Dr Oz and the health hype
by digby
John Oliver explains why Dr. Oz being a crank is important.
Snake oil. And I say this as someone who takes supplements from time to time and eagerly reads every article about health and well-being I come across. But then I’m getting old and at this stage of life you start to think about that sort of thing a little bit more often. A lot more often, in fact. But the truth is that if you are a person who reads and researches it’s not hard to debunk the snake oil all by yourself (with the help of Mr Google.) If you’re inclined to worry about your health or your weight it’s a really, really, really good idea to skip the mainstream news media, which is shallow and uninformed on this stuff and do your own research — with the full understanding that you cannot believe everything you read on the internet. It takes practice, but it can be done. And I suspect that at the end of the day you’ll end up back in the same place most of us do with just a few tweaks here and there: cook and eat real food and move your body. And be mindful of changes, 99% of which are normal.
If there’s one thing that growing older teaches you, it’s that many of the things you thought were permanent aren’t. Especially in your physical self. It’s quite an evolution …
The great thing about being young is that you don’t know that. The bad thing is that you do things to yourself that potentially make those changes negative. But very few people think that way when they’re young. I didn’t. It’s like saving money. By the time you get around to doing it it’s too late to do it right. On the other hand, the human body is a magnificent machine that can take an amazing amount of abuse and still keep going. But it’s still a good idea to treat it well. You’re going to need it until the bitter end.
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