FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Mark R. Vogel
Epicure1@optonline.net
That’s What They Say
Have you ever heard someone justify an alleged nutritional
fact with the response “That’s what they say”? For example, your friend mentions
that she is trying to curtail her salt intake. You ask why and she replies:
“It’s supposed to be bad for your blood pressure. That’s what they say.” Or the
person initiates a health recommendation by referring to “they”, e.g., “You
know, they say that eating hot peppers reduces the chances of stomach cancer.”
I want to know who “they” are. Actually I’m being extremely
rhetorical. I already know who “they” are. Sometimes “they” are honest
researchers but all too often “they” are the supermarket check-out magazines,
the afternoon talk shows, the marketing managers of a new diet product, the
publishers of the latest health fad book, and a sundry list of other
semi-professionals and sometimes outright quacks looking to make a buck.
Very often new dietary advice is reported by a singular
source. Then, other individuals and institutions jump on the bandwagon,
parroting the original findings. Now the information is emanating from multiple
avenues. This creates the impression that it has notable validity when in
reality the barrage of agreement is only an echo of the initial news and not
additional independent sources of substantiation. Nevertheless, armed with this
“evidence” Joe Average American sets forth on a path of low carbohydrates,
organic chicken, fiber-mania or whatever other prescription “they” say will
enable you to live forever and jump over hospitals in a single bound.
This can all be very frustrating for the average person who
would like to take care of their health. There is no shortage of pundits out
there and we are incessantly flooded with contradictory, erroneous, capricious
or limited information. Even if we remove the charlatans and opportunistic
entrepreneurs from the equation, trying to get to the scientific truth is quite
a challenge.
The problem is that human nutrition is extremely complex. Our
bodies are walking chemistry labs and trying to uncover which substances cause
which effect is a gargantuan task. Even if you identify a relationship between
food X and condition Y, how do you know it’s not due to any of a multitude of
other intervening variables such as the person’s unique genetic makeup, other
medical conditions, the interactive effect of other nutrients and/or substances,
placebo effects, etc. Maybe food X’s effect is dependent on the amount and
duration of its consumption. Maybe the effect is only significant for a certain
age group or sex. Maybe there’s no effect at all and the findings were
coincidental. Maybe the study was shoddy and flawed. Maybe there were other
unknown biological variables that played a role. The list goes on and on.
The point I’m endeavoring to highlight is it takes a
significant amount of research over an extended period of time to even begin to
draw some sound conclusions. There are countless nutritional claims out there
with contradictory or inconsistent findings. In essence, the jury is still out
on a number of fronts. And sometimes when the jury comes in it overturns a
previous verdict. Take salt for example. Not too long ago everyone and their
mother were preaching the dangers of sodium and how it increased blood pressure.
Practically overnight half the country became anti-salt fanatics because “they”
said it caused high blood pressure. Now it appears that this is true only for a
small subgroup of individuals prone to hypertension and sodium sensitivity. The
vast majority of us without hypertension and normally functioning kidneys, who
drink ample amounts of water needn’t concern ourselves. (Please check with your
own physician though before you have a stroke and sue me). In any event, “they”
reconfigured part of an entire country’s dietary landscape.
So where does all this leave us? Always consider the source
of the nutritional information. Is it a professional publication or a mass
market rag hitching a ride on the latest fad? Likewise, is it being reported on
the 11:00 news or the daytime talk show because it’s a hot topic and will boost
ratings? Does the person or people expressing the opinion have something to sell
you? This is always a red flag. Billions of dollars a year is spent in this
country on exercise gizmos, weight reduction pills and programs, and all kinds
of vitamin and herbal supplements that “they” say will do this or that. Finally,
does the dispenser of the dietary advice site actual scientific studies with
references that you can check? And even if they do, are they offering only the
studies that support their claim and not the ones which refute it?
Do yourself a favor. Consult a REAL expert. Ask your medical
doctor, a registered dietitian, or someone who actually has a degree in
nutrition or biochemistry, not just the trainer at the gym with the big arms.
Sporting defined biceps doesn’t guarantee an understanding of the nuances of
biochemistry. Be informed, be skeptical, and be reluctant to dive head first
into the latest craze. There are a lot of ulterior motives out there. At least
that’s what they say.
