Healthy by Nature radio show this week: First we talk with Mary Ann Greene, founder of The da Vinci School (in North Dallas) about the unusual steps she used in making her wonderful new building safe-safe not only for the health of her students, but also for the environment. Alfred R. Johnson, D.O. will join us. He is a doctor of internal medicine and women’s health with a special focus on chronic illness, allergy and environmental medicine. Later we check in with Tracee Yablon Brenner, a dietitian and holistic health counselor. She is the founder of RealFoodMoms.com and has co-authored two guides for family nutrition, Great Expectations: Best Food for Your Baby and Toddler and Simple Food for Busy Families . I’ll ask about her ” R eal Food Mom Seal of Approval” that can be shown on qualifying food products. (Call the show at 1-800-281-8255) Find out how to listen nationwide at this link.

Healthy by Nature radio show LAST week: In case you didn’t catch it, we did the show live from Natural HealthFest 2011 and enjoyed having a “studio” audience. What a lot of fun that was. I was so busy getting ready for the event that I didn’t prepare for the show. I just grabbed exhibitors walking by. We got such good comments from listeners (even those who didn’t attend) that I plan to do it again next year. Sorry the newsletter is late this week (I’m still slogging through the follow-up details of the event and missed the window to get it to the webmaster (my brother, Jim R ussell ) for timely mailing yesterday.

What were they thinking? – Part 3

Headline Feb 15: “High-fiber diet is tied to lower risk of disease.” (The Associated Press)
Headline Mar 8: “Diet is a key to preventing colon cancer.” ( Dallas Morning News)
Headline Mar 31: “Be good to your colon” (Creators Syndicate columnist)

My 2 Cents : All of these articles relate to a study that praised fiber for helping to prevent colon cancer and other diseases. Not one of them mentioned what is perhaps the most important reason that fiber is useful: Fiber is food that sustains our beneficial intestinal bacteria. (We don’t digest it but they do.) The good bugs use the food to create substances that help keep the lining of our intestinal tract healthy. ¹ Since the majority of our immune system is in the gut and the friendly bacteria (flora) are critical to that, you’d think that the articles would have given them their due. But no, they didn’t and that is typically the case. The beneficial bacteria need a better P R firm. ( R ead an article I wrote on probiotics, the supplements that replenish and support the good guys. Link .) By the way, at Natural HealthFest, Fred Pescatore, MD gave a terrific talk on how good gut bacteria contribute to good weight management. Many thanks to Essential Formulas, Inc. for sponsoring his talk.

Those headlines also show how word travels through the media. There is a “trickle down” and borrowing process that goes on. (That is in part because seemingly all the news outlets are struggling with budgets. Investigative reporting is often the first thing to go.) The sharing of stories is no problem when the initial article is valid and nothing is warped in the retelling. Sadly, sometimes the original study can be misguided or after the idea takes on a life of its own, it’s distorted or oversimplified as it is passed along. And yet, no matter how silly the idea was or has become, it is still considered “fact”. The misinformation about the role of cholesterol is a classic example.

However, there is some good information in all 3 articles. In fact, I think next week I’ll write about a few of the reasons we should take better care of our colons and how to do it.

My first book : Natural Alternatives to Nexium, Maalox, Tagamet, Prilosec & Other Acid Blockers. Subtitle: What to Use to Relieve Acid Reflux, Heartburn, and Gastric Ailments.

My latest book : Aloe Vera-Modern Science Sheds Light on an Ancient Herbal Remedy

Copyright 2011 Martie Whittekin, CCN

 ¹Vanhoutvin SA, Butyrate-induced transcriptional changes in human colonic mucosa. PLoS One. 2009 Aug 25;4(8):e6759.