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'''Earl Lawrence Mindell''' (born January 20, 1940) is a Canadian-American writer and [[nutritionist]] who is a strong advocate of nutrition as [[Preventive healthcare|preventive medicine]] and [[homeopathy]]. Mindell's ideas have been widely criticized by medical experts.
'''Earl Lawrence Mindell''' (born January 20, 1940) is a Canadian-American writer and [[nutritionist]] who is a strong advocate of nutrition as [[Preventive healthcare|preventive medicine]] and [[homeopathy]]. He is best-known as the author of ''Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible''.<ref name="wc"/>


== Early life and education ==
== Early life ==
Mindell was born to parents William and Minerva on January 20, 1940, in [[Saint Boniface, Manitoba|St. Boniface]], [[Manitoba]], [[Canada]]. He immigrated to the United States in 1965 and was naturalized in 1972. On May 16, 1971, Mindell married Gail Andrea Jaffe; they have two children.
Mindell was born to parents William and Minerva on January 20, 1940, in [[Saint Boniface, Manitoba|St. Boniface]], [[Manitoba]], [[Canada]]. He immigrated to the United States in 1965 and was naturalized in 1972. On May 16, 1971, Mindell married Gail Andrea Jaffe; they have two children.


== Education ==
Mindell received a Bachelor of Science in [[Pharmacy]] from [[North Dakota State University]] in 1963. A number of years later, he earned a [[Dominion Herbal College#Master Herbalist Diploma|Master Herbalist Diploma]] from [[Dominion Herbal College]] in 1995. Mindell's Ph.D. was conferred in 1985 by [[Pacific Western University (Hawaii)|Pacific Western University]].<ref name=CBC>{{cite news|title=Getting Juiced |url=http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/Marketplace/ID/2290470304/|accessdate=2013-01-22|newspaper=[[CBC Marketplace]]|date=January 27, 2007}}</ref>
Mindell received a Bachelor of Science in [[Pharmacy]] from [[North Dakota State University]] in 1963. A number of years later, he earned a [[Dominion Herbal College#Master Herbalist Diploma|Master Herbalist Diploma]] from [[Dominion Herbal College]] in 1995. Mindell's Ph.D. was conferred in 1985 by [[Pacific Western University (Hawaii)|Pacific Western University]].<ref name=CBC>{{cite news|title=Getting Juiced |url=http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/Marketplace/ID/2290470304/|accessdate=2013-01-22|newspaper=[[CBC Marketplace]]|date=January 27, 2007}}</ref>


==Controversy==
== Career ==
Mindell is the author of the bestselling book ''The Vitamin Bible'', in addition to 50 other titles.<ref>{{cite web |last1=WavesofBrain |title=Earl Mindell's New Vitamin Bible wins 2013 Life Achievement Award |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_44VEGOZ4lY |via=Youtube |accessdate=17 December 2013}}</ref> Since 1976, The Vitamin Bible has sold 11 million copies and has been translated into 34 languages.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=Best-Selling Author Dr. Earl Mindell Shares Advice |url=https://loseweightwithruth.wordpress.com/category/dr-earl-mindell/ |accessdate=17 August 2012}}</ref> He has written numerous other books on nutrition, drugs, [[vitamins]] and herbal medicines. Mindell was partnered with Bernard Bubman in the Great Earth chain of stores.<ref name="PharmaHonors">{{cite web |last1=Staff |title=California Pharmacists Take Top Honors |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20070223005699/en/California-Pharmacists-Top-Honors |accessdate=23 February 2007}}</ref>


== Awards and recognition ==
Mindell's ideas on health and nutrition have been met with criticism from medical experts.<ref name="Barrett 1994">Barrett, Stephen; Herbert, Victor. (1994). ''The Vitamin Pushers: How the "Health Food" Industry is Selling America a Bill of Goods''. Prometheus Books. pp. 357-358. {{ISBN|0-87975-909-7}}</ref><ref name="Lowell">{{cite journal|last=Lowell|first=James A.|date=June 1986|title=An Irreverent Look at the Vitamin Bible and Its Author (Earl Mindell)|journal=Nutrition Forum|url=http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/NegativeBR/vbible.html}}</ref> Mindell has previously promoted oral supplements of an "anti-aging" enzyme, [[superoxide dismutase]] (SOD). There is no evidence for the supposed benefits of SOD, and it is known that the enzyme would not survive the digestive process if taken orally.<ref name="js">{{cite journal| last = Schwarcz | first = Joe | title = Beware of Juices That Claim to Cure| journal = The Montreal Gazette |pages = J11| publisher = CanWest MediaWorks Publication Inc.| date = 2006-08-19| url = http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1100578721&sid=3&Fmt=3&clientId=3620&RQT=309&VName=PQD |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
In 2002, Mindell received The President’s Award by The National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Staff |first1=NFM |title=NNFA Recognizes Industry Supporters |url=https://www.newhope.com/managing-your-business/nnfa-recognizes-industry-supporters |accessdate=24 April 2008}}</ref>


