Posted 4/29/2008 4:18 AM (GMT 0)
DISCLAIMER -
please read the following slowly and carefully. if you choose to respond to it, please read it several times before you do. intent can be lost easily over email as emotion is lost in text and thus it is easy to misconstrue one's intent and misinterpret the opinion of the author as hostile and cruel. in no way am i calling any one out on this board and demeaning them or their intelligence in any way. if you do feel that i have come across as doing so or vindictive, please ask me for clarification before you retaliate and create a pissing contest (i wont respond to those posts). this is not a diatribe as i am not necessarily defending jordan rubin but i would like to point out some things that some of you may not know which i hope would help the less informed from jumping to conclusions from what is read on the internet which isnt always the best source of information, especially if you are getting 2nd or 3rd hand or more. please use what i have to say as education as to each story there are at least 2 sides.
this is long, but then i dont like to give just 2 cents. i like to give a handful of change and i always over tip. but this time i think i'm giving you all the money in my piggy bank (and maybe taking out a loan to boot). so here we go....
makers diet:
this has worked for me. i am a believer in it. it has transformed my life for the better. but it is nothing truly new, it just has a faith based packaging. if you've read his other books (i have - all of them) it is the same diet just slightly tweaked to reach a different audience. did you know the atkins diet was around in the 1960's before it had its second coming a few years ago and spawned many other diets, like the south beach diet? but we are all unique, and thus there can never be one all encompassing diet for every one. but we can all use the same principles for our individual diet, and the maker's diet has these principles. it is an extreme way to eat and has you eating foods that for us have become danger foods, but it can still be tweaked to fit your individual needs. some people have had success like i have had. i am more surprised than any one that i can tolerate vegetables again (for the most part). i do attribute some of this to having surgery a year before i did the diet so the bulk of the diseased portion of my bowel was removed and i feel this helped facilitate my transition back on to what had been may danger foods for over a decade (however i do not tolerate broccoli or corn still). now it wont work for everyone. jordan even states it is not a panacea, so it shouldnt be thought of as that way. even the scd, which the makers diet is similar to in one fashion, doesnt work for everyone. with that being said, the only to know for certain if it will work for you is to truly give it the chance it deserves and you do that by following the directions to the letter. most people fail on their diets cos they dont do this. they say they do, but they dont. i've talked to people who said they did, but when i've pressed them they do break and admit that they did cheat on their diet. for example, my dad wants to lose weight. i know he wont do makers, but i've given him some tips and advice. he's done some and made some positive changes in his eating habits, but he cant lose weight (he's steady now) and this upsets him. he tells me what he does and it all sounds good. however he does cheat and he doesnt consider it a big deal or thinks he does it often, but he does, and does it enough that he is sabotaging himself. and i believe that is what a lot of people do when they diet. so you have to be true to yourself and give it a legit chance before you give up a week or two into it cos it is "too hard" and you have to be honest and not cheat cos then it wont work at all. i started the makers diet on phase 3 cos phases 1 and 2 were too intimidating. i saw it work though in a few days. but it wasnt until jordan had me restart the diet from phase 1 with special caveats making the book version easy that i truly saw the power of diet. by doing it properly i got the health results i wanted. so before you bad mouth it, which is easy to understand for those whom this didnt legitimately work (i know have a bitter taste in my mouth for remicade which i now feel didnt work at all, just masked symptoms), but for those of you who did cheat or didnt follow through please state so before you give others a false impression cos your words and actions do influence them.
