Debunking Junk Science

EAT-Lancet’s Plant-Based Planet: 10 Things You Need to Know

Georgia Ede, MD

An important new study about global nutrition was published this week that deserves everyone’s full attention: “Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems.” [Don’t let the title intimidate you: You need to know what’s inside.] This paper was commissioned and published by The Lancet — one of the world’s oldest and most respected medical journals — and penned by an international group of 37 scientists led by Dr. Walter Willett of Harvard University.

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The Truth About Low-Protein, High-Carb Diets and Brain Aging

Georgia Ede, MD

Do you need to worry about that new study claiming that LOW-protein, HIGH-carbohydrate diets are better for brain health? Have some fun peeking behind the curtain to see what these scientists actually did and decide for yourself whether it’s going to be meat or muffins for you…

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The Driving Force Behind the Dietary Guidelines

Belinda Fettke

A fascinating look at the ideology of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and their subsequent influence on nutrition ‘science’ and dietary guidelines, world-wide.  Most of us only look back as far as Ancel Keys to determine where it all went wrong, but few look back further to see what or who influenced him and others to passionately push the dogma that grains are good and fat is bad!

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The Nitrate and Nitrite Myth: Another Reason Not To Fear Bacon

Chris Kresser

Beyond just being loaded with “artery-clogging saturated fat” and sodium, bacon has been long considered unhealthy due to the use of nitrates and nitrites in the curing process. Many conventional doctors, and well-meaning friends and relatives, will say you’re basically asking for a heart attack or cancer.  Chris Kresser debunks this Myth and, if you have the time, the comments thread is a hilarious read.

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Fibre is NOT a necessity for a healthy diet! Can this be True?

Doug Reynolds

When Dr. Paul Mason made the statement during his talk at Low Carb Down Under this year that “Fibre is NOT a necessity for a healthy diet!” there was a discernible unrest amongst the crowd.  How could this be true?  Fibre is essential to avoid constipation, right?  Apparently this is not the case and Dr. Mason debunks the myths during a fantastic talk.

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The Grinch, The WHO, Red Meat and Cancer: A Holiday Poem

Georgia Ede, MD

In October, twenty-two scientists from ten countries met at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyon, France, to evaluate the link between processed and red meat and cancer. The result was a highly-publicized press release by the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring processed meat as “carcinogenic to humans” and red meat as “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Dr. Ede went over the WHO report with a fine tooth comb and can confidently reassure you that there is absolutely no proof that meat of any kind causes cancer in humans or animals. In the spirit of this joyous holiday season,  a poem inspired by the beloved story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” by the incomparable Dr. Seuss.  Her complete analysis of the report can be found here.

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WHO Says Meat Causes Cancer?

Georgia Ede, MD

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a two-page report entitled Carcinogenicity of Consumption of Red and Processed Meat, warning the planet that processed meat definitely causes colorectal cancer in humans, and that red meat “probably” causes colorectal cancer in humans. The report listed a total of 20 scientific references. WHO’s frightening anti-meat proclamation made headlines worldwide and had a major impact on how people think about meat and health………I read the report and all of the experimental studies cited in the report. I found no scientific evidence to support the WHO’s anti-meat cries, and I think it is important to set the record straight.

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Cranberries for UTI prevention: Crimson Crusader or Juicy Gossip?

Georgia Ede, MD

The holiday table would look dull, lifeless, and naked without an intensely colorful, jellied, saucy, free-form, or cylindrical cranberry side dish. We believe in the festive and medicinal properties of these sour little berries, so let’s take a closer look and see whether they are truly the crimson crusaders of our dreams.

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Does Carnitine from Red Meat Cause Heart Disease?

Georgia Ede, MD

A few days ago, a brand new study by Dr. Stanley Hazen’s group at the Cleveland Clinic was published, incriminating an unfamiliar ingredient within red meat as the cause of heart disease.  The New York Times trumpeted: “CULPRIT IN HEART DISEASE GOES BEYOND MEAT’S FAT“.  This article received a lot of attention, so I was asked by readers and friends to comment on it.  This new study is actually a conglomeration of mouse experiments, human clinical studies, and human epidemiological studies, which the authors then weave together to make their case against red meat.  Straightforward it is NOT. It is a many-headed beast, armed with tentacles and suckers, but is smart, elegant in many ways, and deserving of detailed scrutiny.

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Do High-Fat Diets Cause Depression?

Georgia Ede, MD

A study was published in the British Journal of Pharmacology and is entitled “High fat diet-induced metabolic disorders impairs serotonergic function and anxiety-like behaviours in mice.”  We have been (wrongly) told for decades by public health officials that dietary fat is unhealthy, so we tend to take articles that support this belief at face value, without question.  But before you clear your cupboards of all fatty foods, hoping for eternal happiness and tranquility, let me tell you why the results of this MOUSE study need not cause you any additional depression and anxiety.

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Do Smoothies Make You Sharper or Is It Just Juicy Gossip?

Georgia Ede, MD

The Times of London published an article entitled “Eat Yourself Smarter? Try dark chocolate, green salad — and gum

Articles like this one always get my goat (maybe that’s why I haven’t seen my goat in such a long time).  Create a hopeful headline, toss in a bunch of studies that support your headline (without references so I have to dig my way through PubMed to find them), interview an expert researcher or two for some quick enticing quotes, and then take a wildly irresponsible leap into making specific and appealing recommendations about what people should eat/drink to be smarter.  Often, including in this case, these prescriptions for brain health are not only wrong, they are dangerously wrong.

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New Study Finds Saturated Fat Causes PTSD… or Does It?

Georgia Ede, MD

We’ve been told for decades that saturated fat is public health enemy number one. It’s been easy for us to buy this argument because it sounds so simple,  obvious and logical: eating fat should make us fat. Since we know that obesity is associated with all kinds of other serious health conditions, it has been tempting for researchers and the general public to blame saturated fat for all of the diseases we fear most.

Dr. Georgia Ede exposes this headline seeking, sad excuse for a paper for what it really is:  At best it’s sloppy and biased, at worst it’s scientific malpractice.

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