I’ve written about my reservations towards scientific
research, especially when it comes to topics in the fitness and health and
wellness spheres. Within the last six
months there have been three studies that have come out that at first glance
make you take a pause. They claim that
the things that you thought were good for you and beneficial to your health are
actually counterproductive. Sometimes it’s
the study authors that will make this claim based on their research and other
times it is the mouth breathing mainstream media that blows these claims way
out of proportion.
The mainstream media sure has a knack for ruining good
things and making people afraid of everything.
Let’s look at some of the claims.
The first is what I will refer to as the Red Meat Study
which came out in March of this year. In
this study the researchers followed over a 100,00 subjects and tracked their
diet via self-reporting. The researchers
found that the more red meat consumed the more likely you were to die from any
cause. In fact, each serving amounted to
a 13% increased risk of mortality. Here
were some of the headlines to come out from that little doozy.
Study: Red meat may
shorten life spa- CNN
All red meat is bad
for you, new study says- LA Times
Study: Red meat raises
risk of dying- CBS News
And on and on. Let’s
take a look at what I’ll call the Egg Yolk Study which was just recently
published.
The gist of what’s being reported on it is that egg yolks
are just as dangerous to your cardiovascular health as smoking cigarettes. No doubt this led to a bunch of smug assholes
feeling all high and mighty for eating their lame egg white omelets.
No doubt there were similar headlines to the red meat study.
Here’s the thing about these “studies”. They were both observational studies that
relied on the self-reporting of its subjects.
They basically followed these people’s health histories and mortality
rates and then asked them what they ate.
It sounds nice but there are a lot of problems with this
approach.
First, observational
studies are also known as corollary studies.
This means that the researchers will look at the data and notice trends
like when people eat more red meat they tend to die sooner. But what the researchers don’t do and is
actually impossible is control for other factors that may play into that.
Most people that eat red meat tend to eat it
with a highly processed grain based bun and a cheese-like product and probably
some ketchup as well. Oh, and they’ll
have some sliced potatoes that were deep fried in rancid oil as a side. And probably wash it all down with a fully
sugared soda. And then go home and not
move for the rest of the day. But it’s
the red meat (that can barely be called meat) and egg yolks that are killing
them.
Riiiiiiight.
Second, these types of studies have never been meant to
prove causality. And in my opinion it is
bad science and just plain irresponsible to not make that clear at the
beginning and in the conclusions of the research article.
Most news outlets that are going to report on the findings
are not going to read the paper and probably not even the abstract. But making it clear that there are serious
limitations to the scope and therefore the implications of the study could
possibly mitigate much of the misinformation that gets propagated on a daily
basis.
But it’s not the news outlets fault. Their main job is not to report facts. It’s to sell ad space. And add space sells at a premium on shows with
a high viewership. And a high viewership is built on
sensationalized stories like the ones above.
And the one below.
 |
| Don't even get me started. |
It was recently reported that a year of fish oil
supplementation has no effect on markers of cardiovascular health….In elderly
patients….That have already had a stroke and are on other medications to treat
the cardiovascular conditions….And only took one gram of fish oil per day….and
were participants in thirty cherry-picked studies to be reviewed out of the
literally thousands that have been published.
Step one: Open palm fully.
Step two: Apply directly to face.
Step Three: Repeat until no longer stupid.
 |
| Mr. T will pity the absolute shit of these study's authors. |
I’m no cardiovascular
expert but as someone who consistently takes up to 10 grams of fish oil per day
and is relatively healthy even I could point out the serious flaws in that
study. They picked studies where the
participants already had one foot in the ground and only an insignificant one
gram of fish oil per day. Say that fish
oil is an ineffective treatment. Don’t imply that it’s ineffective as a
preventative measure.
But I’m done bashing on studies. There are a lot that are done for the right
reasons and are beneficial to the discussion on all topics relating to health
and fitness. Just remember that the old adage
remains true:
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| If you haven't seen They Live take a lap. |
Don't believe everything you read.
Sources:
Red meat consumption and mortality: results from 2
prospective cohort studies. A, Pan et al. Arch Intern Med. 2012 Apr
9;172(7):555-63.
J. David Spence, David J.A. Jenkins, Jean Davignon. Egg yolk
consumption and carotid plaque. Atherosclerosis, 2012.
Association between omega-3 fatty acid
supplementation and risk of major cardiovascular disease events: a systematic
review and meta-analysis. EC Rizos et
al. JAMA. 2012 Sep 12;308(10):1024-33.
