Warning on NBC News

[Ilse W.]

My local (Seattlle) NBC station just had an item on their "Health Links" segment where they warned people about "unsafe diets". Water and juice fasting, according to them, can cause hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes. They state that it is mostly due to people doing these fasts without the help of their doctor or nutritionist.

While I agree that going on a prolonged water fast (or for some people even a juice fast, if they are trying to "heal" some serious illness like cancer) without the assistance of a "qualified" professional is not advised, I would not call your average doctor or nutritionist "qualified" to assist with a fast. Also, many people who have educated themselves about the subject (many of them on this forum) are definitely able to successfully go on a fast without any negative health consequences. In all the reading I have done on the subject, I have never come across an instance of the diseases mentioned above as a consequence of a fast, in fact, those things are those most likely helped or eliminated with a fast.

It is unfortunate that television news rooms will put anything on the air without any "truth checking". :(
.

[sport]

They have to play to the masses and we are not part of that.

[freelive]

It is true, that people with serious diseases might die from prolonged water fasts without frequent enemas. Not because of the fast itself, but because of the toxins entering the blood in large amounts, and without colon cleansing, has no way of getting out.
It is also true, that people die, if they break 7-10 days or longer water fast with meat or dairy.
But if you know how to fast and how to break a fast - it is very safe. Still, if I would have advanced cancer or diabetes, I would definetely do it in the retreat at first.

[Poke Salad]

Hi guys,

Ah, if only it were that simple!

As a journalist let me give you the insider's view of how this all works. Maybe it will help everyone be more informed in how they 'read' the media.

I don't feel the need to defend all journalists because I can only be responsible for what I myself have written.

But when you accuse them of not "truth checking" whose truth are you talking about?

For example, if you go to a mainstream medical organisation or prominent mainstream doctor which journalists rely on for official comment on health matters, their "truth" is almost always exactly what NBC reported.

Ask me however, and I'll rant and rave about how fasts are incredibly beneficial when done correctly because that's my truth.

However, I don't hold a medical degree and am not part of any recognised health institution. So there's no way the media is going to quote me because I'm not seen as a reliable source.

The crux of the problem therefore is not that journalists are lying or haven't checked the facts.

It's that they often have little alternative but to rely on "official sources" that know little about how to maintain a healthy body.

So the moral of this story is it is up to us to understand the agendas and the ignorance of the official sources the media quote when it comes to health and practically any issue addressed in the news.

Or alternatively, we need the mainsream medical community to get their heads of out of their butts!

Sad but true.

Hope this sheds some light on the matter.

Cheers

Poke Salad

[freelive]

That's why I never read or watch news. Well, also because they are 95 percent negative, when real life is 95 percent positive.

[Jenifae]

Well put Poke Salad!

Unfortunately, it goes past even the Medical Experts all the way to the Pharmacuetical Industries who provide kickbacks for Dr's and who pay for research to prove exactly what they want it to prove in order to sell the drugs.

The dog is chasing his tale!

[luckitri]

I love how they always recommend doing it with a doctor's supervision - no doctor I have ever met knows a valid thing about alternate health modalities except in the case of the liver cleanse I was told I could end up needing emergency surgery or die.

[Poke Salad]

Luckitri, I think the "get your doctor's supervision" mantra is merely to cover their asses legally in the unlikely chance anything goes pear-shaped.

I don't think they expect us to actually do it.

By the way, I've been able to get articles published on raw food, alternative modes of cancer treatment, the benefits of wheat-grass etc. in the mainstream publication I used to work for.

In the case of the long raw food article I wrote, I had to go and get a mainstream nutritionists opinion on it to insert in the article.

Fortunately I lucked on one that was a little more open minded than most so her criticisms were mild.

But the point is in the mainstream media anything considered outside the norm you have to go and get a mainstreamers opinion to report alongside the 'wacky' ones.

But you don't have to go and get an alternative practitioners views when you're doing a mainstream health story with your typical drug loving son of a gun GP. Because being doctors they are gods never to be questioned!

Helps explain why I'm no longer a full-time journalist anymore, that and the culture of negativity Freelive mentioned.

[Ilse W.]

For those who like to read "good news", try ODE Magazine, the magazine for "intelligent optimists" (www.odemagazine.com). :D