Health Matters

– Searching for Health in Cyberspace In this month’s edition of our regular health column, VERNE MAREE sounds a note of caution.

I’m quick to Google whatever I need or want to know, and I love the instant gratification yielded by the internet. Sometimes I think that’s truer for my generation than it is for teens and 20-somethings, who’ve always had this amazing facility and simply take it for granted.

It’s such a boon, whether it’s to find the answer to a thrilling question like “Are hard boiled eggs less digestible than softboiled ones?” (no, surprisingly), or to prove that I was right about something and my husband was wrong – though this particular strategy has been known to backfire.

Having an unquenchable interest in anything to do with health, nutrition and keeping fit, I’m a sucker for holistic health websites like mercola.com. For one thing, Dr Phil Mercola leans to the left, tackles Big Pharma head-on, and is not afraid to challenge mainstream medical thought. What’s more, his e-flyers usually come with a headline so provocatively veiled that I absolutely have to click on it to see what it’s all about.

True examples include unsettling statements like: “New Statistics Suggest You Might Die Sooner than You Think”; or tantalising questions such as: “1 in 4 Slim People Are Plagued by this Lethal Condition, Are You?” or “This Food Loves to See Cancer Cells Shrivel and Die – Are You Eating It?” Irresistible!

Disillusion

Then came one that annoyed me: “Is This the Next Exercise Trend, Better than High-intensity Interval Training? (HIIT*)”. Duly clicked, it breathlessly introduced the “new” concept of Variable-intensity Interval Training (VIIT), which has you moving between high-intensity, medium-intensity and lowintensity exercise.

Wait a minute, I thought. For a runner, that equates to interval training, running at a moderate pace, and jogging. Mixing the three in various ways is exactly what runners have been coached to do, for as long as anyone can remember.

I recalled that the same Dr Mercola, just a couple of years earlier, had been quick to extol the virtues of HIIT. Apart from its promise of longevity and many other health benefits, he said, HIIT saved time: it would take you less than 20 minutes to achieve the same effect as a whole hour of traditional exercise. It was all you’d need, he promised. He’d seen the light, realised that long, slow runs were risky and dangerous; said we shouldn’t do them.

Doubting the article’s sincerity – and disbelieving its message, what’s more – I decided to continue with my own modest variable intensity running regime, while incorporating the occasional HIIT session.

Conclusion

We’re all different: there’s no such thing as the one ideal training regime or the only perfect diet for everyone, and I’m pretty sure there’s no two-minute workout that’s of any real value. For internet health gurus to make a living through their websites, they’ve got to attract us to their sites and expose us to the products they espouse and sell. That’s why we, as consumers of information, need to develop our BS alarms and apply common sense.

But wait – there’s a brand new question in my inbox: “Are These the Most Toxic Clothes You Can Buy?” And if you’d be able to resist clicking on that, you’re a better man than I am, Gunga Din.