Pesticide Found in David Avocado Wolfe Tooth Treatment

In this artist’s depiction, a Moms Across America stormtrooper charges across a field of GMO “Bt” corn armed with a bottle of David Wolfe’s neem oil pesticide/tooth treatment.  Moms Across America members are prone  to running through corn fields in unnecessary protective gear.  Scientists are still trying to understand the phenomenon.

David Avocado Wolfe has never met a pesticide he likes, even going so far as to trump up a charge against a plant derived chemical for allegedly causing premature death of fruit flies.^1,2,3 Oh, the humanity!

For a man who has essentially proclaimed “no pesticide shall pass these lips!” it seems rather odd that Wolfe is selling a tooth polish made with a pesticide:⁴

A 15ml bottle of Neem Enamelier from David Avocado Wolfe’s store. (click/enlarge). Neem oil is an organic pesticide.

Ah, yes, neem oil!  Made from a tree common to India, neem is praised for its alleged ability to keep your teeth, gums, and mouth healthy.  Oh, and its proven ability to kill insects.  Perhaps David Wolfe needs to visit his local gardening store more often:^5,6

Neem Oil, a broad spectrum pesticide/fungicide/miticide sold on Amazon. Click to enlarge.

Neem Oil pesticide sold by Lowes. Click to enlarge.

In addition to not knowing what’s in his own products, David Wolfe doesn’t seem aware that organic farming uses pesticides, if you believe the false words that spill forth from his keyboard like Noah’s Flood.⁷  Or, maybe he just doesn’t care.  Here at Bad Science Debunked, we’ve lost count of the products sold by Wolfe’s Longevity Warehouse that contain the same chemicals he falsely claims will kill you.

Now, it is possible to process neem oil to remove azadirachtinone, one of the more irritating chemicals,⁸ but processing an all-natural product would go against everything Wolfe believes in and, in fact, I contacted the manufacturer of his tooth enamelizer and they confirmed that indeed, it comes to you, the end user, straight from the tree, untouched and unprocessed in any way.

According to the National Pesticide Information Center (a cooperative agreement between Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), neem oil can be slightly irritating to skin and eyes, but its component azadirachtin, which I mentioned previously, can be very irritating to the skin and stomach.⁸  And you’ll find it in every bottle of Wolfe’s enamelizer.

Over the lips and through the gums David Avocado!

“There’s a sucker born every minute” — attributed to P.T. Barnum

#DontCryWolfe

 

References
(1)  These 4 Fruits Have the Most Toxic Pesticides. Avoid Them!  (David Wolfe)
https://www.davidwolfe.com/4-fruits-pesticides-avoid/
Warning: Not a scholarly or scientific article.  Contains false and/or misleading information.
Retrieved 11 Feb 2018

(2) Wash Pesticides Off Your Produce
https://www.davidwolfe.com/wash-pesticides-off-your-produce/
Warning: Not a scholarly or scientific article.  Contains false and/or misleading information.
Retrieved 04 Mar 2018

(3) This Popular Artificial Sweetener Is Actually A Powerful Insecticide
https://www.davidwolfe.com/artificial-sweetener-insecticide/
Warning: Not a scholarly or scientific article.  Contains false and/or misleading information.
Retrieved 18 Mar 2018

(4) Longevity Warehouse Neem Oil Enamelizer 15ml
Warning: Not a healthcare product.  See FDA disclaimer on package.
https://www.longevitywarehouse.com/longevity-warehouse-neem-enamelizer-15-ml
Retrieved 09 Feb 2018

(5) Southern Ag Triple Action Neem Oil (Amazon.com)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004QJ33AA/
Retrieved 10 Feb 2018

(6) Lowes Garden-Safe Neem Oil Extract 16 fl oz
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Garden-Safe-Neem-Oil-Extract-16-fl-oz-Organic-Garden-Insect-Killer/1000344111
Retrieved 10 Feb 2018

(7) Warning: Why You Should Never Buy Produce Labeled with the #8 Sticker
https://www.davidwolfe.com/what-the-numbers-on-your-produce-tell-you/
Warning: Not a scholarly or scientific article.  Contains false and/or misleading information.
Retrieved 18 Mar 2018

(8) Neem Oil General Fact Sheet (National Pesticide Information Center [NPIC])
(NPIC is a cooperative agreement between Oregon State University and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/neemgen.html
Retrieved 11 Feb 2018

 

Image Credits
The lead image of an irate “Occupy Monsanto” member running trough a cornfield was used under provisions of 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.

