Weird Science

I’ve fallen in love with Nina Teicholz.  I’m reading her 2014 book The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet. Part scientific text, part history, part whodunit, the book asks the question: how did dietary fat get the bad rap it has today, and is it deserved? (Spoiler alert: no).  

As a Big Guy of a certain age, on a ketogenic diet for epilepsy, I have certain concerns: what about cholesterol?  What about saturated fat? What about heart disease?  This is why I picked up Big Fat Surprise. 

I’m only halfway through, but the book has blown my mind several times already.  The revelations of how soft money, politics, and prejudice form the basis of American dietary guidelines are pretty shocking. (For example, did you know that the famous “Food Pyramid” was written by a single, vegetarian-leaning congressional staffer who had no background in science, and with no consensus from the academic community?).  

Just last week, Teicholz penned a scathing opinion piece in the LA Times on the sorry state of nutrition today.  It, too, is a good read, and serves as pretty good overview for some of the big ideas in the book (because, y’know, who has time to read a book anymore?). 

As a journalist, an outsider, and a really smart person, Teicholz is in a unique position to examine the science behind our dietary advice today and find where it is weak (which, it turns out, is everywhere).  She reveals again and again that most of what we think we know is, at best, unproven speculation (and at worst, flat-out wrong).

And here’s another shocker: medical researchers are not saints.  Many of the so-called studies of the past 50 years have been tainted by under-the-table money.  For example, Harvard has had its venerable name dragged through the mud recently, when it came to light that much of its research has been unduly influenced by the sugar industry.  

Before you fall hook, line and sinker for the next salacious health column headline and invest your fortune on acai berries, take pause.  The words “studies indicate that…” should be a red flag.  Who conducted the study?  Who sponsored it?  85% of the time, studies’ results will very conveniently coincide with sponsors’ interests.   In one particularly brash example, recent studies touting the benefits of a high-carb diet were sponsored by the “research arm” of the Barilla Pasta company. 

So what’s a Big Guy to do?  Throw up your hands and throw down at the nearest Waffle House?  As fun as that would be, it’s probably more prudent to turn to the time-tested science that we’ve used for generations: cuisine.  Cook for yourself and your family.  Cook food that comes from nature, not from a box: fish, meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, fruit.  Be skeptical of anything with a barcode.  Read ingredients, and if you see anything you wouldn’t eat by itself (say, partially-hydrogenated soybean oil), then don’t eat the food that contains it.  You can’t go too far wrong by just simplifying your life and eating what your body is meant to eat... you know, food.

Note: The ramblings published on this blog are the opinions of the author alone and shared for entertainment purposes only.  The author is an English major with no medical or scientific background; thus, his words should never be taken as medical advice.  Consult with your doctor or medical professional before undertaking any diet or exercise program.