Nutrition doctor establishes himself in the blogosphere — sort of

Dr. Joel Fuhrman is one of America’s most recognizable doctors.

The New Jersey-based nutrition expert has been featured on national TV news shows, has authored three books and a wealth of medical articles, and operates a static website filled with health-related resources.

But what’s next for someone who has already established themselves in the traditional mediums? The answer, in Fuhrman’s case, is non-traditional ones – which today means blogs.

There are a number of health blogs currently operating in the blogosphere. One of them – the BarfBlog, published by the International Food Safety Network (IFSN) at Kansas State University – was featured in a LexBlog article earlier this year. Focusing on health issues specifically related to food safety, the BarfBlog came about as an alternative to traditional e-mail listservs.

The result? An ability to reach more people, faster.

“We’ve found that [the BarfBlog] brings a whole new audience to our food safety information,” says Dr. Doug Powell, scientific director of the IFSN. “Especially if a celebrity or a band gets foodborne illness. Site traffic increases dramatically and we reach an audience who probably isn’t thinking too much about food safety.”

Fuhrman’s venture into the blogosphere, on the other hand, focuses less on food safety and more on general nutrition.

The blog, DiseaseProof, is updated multiple times daily, with diverse content that is all – somehow or another – related to human health. His face is prominently displayed atop the page, along with links to his main website.

But here’s the kicker: Fuhrman himself writes none of the original blog content. Instead, the health news posted (and the distinctly personal, conversation-like tone of the content therein) is the work of another man – Gerry Pugliese, a health reporter working for Fuhrman.

“I take all the complicated medical news and information, read it, try to comprehend it, and then turn it into easy to read, light-hearted and hopefully humorous/entertaining blog posts,” says Pugliese. While Fuhrman occasionally provides brief commentary on an issue in the blog, the vast majority of material stems from Pugliese’s mind.

And there’s a lot of material to cover. Multiple entries are posted each day, providing analysis on health-related issues from around the world. Judging by the amount of material Pugliese gathers from the blogosphere, writing for DiseaseProof looks like it could become a full-time job.

“I’m a creature of habit,” Pugliese says of his blogging routine. “I normally blog Monday through Friday and I generally shoot for five posts or more a day. I just get up, head to work or sit in front of my computer at home, scan the blogwires and newswires, see that stuff that I like, and go crazy.”

News sites, other blogs and Fuhrman’s written literature provide Pugliese with a wealth of information, enough to crank out more daily posts than many bloggers think possible. The frequency of updates has paid off: since July 2006, the site has had 550,000 visitors.

Though he says “a good blog is better than a great website any day of the week,” Pugliese sees Fuhrman’s need for both a blog and static website a result of the interactivity gap between the two mediums.

“To me, blogs are an all access pass,” says Pugliese, noting that the blog’s content has a way of showing up all around the Internet. “Not to mention, DrFuhrman.com is largely static—where’s the fun in that? DiseaseProof is alive! People can comment on it, easily link to it, etc. Plain and simple, a good blog is better than a great website any day of the week.”

Though he doesn’t see blogs replacing traditional visits to the doctor’s office – “you certainly don’t want to [t]ake medical advice from a reporter , do you?” – Pugliese understands the value they can hold as an information source. The readers may not be commenting very frequently, but they’re there. And DiseaseProof has got the numbers to prove it.