Similarly, the image captures of David Wolfe/Longevity Warehouse’s Neem Oil product, and Lowe’s Neem Oils Pesticide, are used under provisions of 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.

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David Wolfe Lathers on the Hypocrisy

“If I’m going to be staying up until 3 A.M., it should be for world peace and not shampoo sales.”– Mona Sutphen

It takes a special type of man to look you in the eye, tell you that pillows cause neck pain, and then sell you pillow cases via his online store.  A man with particular bravado: balls the size of Jupiter.  A man who isn’t bothered by marketing a boat load of goods made from the same chemicals that he claims will cause you to shuffle early off this mortal coil.

Ladies and gentlemen: I give you David Avocado Wolfe.

In his article “8 Toxic Beauty Care Chemicals That Are Killing You!,”¹ Wolfe links ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and its salts (e.g., disodium EDTA, trisodium EDTA) to health problems such as reproductive and kidney damage, fetal disability, and dermatitis.^3,4,5,6,7  Ironically, he singles out shampoos and hair conditioners as common sources of EDTA.¹

With this in mind, let’s go shopping at Avocado’s online emporium, the infamous Longevity Warehouse. (With all this foreshadowing, you probably know what’s coming.)

Here’s a nice bottle of Hairprint Amla Chelating Shampoo, and its ingredients:³

 

Hairprint Amla Chelating Shampoo, from David Wolfe’s Longevity Warehouse. (click/enlarge)

David Wolfe’s Longevity Warehouse’s Hairprint Amla Chelating Shampoo contains Disodium EDTA, an ingredient he’s linked to myriad health problems. (click/enlarge)

 

But soft!  What chemical through yonder shampoo breaks?  It is disodium EDTA, and David Wolfe is the son-of-a-snake-oil-saleman who’s selling it to you:

Oops!

Yes indeed.  Wolfe just told us that EDTA and its salts were responsible for a plethora of poisonous potions, and now he’s selling us the very same chemical.  Let me refresh your memory:

“EDTA is used as a preservative in various skin care products, bath soaps, shampoos, conditioners, hair dyes and hair bleaches.

With chronic use, EDTA has the potential to cause reproductive damage, fetal disability and kidney damage.

Ironically (remember, it’s used in skin care products) EDTA can also cause contact dermatitis.”–David Wolfe¹

But wait!  If you act now, you can get two EDTA-laden products from David Wolfe for the price of… well… two:

 

Yet another Wolfe product containing disodium EDTA (click/enlarge)

Wolfe claims disodium EDTA can cause kidney damage, but here it is in another of his products (click/enlarge)

 

Astute readers may have noticed that in the ingredients list, disodium EDTA is prominently listed next to a large banner from madesafe.org, proclaiming how rigorously these shampoos have been tested for safety.  This may be the first thing Wolfe got right–there’s no evidence that EDTA is dangerous, but it’s a howling act of hypocrisy to claim a chemical will harm you while simultaneously listing it in a sales ad next to a bold-print banner that purports you’ve done extensive testing for toxic ingredients

To put the whip cream on this huge slice of irony pie, Hairprint, the manufacturer of the shampoos hawked by Avocado, proudly touts disodium EDTA as a featured ingredient in its products.  David Wolfe: Google is your friend… learn how to use it:

“Disodium EDTA:  This is a salt designed to act as a metal and mineral chelating agent. It has several uses as a medicine and is an approved food preservative. We use it here to remove the build up of minerals caused by hard water. Our Chelating Shampoo containing Disodium EDTA can perform miracles for hair conditions cause by hard water.” — Hairprint.com product information page ¹⁰

I’ve found no evidence to suggest EDTA is harmful, unless you happened to be run over by a truck carrying a ton of it to a processing facility.  However, we’re not here to debate the safety of this chemical.  No, we’re here to ask David Wolfe why he’s attempting to sell over five millions followers a product he falsely alleges will put them at risk of kidney failure or fetal abnormalities.

This is one of many Longevity Warehouse products that follow this pattern of hypocrisy, yet Wolfe’s followers seem to line up like lemmings who don’t read product labels, cash in their tiny paws, ready follow each other over the edge of the Cliff of Consumer Fraud.  Sadly, some of Wolfe’s offerings, such as his dangerous and unproven cancer “cures,” could get someone killed.  It’s a sad state of affairs, and in a world where facts no longer seem to matter, I see no end in sight.

