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Pseudoscience
Feb. 13th, 2007 09:30 amhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,,2011095,00.html
This article struck a real chord with me - I do have the odd skirmish with trying to lose weight and improve my health every now and again, although have some longterm habits which should stand me in good stead, like always eating a fairly high quantity of fruit and veg alongside the tasty crap. The reason that this particular article appealed to me was the way that advertising/television so often misrepresent science and how rarely any media addresses and rebutts this.
Often the advertising is in stuff like cosmetics, which cause me to giggle immensely, rather than get cross -I wonder how expensive moisturisers advertising "lyposomal action" would sell if that was translated to "blobs of fat in an emulsion" (which is much closer to the truth). But at the end of the day, it will have no real impact on people if they stick fatty gloop on their bums or not.
The diet industry is different - there is an immense amount of quackery out there - a huge number of people selling dreams, with possibly dangerous claims. Herbal potions and dodgy pills - anything to force people to think that they will be easily able to conform to "ideal" bodyshapes - when ecology suggests that in a mixed population, a longterm species strategy would be to have a variety of bodyshapes, to exploit changing conditions. And the misuse of science to back up these often potentially harmful regimes makes me very cross indeed.
I put my faith in the nutritional guidelines of those people who I know are REALLY scientific researchers in nutrition -that publish reports for bodies such as the World Health Organisation. If the research is published by medical charities, such as those combatting heart disease, or cancers - fine. Just don't read the glossy magazines, the celebrity endorsements, the unrealistic promises of "fat burning" pills. At the end of the day, it comes down to basics. Eat reasonable portions of nutritious food and get some exercise. It really is that simple - it just won't necessarily deliver you a perfect shape. It will give you health benefits and quality of life.
Beware of "science as religion" - science is about questioning and testing, not about putting your faith in someone!
This article struck a real chord with me - I do have the odd skirmish with trying to lose weight and improve my health every now and again, although have some longterm habits which should stand me in good stead, like always eating a fairly high quantity of fruit and veg alongside the tasty crap. The reason that this particular article appealed to me was the way that advertising/television so often misrepresent science and how rarely any media addresses and rebutts this.
Often the advertising is in stuff like cosmetics, which cause me to giggle immensely, rather than get cross -I wonder how expensive moisturisers advertising "lyposomal action" would sell if that was translated to "blobs of fat in an emulsion" (which is much closer to the truth). But at the end of the day, it will have no real impact on people if they stick fatty gloop on their bums or not.
The diet industry is different - there is an immense amount of quackery out there - a huge number of people selling dreams, with possibly dangerous claims. Herbal potions and dodgy pills - anything to force people to think that they will be easily able to conform to "ideal" bodyshapes - when ecology suggests that in a mixed population, a longterm species strategy would be to have a variety of bodyshapes, to exploit changing conditions. And the misuse of science to back up these often potentially harmful regimes makes me very cross indeed.
I put my faith in the nutritional guidelines of those people who I know are REALLY scientific researchers in nutrition -that publish reports for bodies such as the World Health Organisation. If the research is published by medical charities, such as those combatting heart disease, or cancers - fine. Just don't read the glossy magazines, the celebrity endorsements, the unrealistic promises of "fat burning" pills. At the end of the day, it comes down to basics. Eat reasonable portions of nutritious food and get some exercise. It really is that simple - it just won't necessarily deliver you a perfect shape. It will give you health benefits and quality of life.
Beware of "science as religion" - science is about questioning and testing, not about putting your faith in someone!
