A word to the wise

[1] Kaz Cooke. Photo supplied.
When it comes to looking after ourselves, nature is nice and science is scary - or is it? Edith Leigh talks to author Kaz Cooke about sorting fact from fiction.

Does homeopathy really work? Is the squillion-dollar moisturiser actually better than the supermarket brand?

Are all those chemicals in shampoos going to give you cancer?

And does a detox truly eliminate nasty toxins and other yucky stuff from your body?

Gone are the days when all we women used to worry about was whether to shave or wax our legs, and if mousse or gel was going to hold our hair better.

A modern woman's life is just not that simple any more.

• Kaz says... [2]

Women today are bombarded with information, instructions, lies, scare tactics and claims for miracle moisturisers and superfoods.

Sorting the fact from the fiction is no easy task, but Australian author Kaz Cooke has produced an encyclopaedic new book telling us the truth.

"It's time to wade in and work out which information we need and which is shrieking piffle," Cooke says in Women's Stuff.

The straight-talking former journalist details where we women waste our money, when we are told great big "stinking glamorous lies" and when we are being led up the natural, "organic-y", chemical-free path.

There is a lot of confusion about "nature versus science", Cooke says.

Most of us had a poor science education and leave school thinking nature is nice, science is scary, physics is baffling and chemistry is a shop where you buy cotton buds.

A deep distrust of chemicals, science, and even medicine has arisen in modern life.

Assumptions are made that natural is better.

"One recent example is the fierce and scary vehemence of the anti-immunisation lobby, with no worthwhile evidence to prove its claims and much evidence on the side of medicine."

While the web is a great invention, the internet is a haven for extremists and fringe groups, who seem reliable and respectable on the surface because they have a nice website and a sensible-sounding name.

"It is only when you really follow up everything that's said and doggedly trace things back that you find out how bonkers it really can be."

Take a closer look at the common homeopathic-style remedies, Rescue Remedy, which claims to be "traditionally used to relieve feelings of stress" and its sister products, Bach Flower Essences.

Dr Bach's method was to decide to feel cross, or envious, or anxious and then intuitively choose a flower that he thought should cure those feelings.

"In other words, he made it all up," Cooke says.

These "remedies" are "pretty much just water with a bit of brandy in it".

Google rescue remedy and you will find "the Bach centre", a nice website with pretty pictures of cottage gardens and Victorian brick cottages. It even has a page where you can pay to help continue the work of Dr Bach.

Medical-speak and science knowledge can intimidate people, so they are attracted to ideas and treatments practised hundreds of years ago, Cooke says.

"Traditional methods of medicine may have 'been around for centuries', but that doesn't mean they've worked on everything for centuries - just that they used to be the best knowledge people had hundreds of years ago."

Most of what we now know about the human body and treatment was discovered or invented in the last 20 years.

Almost everything we know about bodies and medicine, including understanding bacteria, viruses, immunisation, antibiotics, surgery, hormone behaviour and mental health, has come about only in the past 100 years.

"It would be nice if nature always knew best, but the truth is that sometimes nature behaves like a footballer who's just had 16 beers, or a toddler who needs a nap.

"Some people just have crazy hormones, or get sick, or try to deliver a baby with a head that is too big to fit through their pelvis."

Without chemical help such as anaesthetics, antibiotics, supplemental hormone drugs and drugs such as insulin, many more people would be miserable, unhealthy or dead, Cooke says.

"There's no shame in needing a little chemical help now and then."

Cooke says she is not against natural therapies "I go to a chiropractor, I use vitamin supplements" - but she is against them when they are used instead of medicine.

"I have seen naturopathic columns in newspapers where people are told a woman with postnatal depression should use homeopathy.

"The fact that people are told homeopathy is a replacement for immunisation is terrible."

Despite being "ancient traditions" and "natural", there is no evidence whatsoever of any accuracy or benefit for some alternative therapies, and some, like homeopathy, are just a "big steaming load of ning-nongery".

"Over and over, in all known proper, reliable, independent scientific testing, there is no evidence at all that homeopathy has ever worked."

Hair and skin care, and cosmetic industries are another area where labels such as "natural", "organic" and "free of" (followed by a list of chemicals) are slapped on willy nilly, she says.

