What I'm Reading This Week Month: Poisonous Plastics and Cruel Dentists

Well, the once a week plan has failed so I'm going to make it a once a month series instead.

I've been doing most of my reading in my horrible textbook "Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition." I'm hoping to get it together to do a "best of" blog post where I can detail the most atrocious things I've found in that book.

My reading suggestions are a bit meager this month, but here they are:

I've been following this for awhile now but it seems to be gathering some momentum. Check out USA Today's story on Bisphenol A and pthalates: 'Everywhere Chemicals' in Plastics Alarm Parents.

You devoted readers (hi mom! sup betsy?) might remember my trip to the dentist with my girl:

After calling every pediatric dentist within an hour from my home, I discovered that every practice was a total mixed bag in terms of x-rays, amalgam, fluoride, etc., and that they all looked down on breastfeeding. Knowing that, I made my decision on where to take her based on how soon I could get an appointment. I knew we were not going to use the practice that I ended up taking her to. They have a policy of not allowing parents to be present if their child needs any treatment more extensive than a simple cleaning. This is unacceptable to me; I would not allow any stranger to take my child into a room by herself and do things to her, even if he or she has graduated from medical school. My job as her parent is to protect her and advocate for her, which I cannot do if I am sitting in a waiting room. When my daughter needed a blood test to check her lead levels our family doctor did not ask us to leave the room, in fact, there was an implicit understanding that my partner and I would need to be present in order to hold and soothe our daughter during the procedure. There is absolutely no reason why this would not be possible for a dental treatment. What are they trying to hide?

This is what they were trying to hide: Profit Over Patient? Dentists Accused of Child Abuse. Please take note of how thoroughly unapologetic the dentist is.

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So I am now actually reading Gary Taubes' new book "Good Calories, Bad Calories." The library here has several copies. Silly me, I thought they would all fly out the door and I would have to wait in line. As it turns out Buncombe county is not quite as excited about this book as I am. Now that I'm reading it, I can see why. It is dryyyyyyyyyyyyyy and, even for a nerd like me, a teensy bit boring at times, although it's picking up a bit in the second part of the book. It's definitely a scientific book, but it's as much about the history of ideas about nutrition as it is about the science of nutrition. The book is written very carefully with a lot of detail, which is a wonderful contribution to those of us trying to battle the conventional nutrition giants, but it doesn't make for a catchy read for the lay person. Still, I'm thrilled to be reading it and I think that anyone who does take the time to read even parts of it will reap significant benefits if they alter their diets based on the information in this book. Luckily there are the Sally Fallon's and Nina Plank's out there to translate all this information for the masses.

Oh but wait a second, Sally Fallon and Nina Plank's work came out well before Good Calories, Bad Calories. I think Gary Taubes work is an incredible addition to the field of nutrition, but I am intensely irritated by the lack of recognition given to the myriads of nutrition writers that have come before Taubes. I doubt that there will ever be recognition of their phenomenal work. I was bored by the first few chapters of Taubes' book because I had learned virtually everything he was writing about from attending a Sally Fallon seminar last winter. She even used several of the same graphs to demonstrate how data had been misinterpreted. It's going to take a lot of people to say the same thing for this dogma to topple...but come on, credit where credit is due!

Additionally, Weston A. Price is notably absent from the discussion in Taubes' book. I'm really confused as to why he isn't mentioned because his work is achingly relevant to the topics. Is Weston Price price more of a pariah than I am aware of? Even so, I am confused why Taubes' would not include his work because it supports his hypothesis. He mentions many other doctors and researchers who were coming to the same conclusions that Price did except that they were making these observations in the 40's and 50's, whereas Price's seminal work was first published in 1939 and his research was being conducted throughout the thirties. I'm glad to learn of the other researchers who were also coming to the obvious conclusions that the refined carbohydrates of the modern diet had disastrous health consequences, but why this notable absence?

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Here's a fun little fact I gleaned from Taubes's book: The word homeostasis was coined by a physiologist named Walter Cannon (although he was not first person to recognize the concept) but even he described it as "the wisdom of the body." I find this notable because so frequently I hear alternative healers and midwives refer to our bodies as wise and implore us to leave well enough alone. I guess, on some level, Science agrees.