5 Responses to “The Health Show #016 - Health Check - Interview with Cameron Reilly”

1. Phillip Molly Malone Says:
   September 6th, 2005 at 2:00 pm

   Just listening to the show. Love Cam’s comment on backing up his brain in light of this comment on his blog:
   http://reilly.typepad.com/cameronreilly/2005/09/backups_of_back.html

   Molly

2. Joe Twomey Says:
   November 3rd, 2005 at 8:47 am

   This was the craziest podcast I’ve ever heard. An uninformed conspiracy theorist as the guest. What a kook. Argued about ape and human diets with just the slightest knowledge (DNA similarities), no more than that, but still seemingly prevailed by talking loud and forcefully. Examples of the kookiness:
   - we’ll soon be able to live 500 years.
   - the guest could design a body that is better than a human body, for example, using teflon for some body parts.
   - milk leaches more calcium from the human body than it adds.
   - essential amino acids is a false concept.

   Whew, nice claims, where’s the references to studies, e.g., the URLs he was going to send about milk’s calcium as a conspiracy?

   I would have preferred the hosts didn’t give this guest’s weird theories such consideration and kept the show at your usual informative level. (I was going to unsubscribe if this was the level of ignorance being purveyed, but luckily listened to a few more of your podcasts.)

3. Cameron Reilly Says:
   November 3rd, 2005 at 9:49 pm

   Joe

   I won’t take offense at being called “kooky”, but please allow me to defend myself against your charges of “uninformed”.

   Will we be able to live 500 years? According to recent interviews I’ve done with Cambridge bio-gerentologist Aubrey de Grey and leading AI researcher Ray Kurzweil, they would agree with me. They both believe humans will achieve effective immortality within the next 30 years.

   Ray also writes extensively in his latest book THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR about re-engineering the human body, as has nanotech pioneer Eric Drexler in ENGINES OF CREATION.

   Milk - Osteoporosis is NOT a problem that should be associated with lack of calcium intake. Osteoporosis results from calcium loss. The massive amounts of protein in milk result in a 50 percent loss of calcium in the urine. In other words, by doubling your protein intake there will be a loss of 1-1.5 percent in skeletal mass per year in postmenopausal women. The calcium contained in leafy green vegetables is more easily absorbed than the calcium in milk, and plant proteins do not result in calcium loss the same way as do animal proteins. If a postmenopausal woman loses 1-1.5 percent bone mass per year, what will be the effect after 20 years? When osteoporosis occurs levels of calcium (being excreted from the bones) in the blood are high. Milk only adds to these high levels of calcium which is excreted or used by the body to add to damaging atherosclerosis, gout, kidney stones, etc. (from http://www.notmilk.com)

   Re essential amino acids - I can’t remember the actual conversation, but I think I was arguing that you don’t need to eat meat to get the amino acids you need to build muscle. That’s well established by many vegan body builders.

   So Joe… if you want to argue these points with me, bring it on. My email is attached to this comment.

   cheers
   Cameron

4. Cameron Reilly Says:
   November 3rd, 2005 at 9:50 pm

   oh and by the way, the girls DID include a link of milk and calcium in the show notes.

5. Joe Twomey Says:
   November 4th, 2005 at 7:01 am

   Cameron,

   Thanks for taking the time to reply. I couln’t find your e-mail address attached to your comment, so will respond here.

   1. I apologize for the 500 years comment, you had a reference to what you said.

   2. Let’s skip the teflon comment. Probably much of this was tongue-in-cheek.

   3. The milk thing can also be an apology, as you have some backing. Though I would have preferred you put it in context, it appears as you say, it applies to a particular combination of 1) osteoporosis, 2) a certain level of protein intake. For young people (who usually have better ability to digest milk) with an adequate magnesium intake, milk is a good source of calcium. I would not argue with other claims, like the problems of antibiotics in milk. (P.S. The Masai Warriors of Africa lived for centuries on almost exclusively milk and meat, so animal protein is not necessarilly bad.)

   4. You said you believed the concept of essential amino acids was a false concept, promoted by the meat industry. What you say above, that one doesn’t need to eat meat to get complete protein, is true, as long as you mix the food (e.g., rice and beans) to get the full complement of essential amino acids. If that was your point, I agree, but would have preferred you didn’t expound against well-established food science in order to make your point. The meat industry should not be able to profit from the concept of essential amino acids, since complete protein is available in various pairs of vegetables and grains.

   The analogy to apes was what spurred me most to using the term “uninformed.” The host said it correctly in explaining how we evolved. Just because we share 95% of genes with chimpanzees and bonobos, does not mean we are herbivores. But now I see that you were only uniformed on some opinions, no moreso than I would be if participating in an unscripted interview.

   I should also have pointed out the positive things I took from your interview, like the point that we should not avoid buying organic because it’s too expensive–we only get one body. And the fascinating experiences with fasting–I didn’t know this was possible to the degree of well-being you experienced.

   I am happy if you want to remove this thread.

   Joe

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