Scare tactics that common cosmetic ingredients, such as lauryl sulphates in shampoos, can cause cancer are unsupported claims often used by organic cosmetic manufacturers.

"Trace back the owner of any 'small', 'organic', 'cheap', 'natural', 'simple' or planet-loving' label brand and you're most likely to find a giant chemical company that also makes 'scientific', 'cutting-edge' and other luxury brands, and bleach."

There is a perception that all chemicals are evil, but chemicals are in everything.

"Our bodies are naturally a seething mass of chemicals. Yes. Millions of them. Squerzillions of them."

So next time you find yourself in the supermarket trying to remember which chemicals you vaguely remember reading somewhere were bad for you, have a browse through Women's Stuff before you go shopping.

Or, perhaps even better, do some thorough research yourself.

Women's Stuff, by Kaz Cooke, is published by Penguin.

Kaz says ...

HAIR

Things in hair products that do nothing for the health or manageability of your hair: organics, vitamins, minerals, natural colouring, flower essences, fruit, fragrances, non-fragrances

The only way food can actually change the nature of your hair is if you eat it. Proteins in eggs won't do anything for hair, beer won't make it shinier than a proper shampoo, vinegar will make you smell like vinaigrette, and mayonnaise is hell to wash out.

Much of the faff about chemical ingredients is alarmist. The truth is, most information about "dangerous" chemicals in mainstream cosmetics is marketing for "natural" products. Be careful of accusations of "potentially toxic" or "associated with cancer", which almost always means some sort of association with a tumour in animals, often fed or dabbed with hugely high concentrations of that chemical.

 

SKIN

They are not called anti-ageing creams because that's what they do. They're called anti-ageing creams because that's what we want.

When choosing a moisturiser for your face, buy the cheapest one that makes your skin feel nice, with a smell you like. Reputable supermarket or pharmacy brands are fine. That's it.

The claims made for firming creams are a lie. They can contain ingredients that make your skin feel tighter, but that does not make flesh or skin itself any firmer or tighter. Once your skin reduces its output of collagen and elastin, it's literally all downhill from there.

What doesn't cure cellulite: exercise, heat, scrubbing, drinking water, rays of any kind, radio waves, ultrasound, creams of any description, loofahs, mitts, hand-held laser devices, special clothes or shoes, massage, oils of any kind, any natural product at all, and any chemical made in a lab and placed in a cream.

What does cure cellulite: Nothing. It's supposed to be there. The only way to remove cellulite, say from a thigh, is to remove the leg.

 

FOOD

Food is not medicine. That's why we need medicine. Sure, some foods help keep us healthy and boost the immune system, but humans will get sick even if they're very healthy, because of viruses and bacteria. No amount of yoga or organic food will stop you getting measles if you haven't been immunised.

Detoxing is dieting in disguise. Unhealthy foods don't leave toxins, or poisons, or deposits behind in your body that can be expelled or pushed out of the skin or colon by fasting or drinking concoctions. One of the reasons you "feel better" after (not during) a detox regime is the relief of your body at being able to eat some proper protein and other food again.

Don't panic if you can't afford organic. The scientific evidence is in and it looks like organic foods have no more nutritional value than non-organic foods. However, growing foods and making products with a minimum of pesticides and exposure to pollution is an important eco-friendly aim, which is reason to choose organic, if you can afford it.

 

HEALTH MAINTENANCE

Mother nature doesn't care for you as an individual any more than the head of a big drugs company cares about you. Don't fall for the idea that the body will always heal itself if left to its own devices, or that the natural treatment is always better. It's a nice idea that the body knows best, but it is not always true.

Ask for evidence that you need a vitamin, mineral or other supplement. A reasonably healthy and well-fed person in the developed world who takes a vitamin supplement is usually just paying to store the unneeded vitamins for a short while in their digestive system before passing them out again.

Be sceptical, not cynical about your medical treatments. Ask your natural practitioner which double-blind independent studies have shown a supplement is likely to help you. Ask your doctor if the medicine prescribed for you was tested on women as well as men. Ask if the reported results were written by independent doctors, or ones paid by a drug company. Ask whether your problem is more likely to be solved by a drug or a lifestyle change.