Dr. Mark Hyman’s literary masterpiece “10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life (and What to Remove From Your Kitchen)”1 contains this bit of sage advice:
“If a food has a label it should have fewer than five ingredients. If it has more than five ingredients, throw it out.”1
Really? More than five ingredients qualifies the product for a trip to the waste basket? Obviously when the good doctor wrote these lines, he wasn’t paying attention to what was on the shelves of his own online store–or hoping his followers would be too blind to notice. Dr. Hyman, have you ever heard of “GlycemX360 Chocolate Shake Mix”? I hope so, because you sell it:
(drum roll please…) Let’s bring up the ingredient list.2
Dr. Hyman’s chocolate shake contains over 45 ingredients. (click/enlarge)
Over 45 ingredients! So by Hyman’s own \logic, you should thrown this product out (assuming you wasted money on it in the first place). But wait! There’s more! Again from the doctor:
“Also beware of food with health claims on the label” 1
Well doctor, let’s look at your labeling:
“Also beware of food with health claims on the label” says Hyman. Pot. Kettle. Black.
An “advanced medical food” with more (unsubstantiated) health claims than I can shake a stick at.
The cynical side of me feels that if people are so easily deceived by snake oil salesmen like Mark Hyman, they deserve what’s coming to them. The compassionate side overcomes that, however. I truly feel sorry for those wasting hard-earned cash on this nonsense. The fact that a man with the letters “M.D.” after his name is pushing the pseudoscience makes it all the more offensive.
End rant.
Image Credits
Mark Hyman product screen snapshots are used in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, commonly known as “fair use law”. This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.
References
(1) 10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life (and What to Remove From Your Kitchen)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/healthy-eating_b_1250939.html
(2) GlycemX360 Chocolate Shake on Dr. Hyman’s Online Store
http://store.drhyman.com/Store/Show/Nutritional-Shakes/774/GlycemX360-Chocolate
Bad Science Debunked 
oh no – all that soy and fructose too – I see GMOs
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Not that I disagree with the idea that he has monetized his skills and knowledge, but you did nothing but criticize a drinkable multivitamin as if it were a meal. The ingredient rule applies to processed FOODS. For example, frozen waffles, oreo cakesters, pringles, meatless nuggets, lunchables, and the list goes on. Either you’re mistaken on how foods and beverages are classified, the intended purpose of nutritional shakes (drinkable vitamins), or you just really didn’t put much thought into this article. You’re misleading people from advice (which should always be taken with the consideration that nothing works the exact same way for everyone) that could truly help their health and wellness. For shame.
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Why does the ingredients rule only apply to processed foods? Why SHOULD it only apply?
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