In 2007, Mindell was inducted into the California Pharmacy Hall of Fame by the California Pharmacists Association.<ref name="PharmaHonors"/> He was a frequent invited speaker at the Get Motivated Seminars from 1999-2009, hosted by Peter Lowe.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rivenburg |first1=Roy |title=The secrets of success -- for only five bucks a head |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-oct-30-et-seminar30-story.html |publisher=LA Times |date=30 October 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=David G. |title=Good Mental Food – Get Motivated Seminar Sarasota |url=https://www.epiphanydigest.com/2009/05/06/good-mental-food-get-motivated-seminar-sarasota/ |accessdate=6 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Franco |first1=Jose |title=Success seminar coming to Greenville |url=https://www.goupstate.com/news/20010808/success-seminar-coming-to-greenville |accessdate=8 August 2001}}</ref>
Mindell made several claims about the health benefits of [[Goji|wolfberry]] juice, commercially known as "Himalayan Goji Juice", while associated with a direct-selling company called ''[[FreeLife|FreeLife International Inc]].''<ref name=CBC/> Mindell's claims regarding goji juice include supposed benefits for cancer patients based on evidence of cancer cell inhibition [[in vitro]] (i.e. in a dish).<ref name=Bradlow>{{cite journal|vauthors=Li G, Sepkovic DW, Bradlow HL, Telang NT, Wong GY | title=Lycium barbarum inhibits growth of estrogen receptor positive human breast cancer cells by favorably altering estradiol metabolism. | journal=Nutr Canc | year=2009 | volume=61 | issue=3 | pages=408–414 | pmid=19373615| doi=10.1080/01635580802585952 }}</ref> In an interview with [[Wendy Mesley]] on the [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] consumer television program ''Marketplace'' (aired January 24, 2007), H. Leon Bradlow, coauthor of a study that Mindell cites as support for this anti-cancer claim,<ref name=Bradlow/> says that his research ''does not'', in fact, prove that goji has any anti-cancer properties, and that there is no scientific evidence such effects occur [[in vivo]] (i.e., when consumed).<ref name=CBC/> In addition, Bradlow's study was carried out at [[Hackensack University Medical Center]], not [[Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center]] as Mindell had claimed.<ref name=CBC/> When faced with this information, Mindell stated in the same interview that he will stop citing the study.<ref name=CBC/> Mesley then went on to confront Mindell about the validity of his Ph.D from [[Pacific Western University]], and Mindell asserted that his degree is "accredited in every state in the Union."<ref name=CBC/><ref name="FreeLifeGojiNews.com">GojiJuiceNewsCenter.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-21. {{cite web |url=http://gojijuicenewscenter.com/ |title=Link to page as it appeared on 2007-05-03 |accessdate=2013-01-27 |deadurl=bot: unknown |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503034208/http://gojijuicenewscenter.com/ |archivedate=May 3, 2007 |df= }}.</ref> Mindell and his FreeLife organization were the targets of a 2009 class-action suit which claimed that the company and its spokespersons "misrepresent[ed] the value and health benefits of Himalayan Goji Juice, GoChi, and TAIslim".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mlmwatch.org/04C/Freelife/suit.html|title=Class-Action Suit Filed against FreeLife and Earl Mindel|last=Barrett|first=Stephen|authorlink=Stephen Barrett|date=September 2009|publisher=MLMWatch.org|accessdate=January 21, 2013}}</ref>


