christensen@apollo.uucp (Wendy Christensen) (09/04/85)
Someone suggested this to Craig Werner as a subject for net.med discussion: > ...by Carlton Fredricks, PhD, that I remember. Fredricks is a nutritionist > (whatever that means). He has several books published about nutritional > deficiencies and/or approaches for treatment/relief of certain conditions... > 1. Fredricks claimed that the symptoms of arthritis could be eliminated > or substantially reduced by complete elimination of the foods of the > nightshade family from the diet. There were 5 items mentioned. Three of > them were potatoes, tomatoes, and rutabaga. I don't remember the other two. > Potatoes and tomatoes might take a little doing to eliminate (spaghetti, > lasagna, pizza, etc.) but it seemed to me that someone in the grip of > arthritis would regard that as a small price to pay for substantial relief... Fredericks is well known as a flake-o in LA. He usually appears as a frontman for a chain of "nutrition"-oriented stores, which engages in the usual profitable duping of gullible people by persuading them that they need the snake-oil equivalents peddled by the chain in every shopping mall (and there are lots of them). Have you ever noticed that almost nothing in a typical "health food" store looks even remotely like food? (let alone healthy...) Just all those bottles of giant mutant pills and misshapen plastic bags of grungy-looking unidentifiable dried-up stuff... Speaking as one "in the grip of arthritis" for lo these many years, I prefer to get my substantial (and quick) relief from good ol' Darvon (tm) which is MUCH cheaper than the pills, potions, and powders peddled by Fredericks and his health-food cronies (an added plus - my solution WORKS). I think Fredericks was among those touting a "revolutionary cure" for arthritis several years back, which consisted of eating large quantities of oil (salad oil, cod liver oil, or the like) which would allegedly "lubricate the joints." Fredericks does frequent "public service" radio spots (accompanied by ads for his nutrition-store friends) and makes the most of his suave, reasonable-sounding, Vincent Price-like voice. (It's LA, remember?) Anticipating the inevitable Stanions/Stoll righteously-indignant counterattack and defense of Fredericks as a great misunderstood pioneer, or some such twaddle, I now don my favorite asbestos jumpsuit. w. christensen (I cheerfully accept responsibility for my own statements and opinions.)