Page 53 - Spring2012

Tim’s DVD Reviews

American Heart Association accepted as fact are good for you. The best, and sometimes only, The various
that high vegetable oil intake led to high risk sources of those nutrients are animal foods that
of heart disease. Yet by 1984 the experts were fake science declares will kill you. experts can't
recommending margarine instead of butter. Disk one wraps up with talks from two even make up
Today, nobody in his right mind is recom- farmers. The first is John De Bruin, an aerospace their minds
mending trans fat-laden margarine. There is engineer who became a farmer and a cowboy. He
no telling what version of the truth this kind of follows the Polyface Farms model put forward what food is.
science will be promoting next year. The various by Joel Salatin. They both set up their farms
"experts" can’t even make up their minds what to encourage the cow-ness of the cow and the
food is. In the 1970s laws were changed to allow chicken-ness of the chicken. Mark McAfee is
various chemical concoctions to be called food. well-known to most of our readers. He started
Don’t get me wrong. I like science. Good Organic Pastures, the largest raw milk dairy in
honest science is great. We just don’t see much of the U.S. Mark is always well-prepared to defend
that any more. We are busy playing video games, raw milk. One example is a Cornell University
watching reality TV, or telling everybody on study looking at illness and death by dairy prod-
Facebook when we are brushing our teeth and go- ucts from 1973 to 2010. During that time 422,000
ing to bed. With all those important things to do, became ill from pasteurized dairy (over 11,400
we don’t have time to follow the money behind per year) and seventeen died. Over that same
most published studies or sort out the conflicts of time period, 1,100 (twenty-nine per year) were
interest. We don’t notice that salt, eggs and mar- sickened by raw milk and zero died. So what do
garine are good or bad depending on what day I think of all this? I’ll give you a hint. My thumb
of the week or month it is. We don’t think about is UP.
what it means when analysts state that “more
study is needed.” Actually it means two things. Wise Traditions London 2011
Number one: the conductors of the study want Weston A. Price Foundation London
more money to waste on another inconclusive
study. Number two: we don’t know. “More study One of the themes at this recent WAPF
is needed” has become the standard appendage conference abroad is summed up by at least two
to almost every piece of research done these of the conference speakers who cited a version
days. We all put our blind faith in the science of of the familiar H.L. Mencken quip: “For every
“we don’t know.” Corporate pseudo-science is complex problem there is an answer that is clear,
constantly changing its mind but somehow each simple and wrong.”
time we’re sure they finally have it right, even Dr. Malcolm Kendrick spoke on the im-
when they say they don’t know. portance of how you eat, not just what you eat.
Later on we learn of the findings of more Apparently Scots, who suffer high rates of heart
honest science. To the extent that cholesterol disease, wolf their food down as fast as humanly
levels might be weakly correlated with a health possible. The French, on the other hand, who are
problem, correlation does not prove causation. notorious for their low rates of heart disease, take
Large studies have been done and all have failed their jolly time. There is a lot of reason to believe
to prove cholesterol or saturated fat cause any that eating while rushed or stressed will interfere
health problem. Further, there is plenty of evi- with digestion and good health. While this may
dence that these nutrients are crucial for good seem like a no-brainer to many, not much study
health. Real science says nutrients like vitamin has been done in this area.
A and D, folic acid, niacin, CoQ and L-carnitine During his presentation, Dr. Kendrick exam-
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