Oh, about those pillow cases I mentioned in the opening…  Get’em while they’re hot.  And please:  #DontCryWolfe

How deeply can you trust a health guru who tags pillows as the cause of neck pain, then tries to sell you pillow cases?   Screen snapshot from David Wolfe’s Longevity Warehouse.  (click/enlarge)

References
(1) Eight Toxic Body Care Chemicals That Are Killing You (DavidWolfe.com)
https://www.davidwolfe.com/8-toxic-beauty-care-chemicals/
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(2) Longevity Warehouse Hairprint Chelating Shampoo
https://www.longevitywarehouse.com/hairprint-chelating-shampoo#product_tabs_ingredients
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(3) Disodium EDTA, linked as information source by David Wolfe (see reference #2) [Warning: Not a scholarly link]
http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/disodium-edta
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(4) Trisodium EDTA, linked as information source by David Wolfe (see reference #2) [Warning: Not a scholarly link]
http://www.cosmeticsinfo.org/ingredient/disodium-edta
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(5) Pubchem EDTA (Compound ID 6049)
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/edta
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(6) PubChem EDTA Disodium Salt (Compound ID 13020083)
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/13020083
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(7) Pubchem Edetate Trisodium Salt (Compound ID 9008)
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/9008
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(8) Hairprint Chelating Shampoo
https://www.longevitywarehouse.com/hairprint-chelating-shampoo
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(9) Hairprint Chelating Shampoo Ingredients
https://www.longevitywarehouse.com/hairprint-chelating-shampoo#product_tabs_ingredients
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

(10)  Hairprint.com Ingredients
https://www.myhairprint.com/pages/ingredients
Retrieved 19 Nov 2017

Image Credits
Article banner: Connor Gap Ireland (background) © 2017 Mark Aaron Alsip. David Wolfe screen snapshot elements, bathtub, shampoo, etc, 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.

David Avocado Wolfe Sells a Carcinogen (#DontCryWolfe)

Rare photo of David Avocado Wolfe auditioning for the movie “Cocktail”. David is juggling a bottle of his Longevity drops, which contain alcohol that he links to cancer.

David Wolfe is selling longevity drops!¹  Golly gee whiz!  This is exciting news!

Until we got bogged down in the drudgery of this never-ending presidential campaign here in the United States, where watching the news conjures up thoughts of sticking my tongue into a 120 volt electrical outlet, I had always hoped to live forever.  I wanted to live long enough to see humans travel to the stars.  I secretly thought I’d persevere and see the Chicago Cubs win a World Series.  I’m embarrassed about never buying life insurance and didn’t want to be confronted with the consequences of that mistake by actually dying.

So there I was, credit card in hand over on Wolfe’s Longevity Warehouse web site, ready to make a purchase of the liquid that’d give me eternal life, and I thought: “wait a minute… maybe I should check out the labeling on this product.  Wolfe hasn’t been exactly straightforward with his science in the past.”

Indeed, this is the man who claimed that water is alive.

Here’s the product in question:

David Wolfe’s Longevity Drops

Anyone want to check out the ingredients with me?¹

Longevity drops ingredients (click/enlarge)

Oh dear.  David Wolfe’s Longevity Drops contain alcohol.  This is a conundrum.

Now, for those of you who studied science at Food Babe University, a conundrum isn’t one of those things you wear while having safe sex. The word means  “a difficult problem”… something illogical…  a severe contradiction, as it were: something David Avocado Wolfe is famous for.

Why is it a problem for Wolfe to be selling a longevity product that contains alcohol?  Because the Avocado Dude recommends you consume this elixir daily, but in an article titled “This is What Happens to Your Body if You Drink Alcohol on a Regular Basis”, he warns that alcohol has the following effects on your body:²

• It causes cancer
• It decreases vitamin B12 production
• It decreases vitamin D and calcium absorption
• It damages the liver
• It’s a depressant

So… “buy my product to live longer, but it will kill you.  Bottoms up!  Love, David!”

Do yourself and/or a sick, disadvantaged person a favor:  Help make the world a better place by searching for and re-tweeting the truth about David Avocado Wolfe with this hashtag:

#DontCryWolfe

And don’t ever, ever buy anything from his online store.  If you want the grape alcohol featured in his longevity drops, it’s better known as wine, and you can pick up a decent bottle for a few bucks at your local liquor store.  #Cheers.  #BottomsUp.

 

Image Credits
David Wolfe/Longevity Warehouse screen captures and product images 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.

“Cocktail” parody by Mark Alsip/Bad Science Debunked.  Used under the parody provision of Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of U.S. copyright law.  This material is distributed without profit with the intent to provide commentary, review, education, parody, and increase public health knowledge.

