Dr. Mercola interviews Ron Paul!

[Jandrsn21]

I'd rather him associate with Alex Jones.

I don't get people some time! Mercola has one of the most popular alternative health information websites in the US. Actually voted #1 at the Huffington Post. That's a huge interview to really spread the raw milk message even further and catch the attention of some independents and dems!

Every talk show host has their place, and since Ron has the ability to stay true to his message and appeal to nearly all the various "groups" in the US, I say more the merrier!

Think about the combos that shouldn't work in normal political circumstances, however, Ron has been able to pull these groups together with a message of liberty and obeying the constitution! Very Powerful!

 

[linusPAULing]

I haven't really paid much attention to Mercola over the years but I am a client of both Dr. David Williams and Dr. Stephen Sinatra. They have plenty of cutting edge nutritional supplements that make me a well oiled machine. Their absorption and purity rates are among the highest out there. I imagine that most of these alternative Drs are pretty much in the same ball park. Since I've never had any chronic health related issues, I can't attest to some of the more outlandish treatment options being proposed by some of them but I do stand by the nutritional products that many of them put out.

Folks would be astonished how effective some supplements are!!! They would be blown away.

With that said, I've come across alternative doctors and supplements alike that were not very effective. I've seen a couple practitioners for which I'm extremely skeptical. I wouldn't be surprised if they are attempting treatments that are worthless and I can only hope that they are not defrauding people. With that said, I trust the free market to weed the ineffective practitioners out. The really good alternative doctors are in exceptionally high demand... for some it can take months to get an initial visit because word of prior successes of these practitioners has spread.

 

[linusPAULing]

You read my mind! I'd be more than willing to endorse holistic medicine if there was any evidence that it worked. I'm not biased against alternative treatment, but simply the evidence is contrary to the claims made or nonexistent in controlled studies. Take raw milk for example, a quick pubmed query returned the following article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics:

"An exclusive, unmodified goat's milk diet can cause significant morbidity and even mortality in infants, including electrolyte imbalances, metabolic acidosis, folate deficiency, and species-specific and nonspecific antigenicity. Unpasteurized goat milk has its additional infectious risks. However, information supporting this practice abounds on the Internet and in specific cultures. Our case report and literature review support the need to strongly advocate against this practice."

Pediatrics. 2010 Apr;125(4):e973-7. Epub 2010 Mar 15.

Unfortunately, the majority of people simply Google 'raw milk' or 'raw food' and read websites created with no scientific basis. There's even a movement out there that advocates drinking your own urine daily. I'd urge everyone to consider all of the scientific evidence and to NEVER put stock in anecdotal reports of friends, colleagues, or John Doe on the internet.

I wanted to address this in a separate reply... regarding your study. An "exclusive" goat milk diet... I don't think very many folks really think that would be a good idea for an adult human? I presume that you presume that Mercola has never recommended an exclusive raw dairy diet.

 

[Brennon]

Yet again... who is funding the studies accessible by pubmed? Who's paying for studies on natural treatments that can't be patented?

Considering I've conducted some of this research myself, I can assure you no pharmaceutical company has ever paid me personally or funded my research.

I wanted to address this in a separate reply... regarding your study. An "exclusive" goat milk diet... I don't think very many folks really think that would be a good idea for an adult human? I presume that you presume that Mercola has never recommended an exclusive raw dairy diet.

I would certainly hope not, unfortunately the practice is prevalent.

Mercola claims that vaccines result in increased risk of autism. Something that has never had any scientific evidence backing it; something that pharmaceutical companies have no profit motive in as vaccines prevent disease and account for miniscule profits. It is also a claim I find to be irresponsible.

 

[squarepusher]

You read my mind! I'd be more than willing to endorse holistic medicine if there was any evidence that it worked. I'm not biased against alternative treatment, but simply the evidence is contrary to the claims made or nonexistent in controlled studies. Take raw milk for example, a quick pubmed query returned the following article published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics:

"An exclusive, unmodified goat's milk diet can cause significant morbidity and even mortality in infants, including electrolyte imbalances, metabolic acidosis, folate deficiency, and species-specific and nonspecific antigenicity. Unpasteurized goat milk has its additional infectious risks. However, information supporting this practice abounds on the Internet and in specific cultures. Our case report and literature review support the need to strongly advocate against this practice."

Pediatrics. 2010 Apr;125(4):e973-7. Epub 2010 Mar 15.

Unfortunately, the majority of people simply Google 'raw milk' or 'raw food' and read websites created with no scientific basis. There's even a movement out there that advocates drinking your own urine daily. I'd urge everyone to consider all of the scientific evidence and to NEVER put stock in anecdotal reports of friends, colleagues, or John Doe on the internet.

so, according to your logic, since we can't use (regular pasteurized) goat's milk as our entire exclusive food source, then all raw milk is bad?

