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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Just like the nail, if you take a stand on a contentious issue about food – safety of GMOs, the value of organic foods, risk from pesticides, or the harm from food additives – people are going to take shots at you. Today there is a lot of emotional rhetoric about food, health and nutrition and often the loudest voices are dismissive of sound evidence, credible science, or safe technology. For those who truly are looking for answers so they can select the best foods and feed their family well, it is hard to cut through the spin to the actual facts behind the headlines.
Spin – defined as emphasizing beneficial outcomes or inadequately reporting harm – is in essence putting the best glow on a report. It is done in politics, news reporting, and in publicizing scientific research. Headlines grab the reader. They are very important and may be the sole reason a person buys a newspaper, magazine, listens to a newscast or clicks on a website. But they can also be grossly misleading and can leave consumers, who may go no further than the headline, with a false impression of the facts.
In 2015, hundreds of headlines shouted diet soda increased belly fat. These headlines were generated from publicity for the SALSA (San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging) study and published in widely read news sources such as HealthDay.com, NY Daily News and the Washington Post. Going behind the headlines, the study sample was small and the population was older. These alone would question extrapolation to a wider audience. Those who drank diet soda did have an increase in waist measurements but the researchers said this only showed a correlation, not a cause and effect. These findings were too premature to make a public health recommendation to give up diet soda to prevent weight gain. But, this finding is still touted as fact – those who drink diet soda have more belly fat.
To show the absurdity of spin, Johannes Bohannon, a science journalist, set up a very shaky clinical trial from a bogus Institute of Diet and Health, which in reality was nothing more than a website. The results of the study showed that eating dark chocolate leads to more weight loss. The research paper generated from the bogus study was submitted to a number of fee-charging open access journals who did not review the paper vigorously before publishing. It was published in the International Archives of Internal Medicine, a non-peer reviewed publication. If your scientific peers do not read and critique your work, sloppy science can be published.
Credible or not, the results of this study were enticing and caught the eye of the press which quickly reported on the findings – eat dark chocolate and get thinner. Bohannon revealed the hoax in a dramatic gotcha moment.
Did Bohannon stunt really accomplish its desired goal? No. Corrections to any news story, when even published, are always buried. Meanwhile, the idea that dark chocolate can be a dieting aid was rooted in the minds of many readers. Bohannon may feel he shamed the press, but his story is buried under the headlines that suggested dieting and dark chocolate can go hand in hand. In actuality, Bohannon did a disservice to the public by perpetuating another false food fact that will last far longer than his stunt.
Where does all this leave you? We use many platforms today to gather food and nutrition information – TV, radio, newspapers, websites, phone apps, and social media platforms – and all of them are competing for our attention with catchy headlines. Add a celebrity endorsement and the story may get more appealing.
Be a skeptic. Beware of soundbite science. Does the author or speaker have credentials and are they in the field they are talking about? Go to reliable sources to question new studies or see if they are relevant. Don’t change your life or what you feed your family based on one new study. Ask questions and listen carefully to the answers. Remember the old adage – if it sounds too good to be true it probably isn’t true.
© NH Nutrition Consultants, Inc.
Jo-Ann Heslin, MA, RD, CDN is a registered dietitian and the author of 30 books. Available as eBooks from iTunes and Kindle/Amazon:
Diabetes Counter – the most up-to-date information on managing diabetes
Calorie Counter – a weight loss guide that won’t let you down
Protein Counter – put the latest protein recommendations to work for you
Healthy Wholefoods Counter – planet-friendly eating made easy
Complete Food Counter – food counts and nutrition information at your fingertips
Fat and Cholesterol Counter – newest approach to heart-healthy eating
Available in print from Gallery Books:
Most Complete Food Counter, 3rd Ed.
Your Complete Food Counter App: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/your-complete-food-counter/id444558777?mt=8
For more information on Jo-Ann and her books, go to: www.TheNutritionExperts.com