HSO and primal defense:
jordan rubin strongly believes in his probiotic and that it was this more than anything that brought him from the brink of death to excellent health. (my personal experience, i give more credence to the diet than the probiotic). if you look at the information panel, it states what strains are in the probiotic. you want any probiotic to state this. and the strains included are the major ones you want in a probiotic. it also says it contains 5 billion cfu's. this is also good. if a probiotic does not have the cfu value listed and what strains it contains, i suggest not purchasing it. from a talk i attended through the ccfa recently on probiotics (given by a GI who really knows her stuff) this is on the low side of things, so it could be improved with a higher cfu (vsl 3 is said to have 450 billion cfu, hence imho making it a superior product). the same doctor said you want a probiotic that requires refrigeration. this means most of the ones most of us here are taking are no good. this includes primal defense. she said outside of refrigeration the colonies only last about a week. now for the HSO - she was strongly suspect on this. she said she's tried very very hard to find out just what is in the HSO but garden of life wont tell any one. it is a closely guarded secret. this has upset a lot of people and i am sure sparked a lot of the claims against him being a ****and a schiester, just out for your money. for all we know it could be dirt from his backyard, but i suspect it is not. because no one knows what his HSO is, competitors are going to do a smear campaign under the radar disguised as other companies/people to discredit the product and thus his company. the FDA does this all the time to get you to consume poison but has told you it is good for you (dont get me started on soy). i've taken his probiotic and i cannot say i felt a clinical response, but then i feel the same way about the other 2 i've tried. oh, and the GI i spoke of earlier in this paragraph, although she has a beef with jordan rubin on him not disclosing what the HSO blend is, she does recommend his probiotic to her patients and she's done her research on this stuff (in case you're wondering, she recommends vsl3). yes, primal defense is expensive, but a good probiotic (or supplement for that matter) will be. most are not covered by insurance. my rule of thumb for supplements: if it is cheap it is probably junk, if it is expensive it may not necessarily by the best, but chances are it is good, just make sure you know your stuff before you spend the big bucks to know if you are making a wise buy or not.
was jordan really sick?
if you've seen the before and after pictures in his books, how can you even debate this? a tapeworm will not do this to you. take a good long look at the before picture. you're either seriously ill or you've been tortured and malnourished by others (ie **** concentration camps). i believe he has crohns (yes has - none of us will ever be cured) and a whole host of other illnesses that were brought on by his sever condition. i believe if he immediately did the traditional medical route (prednisone, immunosuppressants, etc) he wouldnt have gotten that bad, especially that fast. but i say lucky for me he did cos then he wouldnt have found the diet and i would then be writing all my emails on this web board with a colostomy. i've had the opportunity to meet him twice. i do not know him more than a casual acquaintance, and i'm sure he wouldnt recognize me or remember my name, as we spoke for about a half an hour each time about my condition. but through those two meetings, and also talking with some of his staff members, this guy is legit. he was truly that sick and is now a pillar of health.
is he preying on the sick?
again from talking with jordan and his staff, i can honestly say my impression of the guy is that he is genuine. no joke. i am an engineer by trade and i eschewed alternative health for many many years as most of it was empty promises and outlandish claims and they all seemed like snake oil salesmen. i tried his diet on the recommendation of my acupuncturist, whom i trust (and yes, i do admit i was desperate - but who wouldnt be facing a colostomy?). his diet worked for me. i was on it for a month before i met him and i had seen it work for me so i knew there was something to this. when i met him i truly found him genuine. the second time i met him he took time out of his schedule to personally meet with me. he didnt have to do that. he also helped me for the first few months after i met him and he didnt have to do this and he doesnt do health coaching, which in essence he was doing for me. one does not do this with a multi million dollar company if they are not genuinely interested in some one's health. he is a true altruist in regards to other people's health. a similar passion has grown in me as i did this diet and learned more on health and nutrition and saw my life completely turn around by diet (this should be evident from my postings). this is something you wouldnt understand unless you experience it first hand and thus it is easy to dismiss. our society has become a negative one. we have become skeptical of everyone and everything. but how can we not when it seems our govt's are corrupt and every one is only out to make a buck and you are always hearing of scams and things like enron and worldcom etc etc. but buried in the mire are a few legitimate people. the problem is that they are few and far between and finding them is difficult, and then when you do how can you be sure the person is legit and you're not receiving lip service? very hard.
jordan's faith:
jordan grew up as and is a mesionic jew (jews that believe Jesus was the messiah yet are not technically either jews or christians - sorry for the bad definition). he has always had a strong faith growing up. in college he was considering a career in the ministry in some capacity, but that was derailed when he developed crohn's. so he did not "find God" for he already had him. his religious convictions are very strong. that is his base, so he is not exploiting the religious people with a faith based diet.