References

(1) Food for the Immortals Longevity Drops (50ml)
http://www.longevitywarehouse.com/food-for-the-immortals-longevity-drops-50-ml

(2) This is What Happens to Your Body if You Drink Alcohol on a Regular Basis!
http://www.davidwolfe.com/happens-to-body-drink-alcohol/

The Quack Doctor/Blogger Quiz

So you think you know your con artists?

Which major organization did “holistic psychiatrist” Kelly Brogan falsely accuse of supporting birth control in Africa via vaccinations?

What inanimate substance did woo peddler David Wolfe hilariously claim is alive?

Which doctor sells the most “toxic”, heavy-metal containing products branded in his own name: Mercola, Hyman, or Oz?

If you think you know the answers, try my thirty-question Playbuzz quiz.  (I got really bored last night, and we were out of blackberry wine and red velvet cupcakes, so I put this quiz together). Click the image below to launch:

Try the quiz! (Click to launch)

Your Worst Day Ever: David Wolfe’s Earthing and Zapping Debunked, Part 1

Earthers mistakenly believe that the Earth protects them from EMF via a mystical force field seeping into their bodies through their feet.  Somebody’s been watching too much Star Trek.

 

Part One:  Unnatural Frequencies
Have you heard the joke about the guy who plugs himself into an electrical outlet in his home for protection against disease-causing high frequency electromagnetic fields, then paradoxically zaps himself with an electrical device to kill pathogens?

Unfortunately, it’s not a joke.  This is for real.  The man’s name is David Avocado Wolfe.  And he’s not just practicing this silly electrical voodoo on himself, he’s selling products that cost hundreds of dollars to innocent, scientifically illiterate followers, with the promise of similar protection.  Sadly, it’s all a scam, and there’s the very real chance that seriously ill people are eschewing real medical treatment in favor of quack remedies like earthing and zapping.

In this multi-part series, I’ll be exposing Wolfe’s deception.  In part one, we’ll look at the myth that’s the very foundation of “earthing” nonsense: the claim that high frequency radio waves–those in the gigahertz range–are “unnatural”, dirty, or inherently dangerous.¹

This can be debunked in one sentence:  there is no such thing as an unnatural radio frequency.  All radio frequencies are natural. 

There, we’re done.

Oh, you want a demonstration?  Well, fair enough.  This is a science blog, after all. Here’s some food for thought:  David Avocado is an advocate of “sun gazing”–staring at the sun to absorb mystical healing energy.²   The problem for Avocado and his earthing buddies: the sun emits the very same high frequency radio waves that he’s selling protection from.

This is easy to prove.  A simple twelve gigahertz radio receiver can be built using a discarded home satellite dish and less than $10 in parts from eBay or a local electronics store.  Twelve gigahertz and below are right in the “Wolfe Danger Zone” for consumer electronic devices.  But if we point our receiver’s dish at the sun– as natural a source as you can possibly find–we’ll quickly see how full of [expletive deleted] earthers are… we’ll pick up these very frequencies!  Here’s a quick YouTube video of me doing this demonstration.  If you don’t like video, scroll down for some captioned screen snapshots outlining the experiment.

[VIDEO]  The sun emits the same radio frequencies that David Wolfe calls “unnatural’.   I’ve put together a simple YouTube video demonstrating this. (Running time: Less than  3 minutes).

For those of you who prefer pictures over video, here’s a simple photos essay of what’s happening in the video above.  You can click any photo to enlarge.

Step 1:  A discarded satellite dish with a 12 gigahertz LNB can be used in a simple radio receiving system.

Step 2:  A $7 signal strength meter takes the down-converted signal from the dish.  Here, obviously, we have no signal (a reading of zero).

Step 3:  Point the antenna at the sun, which no earther can dispute is “unnatural”.

Step 4: When the antenna is pointed at the sun, we’ve got a very strong 12 gigahertz signal.  So much for unnatural high frequency radio sources.

 

The take-home message of this demonstration is that you cannot take a radio frequency out of context and label is safe or dangerous, dirty or clean, natural or unnatural.  (Well, OK, all radio frequencies are natural, so Wolfe is just completely wrong on that one.)    How strong is the electromagnetic field?  How close are you to the source?  Are we talking about ionizing radiation?  There are a lot of factors to consider.  The bottom line:  neither the radio waves from the sun received in this experiment, Wi-Fi routers, or cell phones are harmful, just because they are measured in gigahertz.  And this is David Avocado’s claim: high-frequency radio waves are unnatural and therefore bad for us.

