Robert Young (author)

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Robert O. Young

Robert O. Young is an author of books relating to alternative medicine and the alkaline diet.

1 Education and professional affiliations
2 Alkaline diet
3 Critics
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Education and professional affiliations

Young studied biology and business at the University of Utah in the early 1970s.^[1] In the 1990s, the University of San Moritz diploma mill^[2] awarded him an M.S. in nutrition, a D.Sc. in science, and a Ph.D in nutrition. In addition, the Clayton College of Natural Health (known as the American Holistic College of Nutrition prior to 1997), a non-accredited^[3]^[4] distance learning school in Birmingham, Alabama awarded him an N.D. (doctor of naturopathy).^[1]

[edit] Alkaline diet

Robert Young is a proponent of the alkaline diet approach to health. An alkaline diet, also called an acid-alkaline diet, is a diet which is approximately 80% alkaline producing and 20% acid producing. The theory behind this diet is that the pH produced by our diet should reflect the pH level of our bloodstream, which is approximately 7.36, and that if it does not, the pH of our bloodstream may be disrupted.

This approach is based upon the premise that all foods and drinks that are consumed are burned down to an ash residue when metabolized.^{[citation needed]} The outcome of this is either an alkaline or acidifying effect on the body, particularly the blood. He attempts to classify common foods and drinks as either acid or alkaline with vegetables, certain fruits, nuts, grains and seeds being classed as alkaline and processed foods, sugar, meat, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, refined foods and saturated fats being the most common acid-forming foods.

He claims that health depends primarily on proper balance between an alkaline and acid environment - as when our bodies become too acidic, our bodies will take whatever action necessary to regulate the acid-alkaline balance of the blood. According to Young, in this environment our bodies will begin to break down and show signs of disease including cancer, obesity, osteoperosis, yeast overgrowth, flu, skin disorders etc.^[5] A common example used by Dr. Young is the suggestion that the body uses its stores of the alkaline mineral calcium in order to neutralize excess acidity — which in turn can lead to lower bone density or osteoporosis.^{[citation needed]}

He also offers a microscopy course^[6] in which he promotes work done by Antoine Béchamp on bacterial pleomorphism and trains individuals to be able to understand live blood analysis.

He has authored a series of books and videos titled "The pH Miracle" and is distributed worldwide by Warner Books and other publishers.

[edit] Critics

Although he claims that health is dependent upon these aforementioned principles, his research has been categorized as quackery by some sources^[7]

Medical science states that metabolic acidity in blood pH is only attributed to kidney failure, diabetes ketoacidosis and shock; alternatively, it could also be associated to ingestion of toxic substances such as antifreeze or aspirin overdoses.^[8] Just as with other biological homeostasis, like body temperature (Thermoregulation) and electrolyte balance, the human body corrects for either respiratory or metabolic acidosis to maintain normal pH.^[9]^[10] The acid/base status of the body (pH) is continuously regulated by the kidneys and the lungs;^[11] a healthy human-arterial blood pH varies between 7.35 and 7.45^[12]. The alkaline diet has similarities with the Dr. Hay diet which is also based on avoiding presumably acid food. The vast majority of the medical community view this diet as pseudoscience^[13]^[7] ^[14]^[15].

With regards to his microscopy course, a declaration made by the United States Department of Health and Human Services in July 2001, "all laboratories that offer Live Blood Cell Analysis were unable to meet requirements pertaining to the establishment and verification of test methods."^[16] Contrary to what modern medical science supports, pleomorphists believe that germs come from inside the body and can exist in extreme morphological variable shapes, e.g. as a virus, fungus and bacteria.^[17]

Young also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempted practice of medicine without a medical license and was promised that the charge would be dismissed if he stayed out of trouble for 18 months. Young claimed that he had looked at blood samples from two women and simply gave them nutritional advice.^[18]