Book excerpt: Have Americans been conned by the health-food industry into taking vitamins they don't need? Two distinguished physicians say yes! Drs. Stephen Barrett and Victor Herbert present a detailed and comprehensive picture of the multibillion-dollar health-food industry, which, they charge, has amassed its huge fortunes mostly by preying on the fears of uninformed consumers. Based on twenty years of research, The Vitamin Pushers addresses every aspect of this lucrative business and exposes its widespread misinformation campaign. The authors reveal how many health-food companies make false claims about products or services, promote unscientific nutrition practices through the media, show little or no regard for the rules of scientific testing and evidence, and often skirt the law in their schemes for making quick profits while eluding government watchdog agencies. Drs. Barrett and Herbert counter the phony assertions of health-food hucksters with reliable, scientifically based nutrition information, and they suggest how the consumer can avoid "getting quacked". They also include five useful appendices on balancing your diet, evaluating claims made for more than sixty supplements and food products, and much more. The Vitamin Pushers is a much-needed expose of a nationwide scam, which will definitely save you money and might even save your life.