Although I would like to post a copy of it to the blog for free downloading I can't do that for a number of reasons. First and foremost, copyright laws and my respect for them. However, there is nothing at all preventing me from reviewing the Ebook and then posting my opinion of it. Even the quotes I take from the Ebook are protected under the Fair Use laws because I'm simply writing a review.
In fact, this blog almost demands I post a review of it and I will reveal this so-called "breakthrough miracle". So hang on; here 'goes....
Who's the Real Author?
One of the first things I noticed about Mark Anastasi's ridiculously priced Ebook isn't even contained in the content of the Ebook. It's in the document properties. While the File states the correct file name (how could it not?) the Title and Author fields have nothing to do with Mark Anastasi nor HIV/AIDS. The title apparently is really "A Letter to Diabetics Everywhere" written by one "Mudrika Bhudia". Although Mr. Anastasi thanks this Mudrika Bhudia in the book, a quick Google, MSN, Yahoo!, Dogpile.com, and Wikipedia search for "Mudrika Bhudia" yielded precisely zero results. Not a single one. So while I'm respectful of copyright laws, Mr. Anastasi doesn't seem to care very much.
Another sign of his lack of caring is the seeming different sources for the Ebook. From chapter to chapter, the writing style changes. I don't care enough to do a scientific study on the possiblity of different authors for each of the chapters but a simple read produces enough doubt for me. Most obvious to me is the different spellings of "disease"; in some places, it's "disease" and in others it's "dis-ease" complete with quotes. Does Mr. Anastasi think he's fooling anybody?
Pay for Free Information?
The Ebook is a complete waste of money as well as hard drive space. On Mr. Anastasi's web site, one can sign up and have a free report sent to you. 77 of the $97 Ebook's 81 pages (that's a massive 93%) are made up of the very same free report that Mr. Anastasi will happily send to you and other information from his various websites. Only a very small portion of the Ebook (a whopping four pages) mentions anything about HIV or AIDS. Since Mr. Anastasi has so many "Fill-in-the-Blank Breakthrough Miracle" Ebooks for sale, I can only presume that the only thing that changes from the HIV version to the Lupus, Cancer, Diabetes and Mutiple Sclerosis versions is that tiny section.
(He owns--or at least is the registrant--for a large number of hyphenated web sites such as www.health-answers.com, www.your--health.com (yes, with two hyphens), www.vibrant-life-and-health.com, www.health-ebooks.org and an untold number of others. (Search Google for "acts as an affiliate to Mark Anastasi's products." to see more. NOTE: As of July 18, 2006, these sites are mysteriously missing from that search. Some of the sites are still up and running; others are "Under Construction". Apparently, Mr. Anastasi has found a way to eliminate the sites from the search. However, a quick look-see at the site that hosts all of the style sheets for the sites (http://www.healthy--life.com/master_files; yes, with two hyphens.) yields some interesting details. Also, a quick Google search for "First, picture your body as a car," will yield other sites.) All of these essentially identical sites list as having cures Acne, Cancer, Eczema, Multiple Sclerosis, AIDS, Cholesterol, Fibromyalgia, Osteoporosis, Arthritis, Chronic Fatigue, Gout, Psoriasis, Athlete's Foot, Depression, Health & Energy, Weight-Loss, Asthma, Diabetes, Lupus, and Yeast Infection. And, to be fair, what he says about gout as being caused by eating too much meat is correct. But you don't need to pay $97 to know that by reducing the amount of red meat you ingest will reduce the incidence of gout. That's no miracle.)
Contradictory Admonitions
The "Disclaimer" in the book he sent me, "The AIDS/HIV Breakthrough Miracle", contains the following,
"Before beginning any practice relating to health, diet or exercise, it is highly recommended that you first obtain the consent and advice of a licensed health care professional.
"The author assumes no responsibility for the choices you make after your review of the information contained herein and your consultation with a licensed healthcare professional.
"None of the statements in this article or in the book have been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), or the American Medical Association (AMA)."
A standard Disclaimer. However, later in the book, Mr. Anastasi proceeds to attack the very "Heathcare Professionals" he suggests you go see. He says, among other things:
- "The pharmaceutical industry and medical establishment are doing EVERYTHING in their power to discredit 3,000-year old science, even going as far as lobbying the European Commission to pass laws banning vitamin and supplement companies!"
- "The medical monopoly or medical trust, euphemistically called the American Medical Association, is not merely the meanest monopoly ever organized, but the most arrogant, dangerous and despotic organization which ever managed a free people in this or any other age." (Actually part of a 7-page-long quote from "The Drug Story")
- "The medical profession and their pseudo-scientific dogma kills 250,000 Americans a year! They are the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S!"
- "According to the American Medical Association, the half-life of the current medical education is 4 years. This means that a doctor leaving school today knows 50% more about medicine than someone who left 4 years ago. With so many patients to see, doctors rarely have time to further their education." (Emphasis in Original)
Is Mr. Anastasi bipolar and off his meds?
Pure Marketing
Mr. Anastasi is not a doctor; isn't a scientist and can't practice medicine. What he can do is call himself a specialist in "Online Marketing". No kidding. He's a marketing guy. It's obvious.
A friend of mine who was in the marketing department for a large electronics company used to joke, "I'm from Marketing. You can't believe a word that comes out of my mouth." That joke seems to be painfully real and prescient in Mr. Anastasi's case.
