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Letter to the Editor
Bradenton Herald

Published in Bradenton Herald
Jan. 23, 2006

Claims not proven

By Jessie C. Gruman

You do your readers no favor by picking up the Associated Press story of Jan. 19 about a fellow with a new diet based on limiting how many flavors you eat at one meal. Yes, he is a Yale doctor who appears on ABC and Oprah and who writes for the New York Times. And maybe he has latched on to a truly revolutionary development in weight loss.

But he is also selling a book based on the flimsiest of evidence. The AP science writer was remiss, as were your editors, in promoting medical news based on an experiment with 20 people over a 12-week period. Calling that proof of anything doesn't cut the mustard. Science and health reporting needs to be based on real evidence, not on book jackets.

Jessie Gruman
President
Center for the Advancement of Health
Washington, DC