Background
Mindell was born to parents William and Minerva on January 20, 1940, in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Canada.
Mindell was born to parents William and Minerva on January 20, 1940, in Saint Boniface, Manitoba, Canada.
Mindell received a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from North Dakota State University in 1963. Mindell"s Doctor of Philosophy was conferred in 1985 by Pacific Western University, an unaccredited institution at the time.
Mindell left his role at FreeLife following a number of inaccurate statements regarding Goji (also known as wolfberry) juice. He immigrated to the United States in 1965 and was naturalized in 1972. On May 16, 1971, Mindell married Gail Andrea Jaffe.
They have two children.
A number of years later, he earned a Master Herbalist Diploma from Dominion Herbal College in 1995. Mindell"s theories on health and nutrition have been met with criticism in the scientific community.
Mindell has previously promoted oral supplements of an "anti-aging" enzyme, superoxide dismutase (Superoxide Dismutases). There is no evidence for the supposed benefits of Superoxide Dismutases, and it is known that the enzyme would not survive the digestive process if taken orally.
Mindell made several claims about the health benefits of wolfberry juice, commercially known as "Himalayan Goji Juice", while associated with a direct-selling company called FreeLife International Incorporated.
Mindell"s claims regarding goji juice include supposed benefits for cancer patients based on evidence of cancer cell inhibition in vitro (ie in a dish). In an interview with Wendy Mesley on the Canadian Broadcasting Company consumer television program Marketplace (aired January 24, 2007), H. Leon Bradlow, coauthor of a study that Mindell cites as support for this anti-cancer claim, says that his research does not, in fact, prove that goji has any anti-cancer properties and that there is no scientific evidence such effects occur in vivo (ie, when consumed). In addition, Bradlow"s study was carried out at Hackensack University Medical Center, not Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as Mindell had claimed.
When faced with this information, Mindell stated in the same interview that he will stop citing the study.
Mesley then went on to confront Mindell about the validity of his Doctor of Philosophy from Pacific Western University and Mindell asserted that his degree is "accredited in every state in the Union". Mindell and his FreeLife organization were the targets of a 2009 class-action suit which claimed that the company and its spokespersons "misrepresent the value and health benefits of Himalayan Goji Juice, GoChi, and TAIslim".