Arlene Weintraub Archives - Selling the Fountain of Youth Selling the Fountain of Youth

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Selling the Fountain of Youth Continues to Grab Attention

14 May

Just a quick update on Selling the Fountain of Youth: On April 18, I was featured for a full hour on “Wriggling in the Middle,” a show on News-Talk WHBC radion in Canton, Ohio. The conversation spanned a range of anti-aging topics, from supplements like resveratrol to hormone replacement therapy for menopause.

In June, I will tape an interview with “Growing Bolder,” a radio show that airs on WMFE, 90.7fm, Central Florida’s NPR station. (Air date to be announced.)

Meanwhile, I’ve been pleased to see a growing recognition of anti-aging scams. As NPR recently reported, the Federal Trade Commission has asked the federal courts to halt the advertising by 10 companies that are using fake news sites to sell the supplement acai, which is derived from a Brazilian berry that supporters say can halt aging and promote weight loss. In its complaint, the FTC points out that many of the so-called news sites purporting to run objective stories about acai are fictional, as are the reporters those sites feature.

Hopefully we can all continue to bring these false advertising efforts to light so fewer consumers will be fooled by anti-aging claims!

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Posted in Selling the Fountain of Youth

Selling the Fountain of Youth Featured at Tucson Festival of Books

30 Mar

I was proud to be one of 400 authors invited to attend the 2011 Tucson Festival of Books. I participated in a panel discussion on corporate malfeasance, along with Michael Blanding, author of The Coke Machine. The event was a success, and definitely a healing force for Tucson, coming just two months after the tragic shooting event there. It was only the third year for the Tucson Festival of Books, but it’s already the fourth largest book festival in the nation.

Here is some of the coverage the event received:

LA Times: Tucson Book Festival Brings City a Sense of Healing

Tucson Jewish Post: Festival of Books Bonanza of Jewish Authors (I’m mentioned in this one)

Arizona Daily Star: Celebrating Joys of Reading

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Posted in Selling the Fountain of Youth

New on HuffPo: New Study Shows Moderate Exercise Prevents Premature Aging

02 Mar

Mice that ran on a treadmill a few times a week for five months fended off premature aging in nearly every organ of their bodies, according to a study published on February 21, 2011 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It’s one of the strongest pieces of evidence ever produced showing the power of exercise as an anti-aging remedy.

New on HuffPo: Astaxanthin Makes Flamingos Rosy But Will it Keep You Young?

21 Feb

Another day, another anti-aging phenom.

The newest supplement to catch the fancy of folks who refuse to get old is astaxanthin, an antioxidant found in algae. Astaxanthin (pronounced as-ta-ZAN-thin) is the compound that gives salmon and flamingos their pink hue. Proponents claim that in people, it has the power to reduce inflammation and oxidative damage to cells, which in turn preserves the eyes, skin, joints and central nervous system.

Menopause Site Features Selling the Fountain of Youth

17 Feb

BellaOnline has posted a four-part review and interview about Selling the Fountain of Youth. Here’s an excerpt:

Q: As a journalist, you have witnessed the apparent shift from trusting only medical professionals (the men and women in white lab coats who look like serious researchers) to placing implicit trust in celebrities. What do you think accounts for this?

“Celebrity endorsement is hardly anything new in our society and has been used for many products. However, the anti-aging industry understands the power of marketing. Problems arise when the line is blurred between who are the ‘experts’ and people are confused.” Images speak volumes and often a well-crafted infomercial or television appearance grabs our attention in ways a medical journal article cannot.

Celebrities are persuasive and for aging Boomers, it is difficult to resist the ‘proof’ offered by a living and breathing personality. Weintraub stresses the danger lies when people latch blindly onto aggressive treatment options. These options may work for one individual, but have not been scientifically proven for widespread or long term use.

Canadian Celeb Dini Petty Features Selling the Fountain of Youth

05 Feb

I recently met Dini Petty, who is well known in Canada as a TV talk show host and the former host of the radio program Weekends with Dini Petty. On her program, she talked about wellness strategies for Baby Boomers. She currently helps to market and develop a botanical product to treat menopause, Nutrafem, which contains two herbal ingredients.

Dini and I agree that hormone replacement has been marketed irresponsibly by the anti-aging industry. And we both believe in the power of living a healthy lifestyle of good diet and lots of exercise. Dini interviewed me recently about Selling the Fountain of Youth.

Read Dini Petty’s blog entry on Selling the Fountain of Youth here.

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Posted in Bio-Identical Hormones, Selling the Fountain of Youth

New on Huffington Post: “Conductorcise” Encourages Exercise Through Music

18 Jan

Everyone knows that exercise is good for their health and longevity, but so few of us are willing to get off our butts and actually do it. According to a 2009 Roper poll, only one in four Americans can manage to squeeze in a half-hour of exercise five times a week. This despite the mountain of data proving that exercise extends lives. A study by the Institute for Aerobics Research in Dallas, for example, found that men who became fit decreased their risk of dying of any disease by a remarkable 44 percent.

On Jan. 13, I met David Dworkin, a Julliard-trained musician who has invented a wonderfully innovative solution to exercise phobia. Read more here.

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Posted in Lifestyle

Times of London Features Selling the Fountain of Youth

16 Dec

In a December 16 story, The Times of London is featuring my book as a way to spotlight what they call “elixirs of youth: the top five myths.” The online version of the Times is a subscription-only site, so I will list the myths here:

1. Human Growth Hormone: “…its benefits have not been proved, and there have been no long-term studies of its side-effects in healthy users.”

2. Acai berry: “This is the best example of an anti-aging elixir gone completely out out control.”

3. Resveratrol: “…doses in the animal studies were far higher than people could tolerate–the equivalent of drinking 750 to 1,500 bottles of red wine.”

4. Antioxidants: “…the jury is out over whether this is any benefit from applying them to the skin….”

5. Alpha hydroxy acids: “Don’t expect over-the-counter products to make any difference.”

Interestingly, the hook for this story is a study out this week on lenalidomide from the Universith of California at San Francisco. A scientist there discovered that taking small amounts of this pill, which is related to thalidomide, boosts immunity. The Times calls this “an elixir of youth.” The UCSF scientists don’t go quite so far. More to come on this topic….

For those with a subscription, here’s a link to the Times of London story on Selling the Fountain of Youth.

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Posted in Selling the Fountain of Youth