On Tuesday, I warned you about a totally biased and ill-informed “hit job” on natural medicine that appeared in The New York Times.
As I said before, the Times used to publish some decent medical coverage. But in my opinion, it’s obvious they’ve begun a new campaign to discredit natural medicine — and instead, promote big pharma and its mainstream co-dependents.
In fact, less than three weeks after that first initial attack on natural medicine, the Times went out for blood (literally) — again.
And this time, trusty powerhouse vitamin D was the target.
As you might expect, there were quite a few problems with the piece…
For one, the reporter, Liz Szabo, didn’t even attempt to address (or much less refute) the wealth of science showing that vitamin D protects against nearly every common chronic disease — including cancer and Type II diabetes.
Nor did she talk about the evidence that shows supplementing with vitamin D lowers overall death rates.
She didn’t even try to counter the science showing that vitamin D deficiency is a worldwide epidemic!
Frankly — the entire article barely made any mention of actual science.
Instead, Szabo just attacked vitamin D expert Michael Holick, M.D. of Boston University, about whom I’ve written before.
Ignoring the science
In the article’s opening, the worst accusation Szabo could make about Dr. Holick is that he doesn’t put on sunscreen when he goes for bike rides.
Really?
(Not to mention, that’s just good common sense. In fact, I often recommend you spend at least 20 minutes outside every day without sunscreen, as it activates your body’s own natural vitamin D production.)
Then, she moved on to bash Dr. Holick’s finances.
Apparently, the so-called vitamin D industry, which has made billions of dollars, has sent “a lot of” money Dr. Holick’s way.
How’s that for journalistic precision?
I’ll tell you exactly how little Dr. Holick really receives in a moment. I think you’ll agree it certainly can’t be described as “a lot” — especially when you consider the $2.4 billion paid to doctors by big pharma in 2015 alone.
But that’s nothing new.
Big pharma and the academic-government-industrial-medical complex have been buying off doctors — with billions and billions of dollars — for decades.
Always stick to the science
All in all, Szabo’s argument was very lean on actual science.
In fact, she only referenced actual scientific evidence when she mentioned a paper that Dr. Holick (and a group of others) reviewed.
In that 2011 paper — which was eventually published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism on behalf of the Endocrine Society — the authors stated that 80 percent of people in the U.S. have inadequate vitamin D. So, they advocated expanding vitamin D testing.
According to Szabo, that simple recommendation created a financial “windfall” for the testing industry. In fact, she wants us to believe that increased vitamin D testing has amassed an “astronomical” amount of money.
But according to one local, major insurer — a vitamin D blood test costs…wait for it…a whopping $40.
That might be the least expensive medical test on the planet!
Szabo really isn’t making a very strong case here. And Dr. Holick really shuts the argument down since he openly disclosed his financial ties…
A drop in the bucket
Between 2013 and 2017, Dr. Holick received all of $163,000 from the “vitamin D industry” — or about $32,000 per year. That’s less than the cost of just one heart operation or orthopedic surgical procedure. And to think, mainstream doctors can knock out several of those procedures every day.
Not to mention, a lot of mainstream experts still continue to claim we “need more research” about the benefits of vitamin D. And these same experts get multi-millions for one study!
So it’s pretty curious to me that Szabo singled out Dr. Holick…
My widely respected colleague at Harvard, Walt Willett, M.D., also encourages people to get more vitamin D — just like Dr. Holick. And Willet is probably the single-most knowledgeable medical nutrition researcher in the world.
In my view, the Times wants us to believe Dr. Holick is up to no good. And this reporter wants us to ignore all the real evidence.
Why? It just doesn’t make much sense.
Quite frankly, the Times’ approach reminds me of the tactics of legal shysters I’ve witnessed in the courtroom during my experiences as an expert forensic medical witness…
- If the law supports your case, argue the law.
- If the facts support your case, argue the facts.
- If neither, attack the expert.
And in this case, Dr. Holick is certainly the expert.
Despite what’s in the failing New York Times at the moment, my recommendations remain the same. Because I stick to the science — always.
Take 10,000 IU of vitamin D3 daily year-round. Especially since summer’s winding down and it will grow increasingly difficult to produce adequate vitamin D naturally.
And if you’d like to learn more about the importance of vitamin D supplementation or more ways to make sure you’re getting enough, refer to the current issue of my Insiders’ Cures newsletter (“The seasonal deficiency endangering your health”). If you’re not yet a subscriber, now’s the perfect time to get started!
P.S. Tune back in tomorrow as I address the fallacy of vitamin D toxicity — and how it’s nearly impossible to get too much of this essential nutrient.
Sources:
“Vitamin D, the Sunshine Supplement, Has Shadowy Money Behind It,” The New York Times (nytimes.com) 8/18/2018
“Most People Don’t Need Vitamin D Testing,” BlueCross BlueShield (bcbs.com) 8/26/2016
Study reveals how many doctors receive money, gifts from drugmakers,” CBS News (cbsnews.com) 5/3/2017