Page 59 - Winter2008

All Thumbs Book Reviews

B (although we don’t recommend taking isolated has to hold up when wet or greasy, like French After
2
supplements). A big omission in Murphy’s book fry bags and boxes, hamburger wrappers, pizza
is a lack of discussion on the role of iodine in boxes, etc. reading this
protecting against fluoride, but as we have seen Soy already has many strikes against it and book, you will
many times, the last, best defense against a toxic this book points out a couple of them. One of understand
world is good nutrition. those strikes is that soy may be a fluoride con-
Murphy goes into considerable detail about centrator. why fluoride
the effects of fluoride on various organs of the What do Baycol, Fenfluramine (Fen/Phen), is the poison
body and the way it interferes with vitamins and Dexfenfluramine, Vioxx®, Haloperidol (anti- that the devil
minerals. He reviews numerous animal studies. psychotic), Prozac and about 30 percent (or more,
He draws on studies from other countries where depending on who you listen to) of all pharma- personally
it may be a little less politically incorrect to study ceuticals have in common? If you’ve been paying prefers.
the negative effects of fluoride. He has a couple attention, you probably know the answer even if
of pages on the brilliant work of Dr. Phyllis Mul- you’ve never heard of these drugs. They contain
lenix, who studied the effect of fluoride on the fluoride. Many of them have also been recalled
brain (and who was a speaker at Wise Traditions by the FDA. Methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug,
2007). is another example.
Murphy also discusses how fluoride plays a This book is loaded with good information
role in mad cow disease. It is a major component but it is not an easy read and does have a few
of the organophosphate used to try to eradicate flaws, so I’m giving it a qualified thumbs up.
the warble fly in England. He refers to the ex- There are enough typos to be slightly distract-
cellent work of Mark Purdey in sorting out the ing to me. Vitamin B is referred to as cyano-
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real cause of mad cow disease. In Mr. Purdey’s cobalamin, the potentially toxic form found in
travels, he noticed factories putting fluoride into most supplements. The methylcobalamin form
the environment everywhere he found mad cow is preferable. Murphy talks a little about the role
disease or its equivalent in other species. of Freon in thinning the ozone layer, which is
Some people are aware that Teflon® is a debatable at best. Nevertheless, after reading
toxic fluoride product. What few know is that this book, you will understand why fluoride is
Teflon is now showing up in food packaging that the poison that the devil personally prefers.
Review by Tim Boyd

THE SLOW POISONING OF AMERICA by John E. Erb and T. Michelle Erb

The Slow Poisoning of America provides an excellent compendium of studies showing the toxicity of MSG and its evil twin
aspartame. MSG plays an important role in many of our modern illnesses—obesity, diabetes, vision problems, headaches,
attention deficit disorder and autism, schizophrenia, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease.
Unfortunately the Erbs’ useful collection of references is followed by a diatribe against virulent E. coli in undercooked beef
and raw milk, without any acknowledgement of the difference between industrial and grass-fed meat, or of the inherent
safety system in raw milk. Most disappointing of all is their suggestion of melatonin supplements as the solution to the
problems caused by MSG. Much better to avoid all processed food and build up natural defenses by consuming foods like
raw milk and raw beef. Thumbs up for the first part of the book; for the rest, thumbs down. Review by Sally Fallon

WINTER 2008 Wise Traditions 59