Yes, there is harmful electromagnetic radiation (gamma rays come to mind), but Wolfe doesn’t begin to approach the subject honestly.  The World Health Organization has a wonderful online resource on this subject.  If you’d like research from experts who have studied this, you can get started here.³

What I’m here to shoot down is Wolfe’s claim that frequencies of billions of hertz–gigahertz–are unnatural and, by extension, somehow inherently dangerous to us.  As you can see in the graph below, the sun does output more energy in the visible part of the spectrum than the radio, but it the radio waves are there, and they’re certainly natural.

The sun emits electromagnetic energy across a broad spectrum, including the entire range of radio waves that earthers like David Wolfe try to avoid.  There is no such thing as “unnatural” radio frequencies.  Image courtesy the Window to the Universe Project/NCAR/Comet Program/High Altitude Observatory.  Used with permission.  (click/enlarge)

 

Why Are Wolfe et al Frightening People?
So, their apparent lack of understanding of basic physics aside, why would David Wolfe and other earthers want to frighten you away from frequencies above 1Ghz?  Let’s take a peek at the offerings from Wolfe’s online store, Longevity Warehouse, and see if we can divine an answer:

Earthing products don’t come cheap from David Wolfe’s online store.  And they don’t offer a single proven health benefit either. (click/enlarge)

Wake the kids and phone the neighbors!

• “Grounded” pillow cases for $129.98.
• Matching wired sheets for $179.99.
• Step out of your grounded bed every morning and exercise on a $99 earthing yoga mat.

I think I’m seeing a pattern here.  Do you, dear reader?

Ladies and and gentlemen, David Wolfe and his bank account thank you.

 

Conclusion
In the next installment of this series, we’ll show just how confused earthers are about electrical potential and the flow of electricity, batteries, and we’ll even delve into pH woo.  In subsequent episodes, we’ll ask why these folks fret about voltages developing on their skin due to EMF, yet they outlay hundreds of dollars on devices that shock themselves (when the same devices can be built for pennies on the dollar).

From there, we’ll move on to the strange practice of plugging your body into the ground outlet of your home’s electrical socket, and how this might actually kill you.

If you think the world is a strange place, stay tuned.  Pardon my poor grammar, but you ain’t seen nothing yet.

#DontCryWolfe

In his sun-gazing video, David Wolfe spends four minutes staring at a broad spectrum high frequency radio source (which he says is dangerous), and never realizes it. #Irony #DontCryWolfe

Image Credits
David Wolfe screen, product, and video captures used under Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (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.

Smoothed Solar Spectral Irradiance graph used with the kind permission of the Window to the Universe Project, derived from the NCAR Comet Program/High Altitude Observatory project.  Use of the image does not imply that these organizations endorse or agree with the viewpoints presented in this article.

References
(1) Mind Blowing Experiment With David Wolfe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idXzSZBHf1g

(2) David Wolfe Sungazing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwzfyIf-9Tg

(3) World Health Organization: What is EMF?
http://www.who.int/peh-emf/about/WhatisEMF/en/

David Wolfe’s Salty Product: “Bro! Mine Is Toxic!”

According to his product literature, David Wolfe’s Himalayan salt contains the same “toxic” element he avoids in seawater.

#DontCryWolfe
David Avocado Wolfe has once again stuck foot firmly in mouth in a YouTube video,¹ encouraging a spellbound crowd at a nature retreat to avoid drinking bromine-laced seawater, urging instead the imbibing of a solution of Himalayan Pink Salt that contains–you guessed it–bromine.  And who sells this Himalayan salt?  None other than Avocado Wolfe himself.  Bromine is listed as one of the 84 elements in the salt sold by his internet store, Longevity Warehouse.^2,3

As with all snake oil products, somehow, magically, David Avocado’s bromine is safer than the same bromine he says will poison you. Wolfe can’t take the “trace elements” dodge on his salt, claiming levels are too low to be harmful, as he clearly claims in his video that trace amounts of the element from sea water will build up to toxic levels over time.  By his own logic, eat enough of his salt, and you’re in the same (sinking) boat.

The YouTube salt video was recently posted by the Facebook woo-fighting page “NFBR But…”, and is a comic gold mine.  In one hilarious segment,  Wolfe tells the bald-faced lie that all of the earth’s water would levitate off the face of the planet if not for the salt in the earth’s oceans.  You’d think the crowd would realize they’re being snowed at this point and move on to something more interesting, like seagulls attempting oral sex with a manatee, but they continue listening to the con man.  I won’t waste the time of those of you who’ve studied third grade science by debunking the levitation claptrap. Instead, let’s concentrate on the consumer fraud Wolfe perpetrates on his unsuspecting followers.

The deception comes early in the video:  when questioned on the risks/benefits of consuming Himalayan salt  vs. the salt in ocean water, Avocado recommends Himalayan salt because, according to him, it doesn’t contain the element bromine.

