Carnivora
| Deliciously edible! |
| Dubious diets |
| Food woo |
Carnivora is yet another herbal dietary supplement (the manufacturer prefers the term nutriceutical) that dances around the law prohibiting hyperbolic claims for such things. Easily confused with the Latin name for the order of meat-eating placental mammals,[note 1] this is an extract of Dionaea Muscipula, a species of the venus flytrap plant. The active ingredient is plumbagin.
Contents |
[edit] Claims
The main claim is support for the immune system. It IS NOT a cure for cancer -- oh no.[note 2] However it "selectively responds to abnormal cells" (nudge, wink).
Other claims are in the category of "at least it can't do any harm", viz:
- No toxic or mutagenic effect
- Manufacturing process uses superior technology
- 100% pure. No excipients or fillers
Contrary to the claims, plumbagin was known to be mutagenic to Escherichia coli since 1985.[1]
Quackwatch lists Carnivora as a "dubious treatment."[2] The American Cancer Society information page points out that:[3]
| "Most of the studies done on the herbal extract were conducted by the physician who patented the drug [sic] Carnivora, who also has a large financial stake in a clinic that administers the drug and in the company that manufactures the drug." |
[edit] Promotion
Carnivora is heavily promoted on the overnight woo-radio show Coast to Coast AM, whose audience is justifiably believed to be extremely gullible. The script emphasizes that "in the 1980s, only President Reagan himself could obtain Carnivora."
[edit] External links
- Product web site
- Carnivora Immune Defense Supplement : Critical Review of Research by "Supplement geek"
[edit] See also
Iscador -- the mistletoe variant
[edit] Notes
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Toxicity and mutagenicity of plumbagin and the induction of a possible new DNA repair pathway in Escherichia coli by S. B. Farr et al. J. Bacteriol. 1985 Dec; 164(3): 1309–1316.
- ↑ Quackwatch page
- ↑ Carnivora information from the American Cancer Society