The Ebook seems to be nothing more than a written Multi-Level Marketing seminar. The most telling clue is this quote: "Chances are, the information I will be sharing with you over the next 7 days is unlike ANYTHING you will have ever come across in your life so far." Unless Mr. Anastasi knows that his Ebook will take seven days to read why even mention something about "7 days"?
Further, the Ebook uses the usual MLM technique of repeating the same damn information over and over and over. And the annoying overuse of "You see...." I know people write like they talk, but this is ridiculous!
Clueless Author!
He says that sugar is one of the things, along with Coffee ("pure acid", he says), drugs, nicotine, alcohol, and vinegar, that one should stop eating in order to be healthy. But, earlier in the very same section (Section III, "Nutrients") Mr. Anastasi advocates eating all types of berries (which contain sugar), beets (which, not surprisingly, is the source of beet sugar), and molasses (which is nothin' but sugar).
I'm pretty sure that he means to eliminate eating refined sugar. Why then does he advocate eating molasses which is a byproduct of processing sugar cane into granulated sugar? Regardless of what Mr. Anastasi means he is consistantly unclear and imprecise.
He also says, "you must Eliminate Your Ingestion of Unhealthy Fats & Oils, Animal Flesh, and Dairy Products." And then later on the very same page he says that "essential fatty acids" from "some types of fish are very good for you". Unless there has been some major reclassification of what constitutes an "Animal" these days, aren't fish an animal!? Oh, I know what it is; fish aren't cute and cuddly....
Further, in the tiny section actually dealing with HIV and AIDS, he tosses out a statistic that "95% of all AIDS cases occur in the poorest countries." He then launches into a greatly curtailed version of the tired old "HIV doesn't cause AIDS" and blames AIDS on the "inner terrain" of the person. (Most of the Ebook is devoted to talking about how "polluted" the cells--the "inner terrain"--of all of us have become in the past 50 years and how this "pollution" is the cause of all our problems.) However, the way of life in these "poorest" countries hasn't changed much in the past 50 years. They're still eating the same vegetables (raw and cooked) and the same types of meats they have for decades.
Does this guy actually read what he's writing?
Just because he says it doesn't mean it's true...
Throughout the Ebook Mr. Anastasi makes so many remarkable and unsubstantiated claims it's laughable. The Ebook offers no bibliography to identify any of his sources. The only conclusion is to assume that Mr. Anastasi has simply made up his statements. For example:
- "...Everyone has operated on the mistaken supposition that germs and viruses cause disease."
- "1 in 3 Americans get cancer, but only 1 in 7 American athletes get cancer. Why? Because athletes get a lot more oxygen flowing into their body!"
- "People with fatty, unhealthy diets are often tired and sick. You see, when there’s too much unhealthy fat (and toxins) in your system, your red blood cells stick together, they move more slowly, and as a result you get far less oxygen reaching your cells. Your cells then become weaker – some cells may even die or mutate. That’s why so many studies show high fat intake related to cancer."
- "Our bodies are NOT designed to eat meat!"
- "Milk is the most mucus-forming food you can imagine! The WORST part is, it covers the inside of your intestines and it hardens it like concrete! It coats the villi that absorb the nutrients, preventing them from performing their role!"
- "To really get the most out of your food, ... do not mix carbohydrates with proteins."
- "[Psoriasis and Eczema are] simply acid coming out directly through your skin."
- "AIDS is due to having a highly acidic and toxic bloodstream, where your white blood cells are overcome with toxins and morbid matter."
- "I have seen people go from being HIV-positive to HIV-negative within 30 days of starting to alkalize and energize by taking Dr. Young’s Supergreens™."
Early in the Ebook he actually quotes the Red Pill/Blue Pill speech from Morpheus in The Matrix as a way to drive his point home. I'm astounded that someone would try to use an entirely fictional story as a credible way of getting us to think like he does.
At the very end of the Ebook he lists various "services" he offers. And here they are:
- "Public Speaking
$4,000 an hour
Corporate events, seminars, exhibitions, conventions. - The LifeQuest Corporate Health-Check
$12,000 per consultation and delivery of training.
Benefits: drastically reduce lost productivity due to sick days. Massively increase energy, creativity, and overall wellbeing of your staff. - Live Forever Clinic
$50,000 per intervention.
Only 12 clients a year.
The Live Forever Clinic is a London-based consultancy for high net-worth individuals interested in longevity extension and physical immortality.
We use cutting-edge non-mainstream technology as well as esoteric principles to heal and rejuvenate. - LifeQuest Healing Centers®
$200,000 per franchise
We are seeking investors to set up LifeQuest Healing Centers around the world, where patients will be treated and healed through natural means, as well as empowered about their health through education."
A "Live Forever Clinic"!?!? Please! (One wonders if Dick Clark is a client....)
Conclusion
Anastasi contradicts himself, makes unproven and ridiculous claims, apparently steals information from others, and tries to make us believe he's helping people. The only person he's really trying to help is himself.
The Ebook is badly written, poorly designed, poorly constructed, badly misinformed, and possibly harmful. It takes 81 pages to really just be an advertisement for eating raw foods. Yes, this "miracle breakthrough" is not much more than "Eat Raw Food and your Fill-in-the-Blank illness will go away."
Really, I could go on and on and on; I've completely bypassed whole sections. But I really think this is enough information for anybody to make up their mind about whether or not Mark Anastasi is on the up and up. I'm sure you can figure out what my opinion is.
