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October 09, 2007
Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus
This is classic. This is why I eat whatever I want to, and I don't worry about what the doctors say we should eat. I don't listen to them because, more often than not, they're wrong. When they told us to eat margarine instead of butter, I ate butter. Turns out, marganine has trans-fats in it, which are much worse for you than fats, something that my science warned me about in the ninth grade. (Thanks Iva Nell Fortenberry.)
When they said that we needed to eat more bran to prevent colon cancer, I ignored them. Turns out, bran intake has no correlation to colon cancer. Thanks for that.
When they made the food pyramid, and then adjusted it by removing steak from the top tier, I ignored this advice as well. Not, it turns out that they were wrong when they said that eating a high-fat diet causes heart disease. Ha ha. Nuts to all those poor lost souls out there suffering from 3rd world diseases because they're following the vegetarian dogma.
I'd say this one takes the cake, but we've been misled by the "scientific consensus" about so many things for so long, that nothing surprises me any more. Certainly it comes as no surprise that there is no correlation between fat in the diet and coronary heart disease.
The notion that fatty foods shorten your life began as a hypothesis based on dubious assumptions and data; when scientists tried to confirm it they failed repeatedly. The evidence against Häagen-Dazs was nothing like the evidence against Marlboros.
Interestingly, the problems appear to lie not so much with the science, or scientific analysis per se, but more with a social cascade effect, a phenomena where people end up believing something based on what others believe. Once a "scientific consensus" is formed by the media, going against the "prevailing wisdom" is tantamount to vocational suicide.
Fortunately, the solution to this is finally within reach. The anonymity of the internet is the perfect proving grounds for debating new ideas without fear of retribution. Raw data should be posted on the internet, and debated in anonymity. This would allow people to debate the merits of any given interpretation, without fear of any political recourse. In the raw cauldron of cyberspace, the most logical and provable interpretation of any given set of datum will rise to the surface, and the faulty interpretations will be exposed.
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Posted by Rob Kiser on October 09, 2007 at 09:08 AM
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Comments
I recently found out that most of the healthy veggies I like (broccoli, spinach, kale, cauliflower, etc.) and eat at least once a day are probably making my hypothyroidism worse. I'm at a complete loss as to what to do. At least I have an explanation for my doctor as to why, when I eat healthier, my thyroid levels go wacky.
So...when are you going to set up this anonymous site for debating medical issues?
Posted by: Alice H on October 13, 2007 at 12:06 AM
This is a fair question. We need to get it set up. I forsee a lot of free time in my future, as I was laid off this week. :)
Posted by: Rob Kiser on October 13, 2007 at 10:05 AM