Oops.

Wolfe’s company, Longevity Warehouse, sells Pink Himalayan salt, and they’re happy to provide a list of the “essential elements” it contains.  All you have to do is write and ask them what’s in their product.  I know, because I did.  Their reply:²

“The vendor has confirmed that the statement is referencing the book Water & Salt, The Essence of Life by Dr. Barbara Hendel MD and Peter Ferreira, which states that Himalayan salt can contain as many as 84 trace minerals. […] Attached is the list of minerals from the book for your reference.” — Longevity Warehouse  Support  Case #166810: Himalayan salt ingredients“

And from that attached list of minerals (actually, they’re elements), ladies and gentlemen, I give you… bromine:

Bromine is one of the listed elements in David Wolfe’s Himalayan Salt.

Yes, bromine.  Hypocrisy, thy name is Avocado.

It gets worse. Exhibiting balls the size of Texas, Wolfe goes on to claim he’s tested up to ten salts in his “lab” and found that none contain bromine, except for Morton’s– a competing salt company.

One has to wonder which salts Avocado tested in order to disparage a competitor over a “toxic” element and miss the same in his own product.

This isn’t the first time the hypocrisy of Wolfe’s Himalayan salt has been laid bare for all the world to see.  In an earlier article, I pointed out that according to his own customer service reps, Wolfe’s product contains the same “toxic” heavy metals he warns the world to avoid.  At this point, you probably won’t be surprised to learn that Avocado has a full range of detoxifying books and products available for purchase, just to cure you from the very toxins he’s feeding you.

Himalayan salt from Wolfe’s Longevity Warehouse.  According to his own literature, David Wolfe’s Himalayan salt contains bromine.  But he warns followers to avoid bromine!

The scariest thing about David Wolfe isn’t that he’s fleecing innocent people out of their paychecks.  It’s that he goes on to dissuade them from taking advantage of real, potentially-life saving medicine and instead dabble in nonsensical, mystical woo that could literally cost them their lives when it comes to serious medical conditions like cancer.  Please, for your sake, and the sake of loved ones, don’t share articles or memes from this man, no matter how cute or appealing they might be at first glance.

When someone tells you “X” is dangerous and then sells you a product containing “X” in the same breath, that should be your first clue that something is wrong.  Do you and your loved ones a favor this year.  #DontCryWolfe

 

Image Credits
David Wolfe/Longevity Warehouse web site screen and product snapshots are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (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.

Google web site screen snapshot used in compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (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) David Wolfe–The Importance of Salt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XJCnanT4ac

(2) Longevity Warehouse Customer Support  Case #166810: Himalayan salt ingredients
(Email response, references Hendel/Ferreira book.  See Reference 3)

(3) Water & Salt, The Essence of Life
Dr. Barbara Hendel MD and Peter Ferreira
ISBN 978-0974451510

Your Worst Day Ever: David Avocado’s Himalayan Salt Debunked

I’ve had more than one good belly laugh over the scientific absurdities of David Avocado Wolfe, a believer that water is a living organism whose attitude is shaped by the path taken through the pipes entering one’s house.¹² Adding to the fun, Mr. Wolfe’s fog of incomprehension regarding electricity is fodder for an upcoming article debunking his horrifically expensive “Zapper” and grounding mat products, so do stay tuned for that.

But as I launch my 2016 #DontCryWolfe series exposing this man’s dangerous pseudoscience (e.g., turning cancer patients away from effective treatments in favor of bogus vegetable cures), I’d like to kick things off with what has become the forte of my blog: proving that internet hucksters like Wolfe are selling products with exactly the same ingredients they claim will kill you.

As an example, let’s look at this Himalayan Crystal Salt available from Wolfe’s Longevity Warehouse:¹

Wolfe makes an interesting claim about this salt:²

“Himalayan salt contains the 84 natural elements needed by the body. “

Eighty-four elements needed by the body? Curiosity got the better of me, so I contacted Longevity Warehouse and asked what my body “needs”. In response, they opened help ticket “LW Support #166810: Himalayan salt ingredients“, and eventually emailed this reply:

“The vendor has confirmed that the statement is referencing the book Water & Salt, The Essence of Life by Dr. Barbara Hendel MD and Peter Ferreira, which states that Himalayan salt can contain as many as 84 trace minerals. […] Attached is the list of minerals from the book for your reference.”

