It’s been a while since we last visited the online store of Vani Hari’s (the “Food Babe’s”) trusted advisor, Dr. Mark Hyman. I was poking around on his virtual shelves last night and noticed the inventory had grown substantially since discovering he was selling a self-described cancer-causing supplement a few months ago. Given the shady history of all of Food Babe’s advisors, five will get you ten that we’ll discover another skeleton in Hyman’s closet now that he’s marketing all these new wares. So I thought that you, dear reader, might like to do some online shopping with me. What say you? Let’s pull out those credit cards and…
Oops! I’m so embarrassed. Safety first! Before we shop here at Bad Science Debunked, we always review our Safety Rule O’The Day. If you’re a regular here, you know that these rules always come from the people we’re actually buying from.
Today we’re going to pay close attention to parabens. For critical advice on this class of chemicals, Dr. Hyman links us to the gold standard of medical web sites, The Huffington Post, which puts on its best white lab coat and tells us: “Breast Cancer Study Finds Parabens in Virtually All Tumors.”1,2
Dr. Mark Hyman shares his wisdom on parabens (by linking to a Huffington Post article). (click/enlarge)
The Huffington Post piece links parabens to cancer, and since Hyman is a golly-gee-whiz real live doctor who hardly ever sells us product he says are harmful, I suppose we’d better take his advice and avoid parabens.
Right, then! We can finally go shopping!
Hey, how about this nice jar of supplements? I have no idea what the hell it does, but it’s got a nice scientific-sounding name–OmegaGenics EPA-DHA 500 EC–and it’s sold by a doctor:3
This supplement sold by Dr. Mark Hyman contains methylparaben and propylparaben, which he links to breast cancer. (click/enlarge)
But you know, the one thing we should probably do before we type in our credit card number and click the “buy” button is peruse the list of ingredients. You can never be too careful these days. Why, just moments ago, Dr. Hyman was telling us how dangerous parabens were. So what’s in this supplement he’s selling us? Ahem:3
Marine lipid concentrate [fish (anchovy, sardine, and mackerel) oil], softgel shell (gelatin, glycerin, water), enteric coating [methacrylic acid copolymer, propylene glycol, triacetin, glyceryl monostearate, triethyl citrate, vanillin, polysorbate 80, methyl paraben (preservative), and propyl paraben (preservative)], natural lemon flavor, mixed tocopherols (antioxidant), rosemary extract, and ascorbyl palmitate (antioxidant)
Wait. What? Methylparaben and propylparaben? But Hyman just posted a link to Facebook that warned us that parabens were linked to cancer!
You knew this was coming, didn’t you? 😉
This isn’t the first time Dr. Hyman has been caught with his pants down. He has previously claimed that caramel level IV coloring causes cancer, but that’s exactly the additive you’ll find in the Neuromins supplements sold via his online store. He warned that the artificial sweetener xylitol would slow your metabolism and add belly fat, but sells the supplement Endefen, which contains xylitol. Pure cane sugar is to be avoided, according to the good doctor, but you’ll find it in his $50 Pure Lean Chocolate Powder.
To quote the great Winnie the Pooh: “Oh, bother!”.
It’s not hard to see how poor Vani Hari (the “Food Babe”) went astray in her own career, having been caught selling nearly three dozen products containing the same ingredients she says are toxic, when she’s getting her advice from doctors like Mark Hyman, who sets such a fine example. What will we find next on the shelves of the stores of a Food Babe advisor?
Stay tuned and see.
References
(1) Mark Hyman Facebook Post on Parabens
https://www.facebook.com/drmarkhyman/posts/100469773412731
(2) Huffington Post: Breast Cancer Study Finds Parabens in Virtually All Tumors
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/organic-authoritycom/breast-cancer-parabens-_b_1209041.html
(3) Omega Genenics EPA-DHC 500 Enteric Coated 120 Count
http://store.drhyman.com/omegagenics-epa-dha-500-enteric-coated-120-ct.html
Image Credits
Mark Hyman Facebook and product screen snapshots are used in strict 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.
Mark Hyman “rear view mirror” illustration by Mark Alsip/Bad Science Debunked. Used under parody/education 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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