Whenever anyone makes the argument that “science” is some sort of untainted, unbiased, monolith of “truth” I want to raise my eyebrow like Spock and say, “Fascinating.”
Why? Because while data can be factual, anything interpreted or analyzed by humans is subject to errors or distortions or outright lies … including science. For example, the scientific “truth” that fat was bad and sugar was fine – a myth which stood unchallenged for decades — turns out to have been based on poppycock and media-spin rather than reality.
“according to a paper by UC San Francisco researchers published in JAMA Internal Medicine … the move to single out fat and cholesterol as the biggest problems in American diets was a coordinated effort by the trade association, the Sugar Research Foundation, intended to increase the consumption of sucrose … The Sugar Research Foundation paid the modern equivalent of US$50,000 to fund the project, which argued cholesterol – not sucrose – was the sole relevant factor in studying and preventing coronary heart disease … As the low-fat diet trend took hold of the US, the sugar industry thrived. