn’t the only one who has hit upon aspartame as the culprit, but he seems to be representative of that group. From the point of view of science, there is little evidence to suggest that aspartame is actually a hazard, though it may admittedly not have been properly tested. But what does science matter when it doesn’t fit your preconceptions? I am, by the way, using this entry as a general entry for this particular conspiracy theory.

Mark Gold has no medical expertise. Rather, he presents himself as an expert on holistic healing (with 20 years of background in “research" (not further specified)). He seems to be behind this cesspit of misinformation, and this one, which may appear convincing to someone with no medical training (and no background in critical thinking). He is even featured on whale.to, for crying out loud. A typical example of Gold’s research occurred when, preceding the European Food Safety Authority’s acceptance of aspartame as safe, Gold “investigated the background of the first two speakers and knew they had no intention of giving an honest opinion". That, readers, is a prime example of what confirmation bias and conspiracy theory research looks like. Considering the claims does not matter when you can challenge the integrity of the people presenting them.

Apart from the aspartame conspiracy, Gold seems to be into every form of woo imaginable.

And here is, apparently, the face of the “scientific” opposition to aspartame.

It is all there. Random capitalization and colors and claims like “aspartame is the molecular Auschwitz” (with pictures of FDA members juxtaposed with pictures of Hitler), “The actual letter from the FDA Gestapo is here! Is this the U.S. or Nazi Germany?” and: “We need to tell the world that the NutraSweet Company is guilty of MURDER and we need to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law as well as all individuals who stood by them and protected them such as the media, Medical Associations (AMA, ADA, JDF, IFIC, Public Voice, etc) congress, FDA, and the Justice department just as they did with Nazi war criminals.” If that’s not scientific evidence enough for you, I don’t know what is! And of course: “Does Michael J. Fox really have Parkinson's or is his nerve damage from many years of consuming diet soda and other aspartame laced products? Michael EMAIL us!” [the garish color schema removed]

And there has been research! Such as Carol Guilford's Report: “ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER, ASPARTAME, (EQUAL, NUTRASWEET) LINKED TO BREAST CANCER AND GULF WAR SYNDROME”. Unfortunately Guilford is an author of cooking books and not exactly a scientist.

Other “researchers” associated with the stupidity seems to include one Betty Martini, Russell Blaylock (an actual doctor, but still a loon), and one Dr. H.J. Roberts.

Diagnosis: Very typical, and very insane. Gold and the aspartame conspiracy theorists are prime examples of how confirmation bias works in practice and how certainty is not a function of good evidence. The influence of the movement seems to be on a level that must be considered to be a cause for concern.
(ed. note - I'm having a hard time finding a photo I can reliably identify as the Mark Gold of this post, but since this post is also largely about aspartame conspiracy theories, this logo should suffice for the time being.)

#94: Peter D'Adamo

Food woo is potent stuff, and Peter D’Adamo is one of the most influential. Now, there is some evidence that his suggestions are, indeed, partially founded on Eastern (more closely Japanese) superstition (many remedies that claim such background are not), though it must, for obvious reasons, be a relatively new kind of superstition. The Eastern connection does, of course, not make his crackpottery more likely to be correct.

So what’s D’Adamo’s thing? D'Adamo's schtick is the Blood Type Diet (a.k.a. blood type astrology), in which the members of each of the four main blood type groups are assigned their own regimen of foods to consume and avoid. D’Adamo’s book, Eat Right 4 Your Type, was on the bestseller lists for a long time, despite (or, the cynical may suspect, because of) a complete lack of scientific evidence to support the central idea, namely that our body's immune system reacts differently to different foods, and tht those reactions are determined by the various antigens specific to the blood types. Apparently he is putting a lot of effort in capturing the Japanese market, as seen from his website.

Throughout his books D'Adamo cites the works of various biochemists and glycologists who have actually researched blood groups, implying that their research supports his ideas. The consensus among dieticians, physicians, and scientists, however, is that the theory is unsupported by scientific evidence. Remember that the Galileo gambit is a fallacy, if you were ever attempted to go down that route.

The wikipedia article is rather overly evenhanded. A more neutral and comprehensive evaluation is found here. (It might, by the way, look like the idea was dreamed up by his father, a naturopath named James D’Adamo – it is not quite clear).

His self-written biography is here.

Diagnosis: Frighteningly common type of crackpot who confuses anecdotal evidence and confirmation bias with science. Some of his advice may actually be harmful, so he must be considered moderately dangerous.

He is of course not alone in peddling this kind of woo. Obstetrician-Gynecologist Steven M. Weissberg, M.D., and Joseph Christiano, a personal fitness trainer, have co-authored a book making similar claims – the slogan being “You are what you eat, but you should ‘EAT WHAT YOU ARE.’ This means each of us should eat the optimal diet compatible with our blood type.” As with D’Adamo’s work, theirs is backed up by a multitude of anecdotes and tenuous correlations.

#75: Don Colbert

Don Colbert is an Oral Roberts University Alumnus and author of more than 40 books that together have sold more than one million copies. An ardent promoter of WWJD and such things as the Jesus diet (no joke!), his most famous books are the ”The Bible cure for ...”-series. You can get, for instance, The Bible cure for cancer, or The Bible Cure for Depression and Anxiety (”Ancient Truths, Natural Remedies and the Latest Findings for Your Health Today [With Guidebook]”), The Bible Cure for Weight Loss and Muscle Gain ("Jesus wants YOU to be thin" is in fact the slogan, and – just as you suspected – the diet recommendations are baskets of bread and fish, and watered down wine), The Bible Cure for Allergies, The Bible Cure for ADHD, for PMS & Mood Swings, and so on and so forth.

He has also written ”Toxic Relief: Restore Health and Energy Through Fasting and Detoxification” which will give you an idea about where this is heading. And yes, Colbert’s work is a brilliant combination of fundamentalist religion and the most ridiculous New Age alternative treatments (negative feelings as the main cause of disease, apart from mercury in dental fillings and vaccines and so on for some utter lunacy, visit here.

Extensively used by Televangelists to discuss health and nutrition (Benny Hinn, the Copelands). His claims are generally too loony to be caught by Quackwatch, Orac or the like.

Diagnosis: Complete nutjob (with an admittedly effective marketing idea) and godbotter. Appears to be relatively influential.

#11: Arthur M. Baker

Baker (no photo available) is an ardent proponent of that brand of food woo known as "raw foodism", i.e. the idea that we should ideally only eat raw (even living) food. This new age trend is primarily founded on the naturalistic fallacy (+ confirmation bias and anecdotal evidence) and has little scientific foundation. Not cooking any of one's food might be acceptable (though not recommendable) were it not for pesky food poisoning and bacteria. This by itself might not be enough to merit inclusion in the Encyclopedia - but of course folks like Baker have to take it a couple of steps further.

Baker is the author of "Awakening Our Self Healing Body", and he avoids the problem of bacteria in uncooked food since he doesn’t believe in the germ theory of disease anyway (it’s a conspiracy to support the food industry or something). A central supporter of the Natural Hygiene Movement (no, I won’t provide a link; google it), Baker rejects Western medicine and its theoretical foundation, and in his book “rips apart the notion of viruses destroying your body” (since viruses cannot do that since they are not living things) and similar claims, mostly based on ignorance, lies, bias and the purported fact that raw food is obviously natural and hence good, and Western medicine does not unequivocally recognize that. Parts of his ramblings are, however, semitechnical and well-written, and might to people with little knowledge about the matters look convincing. Support for raw foodism is, according to Baker, also found in the Bhagavad Gita and the Essene Gospel of peace. Another convincing argument he subscribes to is that Methuselah only ate raw food – and he got to live pretty long, didn’t he?

Diagnosis: Loon. Confirmation bias is strong with this one, but he is only one of an almost endless parade of food cranks. The movement seems to have some impact, but Baker’s own influence in particular is uncertain; should be considered dangerous, however.