Anthony William

{{foodnav}}
'''Anthony William''',<ref>[https://trademark.trademarkia.com/medical-medium-85421556.html a/k/a Anthony William Coviello.]</ref> the '''Medical Medium''', is a [[food woo]] promoter and [[medium]] allegedly in contact with an incorporeal entity called the Spirit of Compassion who recommends that we should all drink 16 oz of celery juice every morning.<ref name=mmhome>[https://www.medicalmedium.com/ Home], MedicalMedium.com, accessed 20 March 2019</ref> [[Gwyneth Paltrow]] is a fan, and her website Goop has published his writing.<ref name=standard>[https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/health/celery-juice-medical-medium-anthony-william-a4064821.html We speak to the man behind the celery juice craze that's all over the 'gram], Evening Standard, 17 Feb 2019</ref><ref>[https://www.goodfood.com.au/good-health/why-celery-juice-isnt-the-miracle-some-claim-20190225-h1bpv3 Why celery juice isn't the miracle some claim], Good Food (Australia), Feb 26, 2019</ref> He has had 3 books on the [[New York Times]] bestsellers list (although people citing that statistic are vague as to which part of the NYT bestsellers list).<ref name=shape>[https://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/healthy-drinks/celery-juice-food-trend Celery Juice Is All Over Instagram, So What's the Big Deal?], Emily Shiffer, Shape.com, Mar 12, 2019</ref> His work is also heavily promoted by his many fans on Instagram.<ref name=standard/>

The problem is, there's no evidence for anything he says, and he has no medical or scientific qualifications or training.

==His life==
William has no qualifications in medicine or nutrition, something which he freely admits.<ref name=shape/> But he claims to have been diagnosing people's illnesses since the age of four.<ref name=mmhome/>

==Celery==
[[File:Cucumber celery apple juice.jpg|thumb|left|165px|[[Woo]] in a glass]]
William is particularly known for his advocacy of the bright green liquid made from [[juicing]] celery. He claims a wide range of health benefits to celery juice (and it has to be juice, drunk first thing in the morning): he says it can treat [[cancer]], improve intestinal health, clear skin of acne and eczema, flush out [[viruses]], relieve anxiety and fatigue, and [[cleanse]] the body of heavy metals and other [[toxins]].<ref name=shape/><ref name=chatelaine/><ref name=standard/> He says:
* "Celery has an incredible ability to create sweeping improvements for all kinds of health issues."<ref name=mmcelery>[http://www.medicalmedium.com/blog/celery-juice Celery Juice], Medical Medium blog, accessed 20 March 2019</ref>
* "Celery is truly the savior when it comes to chronic illness. I've seen thousands of people who suffer from chronic and mystery illness restore their health by drinking 16 ounces of celery juice daily on an empty stomach."<ref name=mmcelery/>

In reality, celery has some modest health benefits, with [[vitamin]]s, minerals, and phytonutrients.<ref>[https://www.livescience.com/50640-celery-nutrition.html Celery Nutrition], Live Science</ref> But it isn't particularly high in most of them. It is a good source of Vitamin K, but nowhere near as good as kale or Swiss chard.<ref name=shape/> Most of the benefit in celery juice probably comes from celery's better-known constituent, [[water]]: you are often dehydrated when you wake up, so a glass of liquid will help rehydrate you.<ref name=shape/> Juicing actually reduces the nutritional value, by removing fibre.<ref name=standard/> Juicing anything also concentrates the [[sugar]].<ref name=vice/> But good hydration helps your skin, so there is that.<ref>[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4529263/ Dietary water affects human skin hydration and biomechanics], Lidia Palma et al, ''Clin. Cosmet. Investig. Dermatol.'' 2015; 8: 413–421, Published online 2015 Aug 3. doi: 10.2147/CCID.S86822</ref><ref name=vice>[https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/kzd7km/benefits-of-celery-juice Celery Juice Is a Waste of Perfectly Good Produce], Vice, Feb 12 2019</ref>

William claims that celery juice contains "undiscovered cluster salts", which are unknown to science and therefore almost certainly do not exist.<ref name=chatelaine>[https://www.chatelaine.com/health/celery-juice-cleanse-medical-medium/ The Truth About The Celery Juice Craze], Abby Langer, Chatelaine, Jan 21, 2019</ref> His blog is full of [[pseudoscience|pseudoscientific]] claims that seem on first glance to be scientifically valid but are often meaningless, such as: "Medical research and science have not yet discovered the different varieties of sodium in celery."<ref name=mmcelery/> This does nothing to justify any medical benefit, which could only be done with proper scientific tests, preferably [[double-blind]] clinical studies.

The other argument against celery juice is that it tastes kind of bad, with an unpleasant bitterness.<ref name=vice/> You can buy celery juice if you can't be bothered juicing, but most commercial products add other fruit juices to provide more sweetness.<ref name=vice/>

==Liver detox==
His latest interest is in detoxing the liver, in his fourth book, ''Liver Rescue''. Despite the fact that [[detox]] is not a thing, and the liver is perfectly capable of removing toxins from the body. He claims the liver is the source of most diseases. Or to express it with the true vagueness of a master woo-pusher, "In today's world, we have no idea how many symptoms, conditions, and diseases are rooted in an overloaded liver."<ref name=mmhome/> So even he concedes that there's no actual evidence for his claims.

==Bibliography==
* ''Medical Medium'', 2015
* ''Life-Changing Foods''
* ''Thyroid Healing''
* ''Liver Rescue''

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:William, Anthony}}
[[Category:Alternative medicine promoters]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Food woo promoters]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Psychics]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]

Categories: Alternative medicine promoters, Authors, Food woo promoters, Living people, Psychics, Pseudoscience promoters