Naturopathy, nutrition, nutraceuticals, supplements, probiotics, prebiotics and the whole shebang

We're seeing more and more of these in mainstream veterinary medicine.  Like many things, human medicine was playing first.  Like many people in my field, I've seen some work, while not being able to explain why, exactly.  I've also seen some stuff which could only be politely described as snake oil.  This afternoon I saw this piece in Ben Goldacre's most excellent 'Bad Science' blog about 'Dr' Gillian McKeith (the quotation marks will make sense once you've read the article).  This is the sort of thing that reinforces my inherent suspicion about 'holistic' therapies.  I've read a lot of writing which on the surface appears rational and reasonable, but once you start scratching at the surface it all falls apart.

Anyway, have a read yourselves.