< Continued from page 1

About.com Rating



Raso covers a wide variety of specific alternative nutrition programs, including things like macrobiotics, Natural Hygiene, the Edgar Cayce tradition, Ayurvedic medicine, Anthroposophical medicine, the Gerson therapy, the Matol movement and much more. He makes extensive use of direct quotations, generally allowing believers to speak for themselves, and then goes into detail about just what is wrong with the practices in question.


One interesting chapter deals with FAIM, the Foundation for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine. It is interesting because one of the founders was Robert C. Atkins, made famous by his ?Atkins Diet? which relies heavily on meat and protein while eschewing carbohydrates. Many regard his plan as ?scientific? without knowing about his vitalistic background and beliefs. He has also been president of the New York County Chapter of the New York State Society of Homeopathic Medicine ? a sort of alternative treatment which is long on history, but short of scientific or factual basis. Raso quotes him as stating at one point:

• ?There is only one disease which is called imbalance, and it is combatted by the restoration of balance, which is another word for health.?

This, then, is the fundamental basis of what he teaches about health ? not biology, not chemistry and not science. It?s all about some ill-defined ?balance? which is common to many alternative treatments. Naturally, Atkins makes a point of arguing that standard double-blind studies are ineffective and/or counterproductive ? he needs to, because that is a key way to expose error and fraud in such matters.

Another important facet common to these treatments, and one which Atkins exhibits, is radical empiricism. This refers to the exclusive reliance upon direct observation without any sort of safeguards or checks and balances to ensure against error. Observation becomes ?unshackled? from the scientific method and is regarded as self-validating.

Thus, one or two observations of an apparent ?cure? validate the belief that whatever was done is, in fact, curative. On the other hand, repeatable tests, falisfiable predictions, and tentative conclusions which are the hallmarks of science are all neglected or deliberately denigrated. Atkins, of course, falls right in line with this, and Raso quotes him as saying:

• ?...all of us in complementary medicine have arrived at our conclusions basically by trusting our own judgment, based on the accumulation of experience which is both first-hand, second-hand, and from literature.?

Some of these pretenders are surely charlatans, and some are simply misguided and ignorant. Unfortunately, their activities are not limited to simply following outdated and absurd notions about diets ? they also spread their ideas under the label of ?science? to the detriment of genuine public understanding of what science is. Many even oppose public health measures like fluoridation, food irradiation, immunization, and even the pasteurization of milk.

In their efforts to spread pseudoscientific beliefs, they may actually end up harming public health. This is why it is important to better understand their ideologies, and why it is necessary to counter their claims with sound science and skeptical critiques. If they cannot rationally support what they claim, there is no good reason to take them seriously.

« Back...