Gary Null-routing one's not-so-healthy tendancies

Factual Questions
1

So it is pledge drive season for Atlanta Public Broadcasting again, and Gary has been visiting the local studio, trying to bring in some pledge money with his approaches to healthier living.

After watching a few of his programs, I’m considering trying to get my mom and I onboard with some of his suggestions, and I have a few questions for the Teeming Millions.

Personally, I am entirely too stressed, I don’t excersize enough, I eat terribly, I could certainly stand to shed some weight, and who doesn’t want a stronger immune system? Gary seems to have a lot to say to folks like me.

My mom has been experiencing (as yet undiagnosed) facial paralysis for the past few years. Lupus, Lyme, and various other diagnostic attempts have been considered, unsuccessfully treated, and discarded. She is now in the process of slowly coming off of the cocktail of medications that she has been previously prescribed, under the care and advice of a new doctor. He can’t tell us what is wrong, but he sees no reason for her to continue taking such potent medications (and dealing with their not-so-pleasant side effects), especially if they have not resulted in any improvement for her. I happen to agree with him.

Her ability to eat many solid foods has deteriorated, which was why Gary’s juicing approach first caught my eye. He also repeatedly mentions various foods and suppliments that are proported to contribute to better nerve health.

My questions…

Thai Chi appeals to me for my meditative/introspective activity, but what kinds of things can my mom do for herself in that area? She lives in the very remote mountains of Humboldt County California, and has little to no access to things like Thai Chi or yoga classes.

How abundant and expensive are non-wheat bread products?

Can you make decent non-wheat breads in a bread machine at home?

How necessary is having a juicer, or can one survive with just a blender?

What is the price range for a decent juicer?

Could applying Gary’s Immune system boosting techniques potentially cause my mom further problems if the root cause of her facial nerve damage is an auto-immune disorder? Or could a change of lifestyle with the immune system in mind potentially help with auto-immune disorders?

How the heck do they make non-dairy cheeses, and are any of them any good?

Does anyone reading currently employ some of Gary’s techniques? Care to share recipies, tips, or suggestions as to which of his materials I should aquaint my mom and I with first?

2

Gary’s a nut. Our local NPR station in Dallas had his show for a short time a few years ago, and I complained about it. I suspect others did too, he didn’t last very long. You can read more about him at Quackwatch’s Gary Null page.

3

Thanks for the input. Texas public broadcasting drops his show…Georgia public broadcasting invites him to help with their fundraising…different strokes for different folks, it would seem.

Not all of my questions involve Gary’s work directly, though I admit that all are not “factual questions” as is mandated for GQ. Did I post in the wrong place?

4

Sorry, I don’t know anything about the price of juicers or non-dairy cheeses. Regarding non-wheat bread, I make a pretty good iron skillet cornbread using a minimum of wheat flour. I suspect that leaving out wheat flour would make little difference, but you may need to compensate by adding more baking powder. I think these questions are appropriate for the GQ forum.

But I was addressing your questions regarding Gary Null. He’s so untrustworthy, that if he tells you to eat more fruits and vegetables and get more exercise, I would check it out with other sources first. He has no business being on NPR at all, anywhere. This also belongs in GQ, because fighting this sort of quackery is right in line with the Straight Dope mission.

5

I think that debating Gary Null’s credibility (or that of those who think he has none) is more suited for GD, but maybe that’s just me. Regardless, I’m going to abstain from doing so here, because it doesn’t have much to do with the information I’m looking for in regards to the OP, though it seems that I might not get any of that desired information as a result of this particular thread.

Perhaps it was my poor attempt at computer geek humor in the title…

6

I don’t mean to imply that I’m not appreciative of the skillet cornbread suggestion. I love cornbread.