Earl Lawrence Mindell (born January 20, 1940) is a Canadian-American writer and

nutritionist A nutritionist is a person who advises others on matters of food and Human nutrition, nutrition and their impacts on health. Some people specialize in particular areas, such as sports nutrition, public health, or animal nutrition, among other disci ...

who is a strong advocate of nutrition as

preventive healthcare Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, is the application of healthcare measures to prevent diseases.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health a ...

and

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...

Early life and education

Mindell was born to parents William and Minerva on January 20, 1940, in

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. 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 received a Bachelor of Science in

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

from

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

in 1963. In 1995, he earned a Master Herbalist Diploma from Dominion Herbal College. Mindell earned his Ph.D. at

Pacific Western University The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, an unaccredited institution.

Relations with the scientific community

Mindell's theories on

health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...

and

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemistry, biochemical and physiology, physiological process by which an organism uses food and water to support its life. The intake of these substances provides organisms with nutrients (divided into Macronutrient, macro- ...

have been met with criticism in the scientific community. Mindell has previously promoted oral supplements of an "anti-aging" enzyme,

superoxide dismutase Superoxide dismutase (SOD, ) is an enzyme that alternately catalyzes the dismutation (or partitioning) of the superoxide () anion radical into normal molecular oxygen (O2) and hydrogen peroxide (). Superoxide is produced as a by-product of oxy ...

(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. Mindell made several claims about the health benefits of

wolfberry Goji, goji berry, or wolfberry () is the sweet fruit of either '' Lycium barbarum'' or '' Lycium chinense'', two closely related species of boxthorn in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. ''L. barbarum'' and ''L. chinense'' fruits ar ...

juice, commercially known as "Himalayan Goji Juice", while associated with a direct-selling company called '' FreeLife International Inc.'' Mindell's claims regarding goji juice include supposed benefits for cancer patients based on evidence of cancer cell inhibition

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...

(i.e. in a dish). In an interview with

Wendy Mesley Wendy Mesley is a Canadian television journalist, podcaster, and blogger. She worked for CBC News from 1981 to 2021 in roles including national correspondent at the Quebec Legislature and the Ottawa Parliamentary Bureau. She was the anchor of ' ...

on the

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

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, 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 Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, an ...

(i.e., when consumed). In addition, Bradlow's study was carried out at Hackensack University Medical Center, not

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a oncology, cancer treatment and research institution in Manhattan in New York City. MSKCC is one of 72 National Cancer Institute–NCI-designated Cancer Center, designated Comprehen ...

as Mindell had claimed. When faced with this information, Mindell stated in the same interview that he will stop citing the study. Mesley then went on to confront Mindell about the validity of his PhD from

, and Mindell asserted that his degree is "accredited in every state in the Union."GojiJuiceNewsCenter.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-21. . His book ''Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible'' was criticized by James A. Lowell in 1986, in a review reprinted by

Quackwatch Quackwatch is a United States-based website focused on promoting consumer protection and providing information about health related frauds, myths, fads, fallacies, and misconduct. It primarily targets alternative medicine, questionable health cl ...

. The book contains over 400 errors. Professor of

pharmacognosy Pharmacognosy is the interdisciplinary scientific study of natural drugs and bioactive compounds from plants, animals, and minerals—originally focused on identifying crude drugs but now expanded to molecular, chemical, ecological, and medicin ...

Varro Eugene Tyler noted that ''Earl Mindell's Herb Bible'' contained many inaccurate statements and unsupported claims.Tyler, Varro Eugene. (1992)
"Book Review Earl Mindell's Herb Bible (1992)"

. Retrieved November 22, 2018. Mindell has also drawn criticism for his claim that habitual lying by children can be cured by large doses of

B vitamins B vitamins are a class of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in Cell (biology), cell metabolism and synthesis of red blood cells. They are a chemically diverse class of compounds. Dietary supplements containing all eight are referr ...

.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. Nutritionist Kurt Butler has described Mindell as a "pill-peddling charlatan, and that his ideas are totally unsupportable". Mindell has asserted that

vitamin A Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin that is an essential nutrient. The term "vitamin A" encompasses a group of chemically related organic compounds that includes retinol, retinyl esters, and several provitamin (precursor) carotenoids, most not ...

is safe to take in dosages up to 100,000 IU per day, but this claim is considered by some other mainstream scientists as controversial. He has also drawn criticism for stating that many medical doctors are uninformed about vitamins.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.

Selected bibliography

In total, Mindell has published over 50 books. His most notable publication, ''Earl Mindell's Vitamin Bible'', is a glossary of

micronutrients Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...

published in 1979 and has been updated and re-released multiple times since. An incomplete list of his books is available below.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mindell, Earl 1940 births Alternative cancer treatment advocates American health and wellness writers American homeopaths American nutritionists Canadian emigrants to the United States Herbalists Living people North Dakota State University alumni People from Beverly Hills, California People from St. Boniface, Winnipeg Pseudoscientific diet advocates Writers from Winnipeg