You can consult the Hendel/Ferreira book¹¹ for the full list if you’re so inclined, but here are a few particular items from the publication that I think readers will find interesting:

Arsenic As 33 <0.01 ppm
Cadmium Cd 48 <0.01 ppm
Mercury Hg 80 <0.03 ppm
Lead Pb 82 0.10 ppm
Polonium Po 84 <0.001 ppm
Uranium U 92 <0.001 ppm
Plutonium Pu 94 <0.001 ppm

Before I dig into this lineup, it’s of utmost importance to understand one of Wolfe’s key claims about his product. To wit: even though the salt contains only trace amounts of 84 elements, it’s their very presence that makes the product beneficial to your health, and it’s their removal during commercial salt processing that makes regular table salt “toxic“. Speak to us, oh wise one:

“In order to make table salt, natural salt is heated to high temperatures and cleaned chemically, reducing all the important minerals and leaving only sodium and chloride”²–David Wolfe

Never mind that the salt you buy from Wolfe is still, by and large, nothing more than sodium chloride. He’s telling us that the mere presence of these 84 trace elements is important to our health. All of them. Uh oh.

Let’s look at some of these “important” elements:

 

MERCURY
Mr. Wolfe warns that mercury is one of the top ten toxins poisoning our children, and once it’s in the body, it’s impossible to remove naturally.³ So as you consume his salt, by the man’s own logic, you’re writing a toxic check your digestive system can’t cash.

No mercury-based fear mongering from a pseudoscientist would ever be complete without a reference to dental fillings, and Avocado does not disappoint. In this YouTube video,⁴ he describes mercury as one of the “highest toxic substances known to man”, and frets over the small amounts found in older dental fillings. You won’t find him agonizing over the mercury in the Himalayan salt he sells you, though. Why? Because money.

Wolfe boarded the Woo Train long ago on vaccines, not seeming to grasp whether thimerosal (a mercury-containing compound–which is not mercury) might actually be used in certain vaccines at all. Once his misinformation train left the station, a lot of innocent people have gotten sick from vaccine-preventable diseases. Avocado is fixated on his belief that your body can’t remove these heavy metals (which originated from his own Himalayan salt!) on its own.⁵ Perhaps this is why he’s happy to recommend and sell unproven detox routines to help in the cleanup.⁶

If you spend a lot of time reading Wolfe (I do), you’ll see this mantra repeated again and again when it comes to “heavy metals”:

“That is a long scary list and many of these things will not leave the body naturally.” ⁵–David Avocado Wolfe

 

LEAD
I’ll let Wolfe’s “lipstick meme” speak for itself on ingesting trace amounts of the toxic element lead:⁷

David Wolfe on lead. (click/enlarge)

I agree with Wolfe: we should be concerned about eating or drinking lead. So why is it found in his Himalayan Crystal Salt?

Wolfe frets over a literal kiss of death, yet he would have us sprinkle the same elements of our destruction over our garden salad. You’ve heard me say it countless times in my writing: Pot. Kettle. Black.

I’m looking at you, David Avocado Wolfe.

 

ARSENIC
Wolfe’s own marketing material for Himalayan salt² takes great pains to name arsenic as a toxin that we’re adding to our body in “normal” salt, and yet you’ll find the very same element in the Himalayan mix he’s selling you.

“Also considering salts come from the ocean, and our oceans are polluted with mercury, lead, arsenic and more, we are then adding more toxins into our body.”²

Along with “Shazzie”, Wolfe is listed as co-author of “Detox Your World”,⁸ a book that warns that ingesting low levels of arsenic over extended periods of time can lead to darkening of skin and warts. The book then goes on to link arsenic to several cancers, including lung, skin, bladder, and prostate.

 

URANIUM
On July 23, 2015, Wolfe tweeted a link to a story about abandoned uranium mines slowly contaminating Navajo water sources:

David Wolfe tweet on uranium (click/enlarge)

I think Wolfe is right to be concerned about the accumulation of radioactive elements such as uranium in the human body through sources such as groundwater.

My question is, why doesn’t he care that he’s listed trace amounts of uranium as one of the 84 essential elements in his Himalayan salt? One can’t help but notice the radioactive polonium and plutonium in the salt as well, even if Wolfe hasn’t spoken out specifically against them. These elements are most definitely harmful to the human body and, as Wolfe so often loves to shout from the rooftops,⁶ there’s no way to remove these toxins once we’ve ingested them (unless you subscribe to one of his detox regimens).

 

CADMIUM
Cadmium is listed repeatedly^10,11 (along with arsenic and lead) as a “metallic toxin” in Wolfe’s book, Superfoods; The Food and Medicine of the Future.

