For about three years, Andrew Weil's "Vitamin Adviser" was claimed to provide "a personalized formula of my recommended vitamins, supplements and tonics." To access this magic formula, you selected answers from multiple-choice questions about your age and gender; whether you live in a big city; whether you smoke or drink; whether you think you are at risk for heart disease and cancer; whether you travel frequently; and (for women) whether you are contemplating pregnancy.
There were eight questions for men and nine for women. The number of choice per question ranged from two to seven, yielding 4,032 possible combinations for men and 8,064 for women. Along the way, Weil admonished the reader not to smoke cigarettes or abuse alcohol, and to do a few other things that are standard advice for a healthy lifestyle.
No question asked what you eat. Weil apparently thought he could advise what supplements to take without knowing anything about the nutrient content of people's diet.
During part of 1997 and 1998, when TIME, Inc., owned Weil's Web site, his recommendations page was linked to the Web site of The Vitamin Shoppe, which operates a discount mail-order business and many retail stores. Advertising Age reported that the ad rights involved a seven-figure amount for a one-year exclusive contract that began April 1st. Later, the link was removed from the answer page but remained elsewhere on the site.
Could the test be completed without getting recommendations for products? To find out, I took it about 30 different ways. Entering answers for someone young and at lowest risk for each category yielded five recommendations for men and six for women, but people who "travel frequently" were advised to take four additional products. Everyone was advised to take at least 500 mg of vitamin C and 400 International Units of vitamin E, even though there is no scientific evidence that everyone should do this. Older individuals had additional recommendations.
Many women were advised to take the herb "dong quai," which, according to Weil, is good for "disorders of the female reproductive system, especially for irregular or difficult menstruation" and "tones the uterus and balances female hormonal chemistry." His questionnaire, however, didn't bother to ask whether test-taker had any "female disorders" or even had a uterus. Nor did he mention that dong quai contains cancer-causing substances and has not been proven safe or effective for any purpose.
A few weeks after I posted an analysis of his questionnaire to the Health Scout Web site, I found that Weil's questionnaire had been removed. I don't know whether the removal was related to my criticism. It was later revised and posted to a different Web site, but I have not had time to evaluate it.