Monday, December 01, 2008
Readers Respond (December 01, 2008)
From: Name Withheld By Request (Received November 12, 2008)
I know this is long and winded but I REALLY needed to vent!
What do you do when you feel like your child has been the victim of a well meaning predatory Juice Plus “friend”? You go to lengths to research, then you go to the presentation anyway. My daughter has oral allergy syndrome and can’t eat most raw fruits and vegetables, although cooked ones are fine. She came home and said “I want to try these because this is the answer to my veggie problem.” What problem? “Well, mom- geez, once they’re cooked I might as well not bother” oh really? Since when? Since she talked to the Juice Plus rep that’s when!!
As I sat in the room I thought, “am I the only one who thinks this is a farce?” The speaker was very likeable, and did quote good information on food structure, but fell off the deep end with a few things. I was assured it was just a health lecture -- but lo and behold at the end of the lecture BAM a big ‘ol picture of Juice Plus on the screen. I concluded that the general population of North America that aren’t sick just don’t know it yet. AND news flash -- microwaves are only suitable as boat anchors. A study on cats was referred to- where they were fed cooked food and died… the only study I could find was the Pottenger study -- done in 1932-1942 -- in which the cats decline was marked on cooked food -- when there were no microwave ovens.
This was listening to dietary radicalism at its finest. A page of fear mongering stats, telling us the decline of the population is inevitable and telling us that this supplement may, n conjunction with the suggested good eating plan, ward off the inevitable. Well geez -- am I the only one who sees that if we all started eating 80% veggies, 20% lean protein/grains etc, drank 8 glasses of water a day and exercised 30 minutes/day 5 days a week, laid off the fatty sugary foods -- wait a minute -- sounds like a plan before the pills…
I also noted the general health of all the juice-plus reps and their families. Surprisingly typical cross-section considering they should all be religiously following the full regimen since they are so concerned about their health and yours. We touched on several deep end theories all in one talk -- no microwave (remember the cats), no milk (what other animal drinks another animals milk?), eat organic (you guessed it -– the soil depletion thing), no white (white sugar, flour, fat, milk, rice), eat 13 servings of fruits/veggies a day -- that’s 13 fist-size portions. And of course supplement it all with pills because we are all human and though we try, we just need a little help. And then the big C. Don’t get me started on the cancer angle -- especially since my sister-in-law is currently undergoing chemo. And when you think you are armed with information- don’t bother to challenge; they give you the patent answer for everything you say. For every study listed at this talk there is one that has been done at a reputable institution and refutes what they say. “Oh, no no no, those are put out by the competitors.” What about all the fiber removed? (oh, no, no, no, the fiber is still in there).
The person doing the talk is not paid by Juice Plus but acknowledges the charitable foundation she heads is in partnership with them. Does the charitable foundation pay her then? Someone must! Everyone there truly believes she travels around the world giving nutritional talks for Juice Plus out of the goodness of her heart. I repeat am I the only one? Heaven help me I’ve stumbled into the twilight zone of health care!!!
I know this is long and winded but I REALLY needed to vent!
What do you do when you feel like your child has been the victim of a well meaning predatory Juice Plus “friend”? You go to lengths to research, then you go to the presentation anyway. My daughter has oral allergy syndrome and can’t eat most raw fruits and vegetables, although cooked ones are fine. She came home and said “I want to try these because this is the answer to my veggie problem.” What problem? “Well, mom- geez, once they’re cooked I might as well not bother” oh really? Since when? Since she talked to the Juice Plus rep that’s when!!
As I sat in the room I thought, “am I the only one who thinks this is a farce?” The speaker was very likeable, and did quote good information on food structure, but fell off the deep end with a few things. I was assured it was just a health lecture -- but lo and behold at the end of the lecture BAM a big ‘ol picture of Juice Plus on the screen. I concluded that the general population of North America that aren’t sick just don’t know it yet. AND news flash -- microwaves are only suitable as boat anchors. A study on cats was referred to- where they were fed cooked food and died… the only study I could find was the Pottenger study -- done in 1932-1942 -- in which the cats decline was marked on cooked food -- when there were no microwave ovens.
This was listening to dietary radicalism at its finest. A page of fear mongering stats, telling us the decline of the population is inevitable and telling us that this supplement may, n conjunction with the suggested good eating plan, ward off the inevitable. Well geez -- am I the only one who sees that if we all started eating 80% veggies, 20% lean protein/grains etc, drank 8 glasses of water a day and exercised 30 minutes/day 5 days a week, laid off the fatty sugary foods -- wait a minute -- sounds like a plan before the pills…
I also noted the general health of all the juice-plus reps and their families. Surprisingly typical cross-section considering they should all be religiously following the full regimen since they are so concerned about their health and yours. We touched on several deep end theories all in one talk -- no microwave (remember the cats), no milk (what other animal drinks another animals milk?), eat organic (you guessed it -– the soil depletion thing), no white (white sugar, flour, fat, milk, rice), eat 13 servings of fruits/veggies a day -- that’s 13 fist-size portions. And of course supplement it all with pills because we are all human and though we try, we just need a little help. And then the big C. Don’t get me started on the cancer angle -- especially since my sister-in-law is currently undergoing chemo. And when you think you are armed with information- don’t bother to challenge; they give you the patent answer for everything you say. For every study listed at this talk there is one that has been done at a reputable institution and refutes what they say. “Oh, no no no, those are put out by the competitors.” What about all the fiber removed? (oh, no, no, no, the fiber is still in there).
The person doing the talk is not paid by Juice Plus but acknowledges the charitable foundation she heads is in partnership with them. Does the charitable foundation pay her then? Someone must! Everyone there truly believes she travels around the world giving nutritional talks for Juice Plus out of the goodness of her heart. I repeat am I the only one? Heaven help me I’ve stumbled into the twilight zone of health care!!!
