A few people read this blog. I actually checked the stats just before, and was surprised to see that each day a significant number of people check in and read what I have to say.
So, given that people seem interested in what I have to write, I’ve decided I should take advantage of this. With this profile, I am going to do good for the world.
Just so you know – because I’m all about disclosure – I’m a classically trained flute player. Also, I like to cook. And I’m quite good at air hockey. Also, I write some mindless crap a few days each week and publish it here, so that OBVIOUSLY qualifies me as MORE than suitable to give advice – any sort of advice I’d like, but specifically medical and nutrition advice. In fact, I’d argue that I am probably more qualified than most people who have gone to medical school, because they have been brainwashed by all the evidence and peer-reviewed journals they’ve been forced to study. I haven’t.
I think that it’s fair for me to advise that insulin is actually really poisonous. It’s dangerous and it’s dodgy. Doctors, of course, won’t tell you this. They want to keep you on insulin because they are in the pocket of Big Pharma, and like their holiday houses on the Peninsula, so they won’t tell you what they know.
Really, you should all be off insulin and use air and water, and maybe some cinnamon, which is NATURAL and can be found in NATURE and is ORGANIC. Because NATURE’S NATURAL ORGANICS are health care. Medicine (such as insulin) is sick care.
Also – if you are ingesting grains, dairy, fruit, vegetables, sugar, protein, carbs, caffeine, flowers, condiments, oils, sauces and/or food (except organic kale) and drink (except organic kale juice), you should stop. Dietitians know this, but they won’t tell you that because they are in the pocket of Big Food and they want you to be sick so you’ll go to doctors who are in the pocket of Big Pharma.
It’s the circle of life and everyone everywhere is trying to keep you sick. Okay? OKAY?????
And, finally, I’ve seen the way and realise now that vaccines are really dangerous and I wish that I’d never vaccinated my kid and will be cancelling my flu vax appointment for early next month. I’m trying to work out if I can actually somehow withdraw the vaccines I had injected into my kid last week so she doesn’t have those evil pollutants floating around her otherwise perfect self. Vaccines are full of toxins and heavy metals and evil pixies. Plus, vaccines cause frizzy hair, skin tags and bugs to fly into your mouth making you cough. Doctors know this, but won’t tell you because … well, you know why…
Also: kale. Because KALE, KALE, KALE, KALE, KALE!! (Must be organic.)
I know. I sound like a lunatic, right?
Actually, I sound kinda like Pete Evans. To be honest, I didn’t watch Pete Evans’ interview last night. I’m not interested in seeing him being allowed to spruik his dangerous crap on a television station that employs him (poor form, Channel 7), plus he’s full of shit. Most importantly, we were watching ‘Shut Up and Sing’ in preparation for seeing the Dixie Chicks next Saturday night and needed to bring the kidlet up to speed with her political education. #TeachingMoment
But I did catch up online with some of his rubbish claims and am once again flabbergasted that people actually believe what he has to say and defend his right to say it.
If Pete Evans said ‘You know, it’s always best to eat fresh, healthy, in-season foods and as a chef, I’m going to share some recipes that will show you how to make an easy and healthy dinner’, I’d be ALL over it. I’d love that! I’d make his recipes and then Instagram the shit out of them. Because I care and share.
But that’s not what Pete Evans does. Pete Evans tells you that fluoride is bad and that babies should be fed bone broth and drink camel’s milk and that sunscreen is pointless. He blunders about in a way that is oddly (and frighteningly) similar to fools including Donald Trump and Pauline Hanson who seem to think that just because they have a public profile, they are qualified to give health advice.
And people believe their claims and then blindly follow them.
I (somewhat stupidly) had a look at Pete Evans’ Facebook page today and found this:
I’m not here to debate whether any people are taking medicines they maybe don’t need to take. I’ve no qualifications in health (real or imagined) and it’s not my place.
But this sort of meme is really damaging because it lacks any sophistication at all. It suggests that if a doctor puts you on any drug, they do not have your best interests at heart.
Could our HCPs be more holistic about the way they treat us? Maybe. Do some doctors over- and unnecessarily – prescribe drugs? Possibly. Do ALL doctors do this? Absolutely not. Most doctors – the vast majority, in fact – do not prescribe drugs that people don’t need. (I’ll just let the conspiracy theorists make their ‘ALL DOCTORS ARE IN THE POCKETS OF BIG PHARMA claims for a bit…Done? Okay, let’s move on.)