Can you name a food where you’ll find cadmium? Oh hell, I’ve ruined the surprise by now, haven’t I? Yes, it’s in Wolfe’s Himalayan Crystal salt.

 

Conclusion
There’s nothing really dangerous about Himalayan salt.  The trace amounts of elements found there are too small to do you any good–or harm.  David Wolfe’s health and science advice swing from harmless, laughable blurbs such as “chocolate being a magical octave of the sun”, to irresponsible, and patently dangerous claims such as ginger being more powerful than chemotherapy in cancer treatment. The former is funny; the latter can cost someone their life.

Wolfe lures unsuspecting readers to his web site through the use of cute memes featuring the likes of Charlie Brown and Snoopy, drops a load of dangerous pseudoscience on them that could dissuade them from seeking real medical attention, and sells them products that by his own claims could damage their health.

Do the world a favor and don’t share David Wolfe memes in 2016. Please share, and tag with #DontCryWolfe. Thanks for reading.

#DontCryWolfe

Edit History
18 Jan 2016: Four astute followers caught the embarrassing misspelling of prostate; added some extra verbiage to assure worried readers they don’t need to throw out their pink salt.  It’s completely safe.

Image Credits
David Wolfe/Longevity Warehouse web site screen and product snapshots are used in strict compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107 of United States copyright law (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) Longevity Warehouse David Wolfe Himalayan Salt (One Pound)
http://www.longevitywarehouse.com/catalogsearch/result/?cat=0&q=himalayan+salt

(2) Himalayan Salt Claim
http://www.longevitywarehouse.com/david-wolfe-foods-himalayan-crystal-salt-1-lb

(3) Top Ten Toxins Poisoning Our Kids
http://www.davidwolfe.com/toxins-poisoning-kids/

(4) Dental fillings wit mercury in them. (David Wolfe)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmvewxE4D-4

(5) Vaccines and Vaccine Safety
http://www.davidwolfe.com/vaccines-and-vaccine-safety/

(6) David Wolfe Vaccine Detox
http://www.davidwolfe.com/vaccine-detox-children-adults-remove-heavy-metals-toxins/

(7) Wolfe’s Lipstick/Lead Meme
https://www.facebook.com/DavidAvocadoWolfe/photos/a.10150364951666512.342374.102515706511/10152895865466512/

(8) Detox Your World (Shazzie, David Wolfe)
North Atlantic Books
ISBN 978-1-58394-450-1
https://books.google.com/books?id=fP5QuCv05vYC&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72&dq=david+wolfe+arsenic&source=bl&ots=pIxgnCJpYa&sig=er7xVWgZ6VZAwf2KlVUtU658emg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAjgKahUKEwidgOmfwpDIAhUEWh4KHdwODs0#v=onepage&q=david%20wolfe%20arsenic&f=false

(9) David Wolfe Uranium Tweet
https://twitter.com/davidwolfe/status/624365403381219328

(10) SuperFoods: The Food And Medicine Of The Future
North Atlantic Books
ISBN 978-1-55643-776-2
https://books.google.com/books?id=6EtHo7N3-PYC&pg=PT51&lpg=PT51&dq=david+wolfe+copper&source=bl&ots=Jg-DZ0J5X4&sig=DGbZnuv0bNDABzNCebBSxwulB6w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvnuP59obKAhVFMj4KHYICDZY4ChDoAQglMAE#v=onepage&q=david%20wolfe%20cadmium&f=false

(10) SuperFoods: The Food And Medicine Of The Future
North Atlantic Books
ISBN 978-1-55643-776-2
https://books.google.com/books?id=6EtHo7N3-PYC&pg=PT51&lpg=PT51&dq=david+wolfe+copper&source=bl&ots=Jg-DZ0J5X4&sig=DGbZnuv0bNDABzNCebBSxwulB6w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjvnuP59obKAhVFMj4KHYICDZY4ChDoAQglMAE#v=onepage&q=david%20wolfe%20cadmium&f=false

(11) Water & Salt:: The Essence Of Life: The Healing Power of Nature
Natural Resources
ISBN: 978-0-97445-151-0
http://www.amazon.com/Water-Salt-Essence-Healing-Nature/dp/B001DVZMW6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453116977&sr=8-1&keywords=Water+%26+Salt%2C+The+Essence+of+Life

(12) David Wolfe Shares on Getting the Best Water You Can Get
http://www.donotlink.com/hx8w

(13) Chocolate As An Octave Of The Sun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzMmzd2qJVw

(14) Ginger Stronger Than Chemo
http://www.davidwolfe.com/ginger-stronger-than-chemo-kills-cancer-cells/