Sowing your wild oats - literally?

Factual Questions
1

The local morning radio show I listen to has, over the last couple weeks, given quite a lot of airtime to pushers of herbals. This distresses me because they are, in essence, giving these people free advertising and never question or present a skeptical or alternative (ha!) view of the claims made.

So this morning they interviewed some lady who was pushing Avena Sativa (ie, wild oats) as the only safe, all natural aphrodisiac approved by the Institute of Sexology, or some such thing. The claim is that, as a person, male or female, gets older, their testosterone, which is the main force behind their sex drive, binds to the hemoglobin in their blood and doesn’t “flow” like it should. The Avena Sativa is supposed to “loosen” your testosterone from your hemoglobin so that it flows freely and packs more of a punch increasing drive and stamina. I’m no medical expert, but that makes me scratch my head and go, “nuh-uh!”

So, being the good little skeptic that I am, I turned to http://www.quackwatch.com to see if it had anything to say about the efficaciousness and/or side-effects of this product, but on this subject the site was silent (except to say that the FDA has found that no over the counter (OTC) aphrodisiac has been proven to work, and many are dangerous).

So does anyone have the straight dope on wild oats? (Oh, and they have to be fermented. I wonder if soaking your Cheerios in beer would be a convenient substitute?) Does your testosterone really bind to your hemoglobin as you get older or is that just technical sounding mumbo-jumbo? (Reminds me of “Dr.” Bugs Bunny telling the Tazmanian Devil, “Here’s your problem, your hormones are fighting with your capillaries!”) And should I write an agitated letter to the radio station’s manager asking that the DJ’s just stick to talking to musicians and entertainers and leave the medical advice to Dr. Drew?

2

I’ve recently heard the same sort of spiel, but I’m wary. Avena savita isn’t wild oats, it’s cultivated oats. Encyclopedia Americana

Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable

3

There is a link between testosterone and hemoglobin I think, doesn’t the presence of testosterone increase the production of hemoglobin? But still I agree with the OP that the quote sounds like the creation of an overly imaginative adwriter.

4

“Beerios! They don’t stay crunchy in beer…but who cares?”

— From a Flying Burrito T-shirt.

5

I’ve tried to do some research on the web, but most sites seem more interested in hawking Avena Sativa than discussing it. The only site that had any information, Avena Sativa - are oats an aphrodiscia? didn’t seem to answer the question. It states in the opening paragraph:

But, unless I’m blind and/or dense (definitely a possibility), this page doesn’t explain what “binds” testosterone (is it hemoglobin?), or say, “Yes, without a doubt, Avena Sativa does/does not do what is claimed.”

The page also states:

I’m not going to pretend to know what most of those words mean. But I just wanted to point out that this quote only mentions “excitement” in (I assume) human muscles and horses. The lady pushing the stuff on the radio said that the discovery was made when scientists, disappointed that they weren’t getting anywhere with their studies, disposed of their oat gruel in a Koi pond. Several days later, they found that the fish population had exploded and discovered it was because the oats had fermented in the pond. Because fermentation, you see, is the key.

Can’t you see why I’m skeptical? Doesn’t it all sound too silly? (Last week this radio station interviewed another herbal expert who claimed she could cure cancer and grow boobs, and they’ve given way too much attention to magnets, IMHO.) Is there any truth to this story at all? Should I ask Dr. Drew or Dr. Stephen Barrett?

6

I’m hi-jacking my own thread:

This morning the radio station gave air-time to some supposed colon doctor who was passing off the urban legend that John Wayne had over 20 lbs. of crap in his intestines at the time of death as fact. Here’s the e-mail I sent this morning to the general manager and program manager (please validate me and tell me I did the right thing):

Dear Sirs:

I am a loyal listener of Bill and Daria’s morning show; however, I am distressed and disappointed at the amount of airtime that has been given lately to “alternative health” practitioners.

At the turn of the century, charlatans and quacks sold patent medicines and “snake oil” to an unwary public who had no advocate or protection. At best, the fools and their money parted ways; at worst, people died. The FDA and FTC were created to protect the consumers. But the modern “alternative health” industry has managed to circumvent the restrictions and requirements set in place by wooing politicians and using specious double-talk to describe their products.

Bill and Daria both have an appreciation for the internet, so I must share some links that will help them research the claims made by some of the quacks they’ve interviewed recently, and other alterna-health topics that have been discussed on the program:

Regarding colon health and John Wayne’s alleged 20 lbs. of crap: http://www.snopes.com/toxins/fecal.htm

Regarding magnets: http://www.csicop.org/articles/20000614-florsheim/open-letter.html

Regarding herbalism: False Tenets of Paraherbalism | Quackwatch

Regarding aphrodisiacs and appearance enhancers: Top Health Frauds | Quackwatch

And, in general, very informative sites that are worth a perusal before signing up any more guests of this sort:

http://www.ncahf.org/

http://www.chirobase.org/

http://www.skepdic.com/

Now I can already imagine the response (from Bill, in particular): “It’s just entertainment!” But this (mis)information has been presented in a completely one-sided manner with no alternative viewpoint. It’s not “just entertainment” when quacks are being invited to hawk their wares, make wild claims without any rebuttal, and potentially harm listeners.

At the very least, if KNRK is going to continue to book these kinds of guests, you should consider a disclaimer stating that the FDA and/or FTC have not approved any of the therapies about to be described and, in fact, does not recommend using them, and that KNRK does not endorse the use of these products. You have talked to your lawyers about the station’s liability should someone be harmed following the advice being dished out by your guests, haven’t you?

In the future, I suggest that KNRK leave the medical advice to Dr. Drew [they should get the reference; LoveLine is on KNRK at 10:00 PM] and avoid these potentially harmful interviews; or, as I said, make it clearer that what you’re hearing is strictly entertainment and that it is not advisable to act on it.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,
Katheryn Saunders
gr8kat1@aol.com