And, of course, I’m not stupid, and I know that when Evans puts up a meme like this on his Facebook page, he’s not really about people like me who need insulin to stay alive.
But the problem is that not everyone realises that.
Just last week, we heard another case of a child dying after his parents took him off insulin to treat his diabetes using ‘natural methods’. I still have people telling me to try <insert ridiculous and pointless herb> to treat my diabetes. There will always be people who just need a tiny push to stop the drugs they’ve been prescribed, because meds are bad, right? And natural is good, right? No. Not right.
Evans (and his ilk) speak in generalisations and sound bites that make sense to some people. But he fails to in any way address the intricacies of health. And he certainly has no concept of the complexities of living with a chronic health condition and how the drugs we take HELP keep us well (and alive).
This could be because he is a chef and doesn’t need to. And if he stayed being a chef and shut the fuck up about health, I wouldn’t be writing this blog post. Or getting into online arguments with members of his ‘tribe’ who keep offering me unsolicited and wrong medical advice*.
*Also – note to self: You are a fool for voluntarily falling down the rabbit hole and engaging with conspiracy theorists!
15 comments
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March 27, 2017 at 4:06 pm
Anna
Love belonging to your tribe. The science beats anecdotal evidence every day. . Anna M
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March 28, 2017 at 12:14 pm
RenzaS
Science! I love science!!! Thanks for reading.
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March 27, 2017 at 5:19 pm
Glen
Far from a fool. These fools need to be brought back to Earth/reality………..I tried kale……once!
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March 27, 2017 at 5:20 pm
Glen
Oops, lost a ‘You are’ from the beginning of that post.
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March 28, 2017 at 12:15 pm
RenzaS
My husband thinks kale was invented by hipsters about 5 years ago and that we never heard of it before that!
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March 27, 2017 at 9:18 pm
Jeann
He is an absolute idiot and it is scary that some people listen to and believe him.
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March 27, 2017 at 10:51 pm
Renee Veldsman
Brilliantly said.
Sent from my iPad
>
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March 28, 2017 at 12:15 pm
RenzaS
Thank you!
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March 27, 2017 at 11:38 pm
Victoria Burns
Yup. Still so much misunderstanding, miseducation, about t1d and how insulin is a Life Sustaining therapy. Last week I had someone suggest I reverse my diabetes by fasting. You hit the nail on the head: No matter now raw, organic , kate-centric we eat we will still need insulin de survive!!!
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March 28, 2017 at 12:15 pm
RenzaS
Yep. Yep. Yep! Thanks for reading.
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March 28, 2017 at 12:12 pm
Rick Phillips
Noni water. Ever hear of it? I had not. Until a friend of mine told me he was drinking it in order to stop taking insulin. I did not grab him and tell him he was a fool. In two weeks he died, DKA followed by cardiac arrest.
Yeah, I have a problem with these nuts.
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March 28, 2017 at 12:16 pm
RenzaS
Oh no, Rick. That’s terrible. I’m so sorry. I have heard of noni water – in fact, I frequently am sent emails claiming that it will cure my diabetes….
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March 28, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Rick Phillips
I was too shy to say look this is just wrong. Never again, ever. My buddy had been using it in place of insulin for 2 months. I will never be silent again.
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March 28, 2017 at 3:43 pm
Annabelle Leve
Oh, you’ve hit the nail on the head yet again Renza! The number of times I’ve heard this rot – and tried to argue, and had to rationalise why I take my meds – AND vaccinate myself and my kids. And when you get accused of just being scared of trying ‘natural cures’ when you know the consequences of not taking insulin and they are not nice. FFS. Never heard of this guy as I’m out of the country but what a dangerous message he is sending out. And Rick yes, don’t be silent – sorry to hear about your friend.
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March 28, 2017 at 4:27 pm
pam oka
haha love it Renza. Brilliant. It would be funny if people like him didn’t influence so many vulnerable people. Its natural to look for a quick, easy, “healthy” fix to a condition like Type 1 Diabetes. I too have been advised to go on all sorts of ‘natural’ diets to ‘cure’ myself (I was diagnosed 18 years ago..mature age onset type1) If only!!!! You can only laugh when you read that a daily dose of cinnamon is the answer! Bit like weight loss remedies really!! none of them work (for me) either!!!
Keep up the good work Renza…love your stuff!
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