There’s been a rash

Dear Pharmacist,

My question is about the FDA and freedom of speech. The reason I ask is that I am reading your Drug Muggers book, and you make a lot of nutrient recommendations. When I called a big online store to ask a question about a supplement they sell, they wouldn’t answer me because they said the FDA had threatened them with fines or jail. I find this very frightening.

Oh, Big Pharma must have just loved this headline.

"B Vitamins Failing People With Sick Hearts."

Every week, it seems, we hear the latest news on this or that miracle nutrient. It may be “just the thing to fight diabetes” or “the cure for cancer.” It’s unlikely that a single nutrient can cure cancer, but mounds of research does support that some foods provide unique nutrients with particular health benefits.

Despite the common observation that obesity runs in families, genetic research shows that the habits you inherit from your family are more important than the genes you inherit. Obesity genes account for only 5 percent of all weight problems. Then, we have to wonder, what causes the other 95 percent of weight problems?

I’ve been concerned about the health effects of plastics since I first learned about them back in the 1990s. Since then, research has shown that those handy plastic containers you put your food in contain dubious chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that can leach into your food.

Remember how "well-tolerated" those cholesterol drugs were supposed to be?

Turns out, not so much.

The burning sensation you experience when acid builds up in your esophagus and rises to the back of your throat is heartburn. But many people may have so much pain that they do indeed feel like they are having burning chest pains associated with their heart. Do you know the different warning signs for heartburn and heart attack?

Just how many studies is it going to take for the mainstream to FINALLY give up their sacred “low-fat” cow?