Mis-Information

The world--particularly the un-monitored internet--is full of mis- or partial information about what we eat as well as very valuable stuff.

One particularly unattractive if not to say dangerous bit is the current inundation of offers of colon cleansing, emptying, treatments. They must be having some popularity as the offers keep streaming (woops) in. They promise weight loss and better health. In fact any weight loss is temporary as the system will have absorbed the nutrients before anything reaches the colon. However, this encourages compulsive behavior much like bulemia and is to be avoided.

A second sort of mis-information is the current vogue for potatoes and other carbohydrates that are not readily absorbed by the system as a weight loss strategy to fill us up with no "bad" effects. This ignores the fact that most potatoes are eaten in the form of fries and chips, both fat-laden. In fact, most of these starches are associated in the diet with high fat.

Be careful about what you read and do. Much better check with a doctor or a good nutritionist before taking off on one of these fads.

More significant is the problem of alternative medicine "cures" for colon cancer because people don't want to undergo the medical therapy. By the time the symptoms manifest themselves so unpleasantly that they cannot be ignored and they return to the doctor, it is often too late--tragic.

I suppose that I am particularly sensitive to these problems as my daughter is a colo-rectal surgeon. However, she is in no way responsible for this blog. I also have lived through the eras of many different fad diets only to see new information put the kibbosh on the diets. Again, many were dangerous.