I really question your reading comprehension/thinking skills.

 

[Ronpauljones]

I'd rather him associate with Alex Jones.

Whats wrong with Alex Jones?

 

[Brennon]

so, according to your logic, since we can't use (regular pasteurized) goat's milk as our entire exclusive food source, then all raw milk is bad?

I really question your reading comprehension/thinking skills.

Actually, it specifically states unmodified goat's milk: that means raw, not pasteurized. It's espoused on the internet all too often as something suitable for infants instead of formula:

http://doularightthing.blogspot.com/2010/07/raw-goats-milk-for-babies_24.html

Mercola advocates similar, but with raw chicken liver grated into the formula.

 

[Brennon]

Whats wrong with Alex Jones?

lol...I don't have personal beef with Mr. Jones. I think he tends to go into extremes and starts sensationalizing things. Whether you agree or not with him, it hurts Ron Paul with the larger audiences to be associated as the MSM will characterize Paul as nutty.

 

[squarepusher]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21155907

Clin Exp Allergy. 2011 Jan;41(1):29-35. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.2010.03665.x.
Can farm milk consumption prevent allergic diseases?
Braun-Fahrländer C, von Mutius E.
Source

Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. [email protected]
Abstract

Cow's milk is an important part of human diet and a source of food allergy for some individuals. Medical guidance strongly discourages consumption of raw milk because of the known health risk associated with pathogenic bacteria present in unpasteurized milk. Despite these risks there is a growing body of epidemiological evidence suggesting that consumption of unprocessed cow's milk does not increase but rather decreases the risk of asthma, hay fever and atopic sensitisation. The article reviews the epidemiological literature and discusses components of unprocessed milk potentially responsible for this protection. It focuses on the role of bacteria in raw milk, the fatty acid profile, whey proteins and finally the role of allergens in milk. Although the epidemiological evidence consistently suggest a protective role of unprocessed cow's milk consumption on the development of asthma, hay fever and atopic sensitization the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood and the consumption of raw milk cannot be recommended as a preventive measure for allergic diseases.

© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

 

[squarepusher]

Actually, it specifically states unmodified goat's milk: that means raw, not pasteurized. It's espoused on the internet all too often as something suitable for infants instead of formula:

http://doularightthing.blogspot.com/2010/07/raw-goats-milk-for-babies_24.html

Mercola advocates similar, but with raw chicken liver grated into the formula.

"An exclusive, unmodified goat's milk diet can cause significant morbidity and even mortality in infants, including electrolyte imbalances, metabolic acidosis, folate deficiency, and species-specific and nonspecific antigenicity. Unpasteurized goat milk has its additional infectious risks. However, information supporting this practice abounds on the Internet and in specific cultures. Our case report and literature review support the need to strongly advocate against this practice."


there seems to be a distinction between unmodified, and unpasteurized because they are separate terms used. Its a bit ambigious, besides

If you look at the 'typical' baby formula you buy in the stores, its essentially filled with sugar and you wonder why we have an obesity epidemic? We are feeding our babies something akin to a large coca-cola. Besides, if you are really siding with mainstream dieting info, can you explain the out of control obesity, cancer and heart disease in the past 30 years? and if you start telling me its because we need to reduce our saturated fats I will start laughing right at my computer screen

 

[Brennon]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21155907

Clin Exp Allergy. 2011 Jan;41(1):29-35. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.2010.03665.x.
Can farm milk consumption prevent allergic diseases?
Braun-Fahrländer C, von Mutius E.
Source

Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland. [email protected]
Abstract

Cow's milk is an important part of human diet and a source of food allergy for some individuals. Medical guidance strongly discourages consumption of raw milk because of the known health risk associated with pathogenic bacteria present in unpasteurized milk. Despite these risks there is a growing body of epidemiological evidence suggesting that consumption of unprocessed cow's milk does not increase but rather decreases the risk of asthma, hay fever and atopic sensitisation. The article reviews the epidemiological literature and discusses components of unprocessed milk potentially responsible for this protection. It focuses on the role of bacteria in raw milk, the fatty acid profile, whey proteins and finally the role of allergens in milk. Although the epidemiological evidence consistently suggest a protective role of unprocessed cow's milk consumption on the development of asthma, hay fever and atopic sensitization the underlying mechanisms are not yet understood and the consumption of raw milk cannot be recommended as a preventive measure for allergic diseases.

© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Cool article, I hadn't read that one. Looks like there's still research to be done in that regard. Just keep in mind there's also no causal link between lung cancer and cigarettes, and research has indicated a protective effect against Parkinson's if you're a smoker. Why that's relevant is that there's a multitude of aspects to every drug / chemical / food / etc. For example, there's evidence that suggests a correlation with hot tea and coffee and throat cancer, but other benefits are offered by those beverages. It's all relative and all of the different aspects need to be considered.

I'm not trying to say raw milk is ALWAYS bad or ALWAYS good. I merely advocate thorough research with whatever you choose to personally engage in. Raw milk isn't really on my radar, unless we're speaking of infants. However, advocating parents not vaccinate their children is something I take particular issue with.

Besides, if you are really siding with mainstream dieting info, can you explain the out of control obesity, cancer and heart disease in the past 30 years? and if you start telling me its because we need to reduce our saturated fats I will start laughing right at my computer screen

Never said I sided with anyone on 'dieting info'...? The research indicates that the current obesity 'epidemic' has a lot more to do with activity levels and less to do with dietary choices for the most part. As far as cancer goes, I have my own theories related to obesity, phytoestrogens, massive over-prescription of birth control pills, and people simply living longer.

 

[Lymeade-Lady]

Dr. Mercola is the REASON I joined the Revolution about 4 years ago! Don't knock it--people into alternative med are very open to alternative politics. I was. And I was practically a neo-con until I saw the google interview Mercola posted on his e-mail list (which is massive). I started researching and quickly changed my opinions on the war and lots of other things. The whole thing was based on dr. mercola. Before that I only voted and without much being informed. Since then I'm been a 2x precinct chair, 2x county repub. conv. rep and 1x state republican rep. I've been door to door and held signs. Don't knock it!

 

[Ronpauljones]

lol...I don't have personal beef with Mr. Jones. I think he tends to go into extremes and starts sensationalizing things. Whether you agree or not with him, it hurts Ron Paul with the larger audiences to be associated as the MSM will characterize Paul as nutty.

I'm not convinced it would hurt Paul. I understand the reasoning behind that statement though. We need to convince everybody to vote for Ron, even the people that don't believe in anything that has been labeled a conspiracy theory, and yes, even the people that somehow still believe the official 9/11 story.

 

[Ninja Homer]

"An exclusive, unmodified goat's milk diet can cause significant morbidity and even mortality in infants, including electrolyte imbalances, metabolic acidosis, folate deficiency, and species-specific and nonspecific antigenicity. Unpasteurized goat milk has its additional infectious risks. However, information supporting this practice abounds on the Internet and in specific cultures. Our case report and literature review support the need to strongly advocate against this practice."

Who in their right mind would give any milk besides the mother's breast milk to an infant. That's just stupid, and doesn't prove anything about non-infants drinking raw milk.

I'm pretty sure that when Ron Paul was talking about people drinking raw milk being crazy, he was being sarcastic. Chances are, he grew up drinking raw milk. Many people around his age and older did, depending on how rural they were.

Dr. Mercola has around 1.8 million subscribers to his newsletter, and his viewers extend a lot further than that.

 

[specsaregood]

I'm pretty sure that when Ron Paul was talking about people drinking raw milk being crazy, he was being sarcastic. Chances are, he grew up drinking raw milk. Many people around his age and older did, depending on how rural they were.

He was and he did.

Also on the trivia side, do you know how people used to make their milk last longer before refrigeration was commonplace? They'd put a silver coin in the milk and leave it there.

 

[Brennon]

Who in their right mind would give any milk besides the mother's breast milk to an infant. That's just stupid, and doesn't prove anything about non-infants drinking raw milk.

I'm pretty sure that when Ron Paul was talking about people drinking raw milk being crazy, he was being sarcastic. Chances are, he grew up drinking raw milk. Many people around his age and older did, depending on how rural they were.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...ve-to-conventional-infant-formula-part-1.aspx

While in the article he acknowledges that a woman's breast milk is better, here's his formula for raw goat's milk for infants.

Variation: Goat Milk Formula

Although goat milk is rich in fat, it must be used with caution in infant feeding as it lacks folic acid and is low in vitamin B12, both of which are essential to the growth and development of the infant. Inclusion of nutritional yeast to provide folic acid is essential.

To compensate for low levels of vitamin B12, if preparing the Milk-Based Formula (above) with goat's milk, add 2 teaspoons frozen organic raw chicken liver, finely grated to the batch of formula. Be sure to begin egg-yolk feeding at four months.



The interview I was referencing was one where he was asked about drug legalization, particularly heroin, and he used the analogy of raw milk and people may believe crazy things but it's their right to do so. I don't care if Ron Paul legalizes raw milk, as I don't believe it should be illegal, however if he actually came out endorsed it, I'd have serious second thoughts about supporting him. In any case, I could throw out research all day about raw milk, e.g.

