to buy all of my female relatives copies of "Bad Science" for Christmas?

[AvrilH]

I am sick and tired of them wittering on about the importance of "superfood", omega 3, manuka honey, homeopathy and whatever nonsense is being spouted by charlatans like Gillian McKeith.

So I am pondering Ben Goldacre's book (which I have not read myself) as an antidote. And out of curiosity as to how they take it... From reading his column I am assuming that they might at least learn what evidence means. The worst that can happen is that it will be like when they buy me books by self-styled experts and it will be passed on unread to a charity shop.

AIBU?

Anything that makes health claims should be required those to be substantiated IMO. Not to the degree of medical drugs, but certainly more than food. There should be some middle ground for supplements/vitamins, and it's a pity it hasn't been found. However I think the fact it is a billion pound industry is really quite troubling, because most of those customers are probably wasting money they could more sensibly use (for example) eating a better diet instead.

btw one of the reasons why Holford causes evidence based science proponents to get so het up is that it appears he completely misuses research findings, either from self interest or lack of understanding. Now as a ordinary person it is very difficult to know if this allegation is true or not, because the sources I've seen him cite are not publicly available (you can usually see the abstract, but that's not enough to know if the attribution is correct, or the research good). Certainly the AIDS and vitamin C stuff is an example of using science badly, extrapolating from early experiments directly to populations is highly inappropriate. Many of those studies will show no clinical application on further investigation, which is why a good report will say things like "suggest", or "possible link" or other guarded conclusion (generally "needs more research").

I would also be very cautious about someone who professes to be an expert in so many areas. He has written almost 40 books in the last twenty years - that doesn't (to me) suggest much time or effort went into each of them. Yes they are all on nutrition, but to be expert on Cancer, Arthritis, Mental Health, Children's Health, Pregnancy, Heart Disease, Alzheimer's, Allergies and addictions? I just don't think that is credible.