This is a long post - apologies in advance but this stuff gets under my skin...

Welcome to all the recent visitors.  Apologies for lack of recent posts, been holidaying in Far North Queensland, with no TV, no internet and no mobile phones - bliss.  Anyway now I'm back in the world of consumer terrorists I've taken up my old hobby of cycling again to get fit and to save petrol and cut my carbon emmissions, and as such I've been intorduced to these little carbohydrate gel packs that give you a boost of energy when you're on the road (you see the pro's in the Tour de France sucking on them, I like the "Gu" brand).  Anyway my local bike shop was sold out and I'm going on a 60-70km ride tomorrow so I asked around where I could get some Gu.  One dude suggested the health food store.  Being an absolute sceptic about the benefits of most alternative therapies and "health food" in general I avoid "health food" stores and see them as just as evil if not worse than corporations like McDonald's as they prey on people's fears, and charge an absolute fortune for products that make outrageous claims about their health benefits without any responsibility to provide any sort of evidence whatsoever about their efficacy).

So I find the local health food store, walk in and was immediately struck by the number of people in there.  In a small suburban shop on a Saturday afternoon there must have been 50 people, with customers streaming in and out, and no-one leaving empty handed.  These poor idiots were in there snatching up massive jars of echinacea for their colds (a clearly disproven therapy), vitamins, herbs, weight loss potions, muscle building powders in 20kg tubs... it was insane.  It was as if they were clutching at straws trying to find anything to make their bodies which have been ruined by the excesses of 20th century living feel better somehow.  There was a not unwell guy in his early 40's walking around with a friend with a list saying in a desperate voice "I need the liver tonic, but not that one, the one with the extra amino acids", frantically grabbing pamphlets, scanning botttles for some magic ingredient that would cure his liver problem (I know the signs of  acute and chronic liver disease... he didn't have any).  There was a rather fat man saying to the shop attendant  "this is my third attempt at losing weight, last time I tried I just gained it all back after I stopped the treatment" as he approached the counter with a jar of powder that cost him $89, and all the attendant said was "this stuff will work, but make sure you stay on it for at least 6 months".  Fuck me.  There's laws against going up to people in the street and snatching money out of their hands, but I fail to see the difference here... 

It was all very sad as  the  staff in the shop weren't offering any practical advice, checking with people if they knew what they were buying, asking if they'd seen their doctor about whatever was bothering them.  They just stood at the tills and said "Is that all today?" with very wide smiles.  The owners of the shop must have been sitting out the back lauging their heads off (or they're probably sitting on a yacht in the Whitsundays snorting coke and drinking Dom) as people were pushing in front of each other to get to the register and throw their money over.  Suffice to say I found my Gu sachets, I bought six and left.  

For those of you  who frequent these  types of shops or if you're thinking about going to buy something for your irritable bowels or  sinusitis or if you want that magic diet formula that will guarantee weight loss try this.  Get a checkup from your GP or physician about whatever's bothering you to see if you need it investigated.  Then: Become a vegetarian (yes you can get all the nutrients you need from vegetables, no you don't need to buy vitamin supplements, if you really must eat meat once or twice a week only).  Do some regular exercise.  Stop drinking alcohol.  Stop smoking.  Stop drinking soft drinks and coffee, (drink water or fresh juice or tea).  Don't take recreational drugs.  Don't eat take-way food, cook at home.  See a counsellor about your anxiety.  Get  some proper sleep.  Stop driving to work and ride your bike.  Do all of this for 6 months and see if your ailment  is still there.  It's free, and will probably end up saving you money, and all you have to is stop doing a lot of things that are bad for you.   But whatever you do don't go  into a health food store thinking they are interested in your health, they're not.  Take it from the Fist, whatever they sell you won't work until you stop doing whatever it is that's bad for you in the first place and start looking after your body.