Mindell received the special Book Publicists Award of [[Southern California]] in 2013, and the Ernie Weckbaugh Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.
His book ''Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible'' was criticized by James A. Lowell in 1986, in a review reprinted by [[Quackwatch]].<ref name="Lowell"/> The book contains over 400 errors.<ref name="Lowell"/><ref>Jacobsen-Wells, JoAnn. (1989). [https://www.deseretnews.com/article/62967/SPEAKERS-URGE-QUACKDOWN-AGAINST-HEALTH-FRAUD-IN-UTAH.html "Speakers Urge Quackdown Against Health Fraud in Utah"]. ''[[Deseret News]]''. Retrieved November 22, 2018.</ref> Professor of pharmacognosy [[Varro Eugene Tyler]] noted that ''Earl Mindell's Herb Bible'' contained many inaccurate statements and unsupported claims.<ref>Tyler, Varro Eugene. (1992). [https://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/NegativeBR/hbible.html "Book Review Earl Mindell's Herb Bible (1992)"]. [[Quackwatch]]. Retrieved November 22, 2018.</ref> Mindell has also drawn criticism for his claim that habitual lying by children can be cured by large doses of [[B vitamins]].<ref name="Butler">Butler, Kurt. (1999). ''Lying for Fun and Profit: The Truth about the Media: Exposes the Corrupt Symbiosis Between Media Giants and the Health Fraud Industries''. Health Wise Productions. p. 81. {{ISBN|978-0967328102}}</ref> Nutritionist Kurt Butler has described Mindell as a "pill-peddling charlatan, and that his ideas are totally unsupportable".<ref name="Butler"/>

Mindell's advice on [[vitamin supplement]]s has been described as "potentially dangerous".<ref name="Barrett 1994"/> Mindell has asserted that [[vitamin A]] is safe to take in dosages up to 100,000 IU per day. However, there are documented cases in which a daily dosage of 25,000 IU of vitamin A has caused toxic levels to build up in the body over periods of months or years. He has also drawn criticism for stating that medical doctors are uniformed about vitamins.<ref name="Barrett 1994"/>


==Selected bibliography==
==Selected bibliography==

Revision as of 12:02, 26 June 2019

Earl Mindell
Earl Mindell in March 2009
Born (1940-01-20) 20 January 1940 (age 84)
St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada
Occupation(s)Writer, Nutritionist
SpouseGail Andrea Jaffe

Earl Lawrence Mindell (born January 20, 1940) is a Canadian-American writer and nutritionist who is a strong advocate of nutrition as preventive medicine and homeopathy. He is best-known as the author of Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible.[1]

Early life

Mindell was born to parents William and Minerva on January 20, 1940, in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. He immigrated to the United States in 1965 and was naturalized in 1972. On May 16, 1971, Mindell married Gail Andrea Jaffe; they have two children.

Education

Mindell received a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from North Dakota State University in 1963. A number of years later, he earned a Master Herbalist Diploma from Dominion Herbal College in 1995. Mindell's Ph.D. was conferred in 1985 by Pacific Western University.[2]

Career

Mindell is the author of the bestselling book The Vitamin Bible, in addition to 50 other titles.[3] Since 1976, The Vitamin Bible has sold 11 million copies and has been translated into 34 languages.[4] He has written numerous other books on nutrition, drugs, vitamins and herbal medicines. Mindell was partnered with Bernard Bubman in the Great Earth chain of stores.[5]

Awards and recognition

In 2002, Mindell received The President’s Award by The National Nutritional Foods Association (NNFA).[6]

In 2007, Mindell was inducted into the California Pharmacy Hall of Fame by the California Pharmacists Association.[5] He was a frequent invited speaker at the Get Motivated Seminars from 1999-2009, hosted by Peter Lowe.[7][8][9]

Mindell received the special Book Publicists Award of Southern California in 2013, and the Ernie Weckbaugh Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

Selected bibliography

In total, Mindell has published over 50 books. His most notable publication, Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible, is a glossary of micronutrients published in 1979 and has been updated and re-released multiple times since. An incomplete list of his books is available below.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b "WorldCat.org". Retrieved 2007-03-21.
  2. ^ "Getting Juiced". CBC Marketplace. January 27, 2007. Retrieved 2013-01-22.
  3. ^ WavesofBrain. "Earl Mindell's New Vitamin Bible wins 2013 Life Achievement Award". Retrieved 17 December 2013 – via Youtube.
  4. ^ Staff. "Best-Selling Author Dr. Earl Mindell Shares Advice". Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  5. ^ a b Staff. "California Pharmacists Take Top Honors". Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  6. ^ Staff, NFM. "NNFA Recognizes Industry Supporters". Retrieved 24 April 2008.
  7. ^ Rivenburg, Roy (30 October 2004). "The secrets of success -- for only five bucks a head". LA Times.
  8. ^ Johnson, David G. "Good Mental Food – Get Motivated Seminar Sarasota". Retrieved 6 May 2009.
  9. ^ Franco, Jose. "Success seminar coming to Greenville". Retrieved 8 August 2001.
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