Some Recent "Research"

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:

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.