Br Med J 2 : 238 doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6184.238 (Published 28 July 1979)

Association between raw milk and human Salmonella dublin infection.

Between 1971 and 1975 the mean annual incidence of human Salmonella dublin infection in California increased more than five-fold. Investigation of the increase showed an association with exposure to raw milk in 44 out of 113 cases. Of these 44 patients, 35 had used certified raw milk from a single dairy. Faecal swabs confirmed S dublin infection in the dairy herd and the milk, and so a pasteurisation order was issued. S dublin appears to be an unusually invasive and life-threatening salmonella serotype: 65% of isolations were obtained from non-faecal specimens (mainly blood cultures), 89 patients (80%) were admitted to hospital and 22 patients died. Almost three-quarters of the patients were aged 20 or over, and half had serious underlying diseases, particularly leukaemias and lymphomas. Five patients presented with infected vascular lesions that included aneurysms with abscesses and infections of previous arterial graft sites. The public's increasing desire for a "health food" such as raw milk should be tempered with an appreciation of its attendant risk to health.

It won't convince any of you otherwise. Some people don't respond well to empirical evidence. I'm not sure why raw milk became the focus of this discussion. It's one of the far less ridiculous things thrown out there by Mercola.

 

[Yieu]

I cannot trust Mercola, because he has a rabid anti-vegetarian bias. It amounts to no more than prejudice -- so I cannot trust anything he says if he refuses to admit that it is not unhealthy, because it is a simple fact of the matter that it is not unhealthy. I don't even ask that he go as far as to call it 'healthy' -- merely going as far as to admit that it is 'not unhealthy' is good enough for me, but instead he ferociously attacks it without basis. This is enough to prove to me that he has an unscientific bias against vegetarianism, and is instead arguing emotionally against it out of his own preference.

 

[DRHChi]

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/a...ve-to-conventional-infant-formula-part-1.aspx
In any case, I could throw out research all day about raw milk, e.g.

Br Med J 2 : 238 doi: 10.1136/bmj.2.6184.238 (Published 28 July 1979)

Association between raw milk and human Salmonella dublin infection.

Between 1971 and 1975 the mean annual incidence of human Salmonella dublin infection in California increased more than five-fold. Investigation of the increase showed an association with exposure to raw milk in 44 out of 113 cases. Of these 44 patients, 35 had used certified raw milk from a single dairy. Faecal swabs confirmed S dublin infection in the dairy herd and the milk, and so a pasteurisation order was issued. S dublin appears to be an unusually invasive and life-threatening salmonella serotype: 65% of isolations were obtained from non-faecal specimens (mainly blood cultures), 89 patients (80%) were admitted to hospital and 22 patients died. Almost three-quarters of the patients were aged 20 or over, and half had serious underlying diseases, particularly leukaemias and lymphomas. Five patients presented with infected vascular lesions that included aneurysms with abscesses and infections of previous arterial graft sites. The public's increasing desire for a "health food" such as raw milk should be tempered with an appreciation of its attendant risk to health.

It won't convince any of you otherwise. Some people don't respond well to empirical evidence. I'm not sure why raw milk became the focus of this discussion. It's one of the far less ridiculous things thrown out there by Mercola.

Wait I want to make sure I get this straight because understanding empirical evidence is critical. Is this article saying that over a 4 year period only 44 people got Salmonella from raw milk in the entire state of California, and of those 44 cases, 35 were due to a single dairy that mismanaged its cows? On top of that, half of the patients that got sick already had serious underlying illnesses which compromised their immune systems? If I read this correctly then I would suggest this is evidence that raw milk is safe.

 

[Paulatized]

Let's please call it fresh milk rather than raw milk.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...d-to-Fresh-Milk&highlight=raw+milk+fresh+milk

 

[Brennon]

Wait I want to make sure I get this straight because understanding empirical evidence is critical. Is this article saying that over a 4 year period only 44 people got Salmonella from raw milk in the entire state of California, and of those 44 cases, 35 were due to a single dairy that mismanaged its cows? On top of that, half of the patients that got sick already had serious underlying illnesses which compromised their immune systems? If I read this correctly then I would suggest this is evidence that raw milk is safe.

Scientifically speaking, nutritional / health benefits of raw milk have been not established. Negative effects have been established including death, albeit relatively low. As a result, the scientific community is going to recommend pasteurizing milk. It's as simple as that. Like I said before, I don't believe people selling raw milk at a farmer's market should be treated like criminals, but they should also have to clearly state that the product has not been pasteurized.

I don't like the FDA any more than you guys, but they have a purpose. I think electronic cigarettes are an amazing creation for smokers to get away from tobacco, but the FDA tried to make them illegal. They often overstep their bounds and are given far too much regulatory authority.