jordan's education:
he was driven by his religious convictions and the diet he did to find a school that would teach naturopathy/alternative med/etc that was bible based. these are extremely rare and hard to come by. the one he did find is defunct, yes. i dont know if it was accredited or not. so his credentials are not from ivy league schools. i bet yours are not either. are your doctors? do you know how good his med school was? i doubt it. MIT is not the engineering school it once was. most of the people who go to the ivy league schools live there (ie in-state kids) or have connections or can afford for mommy and daddy to buy their way in. it also helps if you are a woman or a minority, but that is true with any college (sorry if i stepped on some toes but face it, this is true; i'm not knocking it, only stating a fact). he sought out a particular type of school and went there. a degree gets you in the door. it is your knowledge and hard work that gets you up the ladder. imho, his stuff is sound. read his book thoroughly and check his sources to convince yourself. if you agree, that what does it matter where he went to school if he knows his stuff? i'd rather have a doctor who has experience and knows what he is doing during surgery than the guy who got an A on some exam and went to the "right" school, but that is just. he doesnt like being called "doctor". it was used on a book or two by the publisher (not his idea) in an effort to sell more books and make hims seem more legit. wouldnt you rather buy something from a doctor than from joe six pack? bottom line the guy knows his stuff. i know this from talking with him and reading his books.
garden of life supplements:
yes, i use these products. jordan uses them too. he made this company so he could make products he wanted to use that satisfied his strict requirements regarding ingredients and manufacturing. i consider us lucky that he is sharing them with us. yes he makes money when we buy his product, but it IS a good product. is he supposed to give them away to us cos we also have crohns? if you dont like the idea of him getting your money, give it to some one else cos there are many many other people ready to take it and will sell you an inferior product. i use his digestive enzymes and cod liver oil. i highly recommend both products. carlson labs makes a great cod liver oil too. his perfect food green drink supplement is quality. however i find the taste not to be too appeasing, so i now use greens plus and vitamineral greens solely based on taste. GOL makes many good products. before you knock them, research them and try them and compare them to the many other brands available. if you do so i think you'll agree that they are quality products. but there are many quality products on the market - good luck finding them.
marketing claims and the FDA:
it is illegal to make a statement that any product other than a prescription medicine can cure or treat a disease. read any health book or the label on any supplement and you'll see this disclaimer. it is required by law so these people who make the books and products will not get sued. seriously. it is a CYA thing. perhaps jordan didnt have this disclaimer on his product or left himself open some how somewhere for the FDA to come in and sue him in an attempt to put him out of business. maybe he made a claim that was a too far fetched and got called out on it. i am not familiar with this so i cant legitimately comment on it. but the internet is full of naysayers and bashers so take everything with a grain of salt. i am not doubting this happened, i am just suggesting that it can be sensationalized by his detractors. i dont know about him having to change the name of his product, but he has a second version, primal defense ultra, which has an additional probiotic strain. GOL has grown to be a good size company and is worth it for the FDA to pursue at the expense of your tax dollar to put out of business cos they are competing with the govt monopoly - medicines. the little guy aint worth the money, time or effort. but the medium to big size companies are potentially taking away patients whom doctors can put on drugs for an indefinite amount of time. feel free to call me a conspiracy nut, but this is true. (side note: if the US goes to universal health care, we're all screwed (and so is canada) so this alone is reason enough for me to vote republican just to hopefully thwart or stall a democrat push for universal health care - it will be a total disaster.)
geophagy:
ancient practice of eating clay. people did this, but only a certain clay, for the minerals. minerals are inorganic compounds your body cannot make and thus must be obtained solely via diet as minerals are necessary to absorb, fix, and assimilate vitamins. you can order minerals in this clay form on the internet. try puritans pride as i've been told they make a good one. it isnt practiced in the "modern" world cos we have access to supplements. oh, and did you know clay is an ingredient in mcdonald's french fries? no, they are not a nutritional supplement but instead is used as a stabilizer/binder or something, not to provide nutritional value.
MY opinion on kevin trudeau:
i read his first natural cure book, which i borrowed from a friend. an interesting read. he had some good points. however it was one giant rant more or less. he made a lot of claims which he said he couldnt back up cos he'd be sued, but if you subscribed to his website for like $20/mo he'll tell you and you'll have access to all kinds of doctors and his staff. he said he was very sick but doesnt say what. he was convicted of some white collar crime and did time (i think, some one double check this before it turns into an unsubstantiated rumor). so he's got a criminal past, but he's upfront with saying this and i like to believe that people can change and grow and learn from their mistakes. but imho, his book was one giant sales pitch to sign up at his website and he says this over and over again. however some parts are worth reading. i recommend borrowing a copy or checking it out from the library if you can. dont buy it though. imho it isnt worth the price (they say it is free but s/h is like $20). and i believe this guy is out for the money cos why else would he make a "natural debt cures" book.....
well, you're at the end of my post. i sincerely thank you for reading the entire thing. i know it was long (just think how long it took me to compose it!) i hope this was informative for you.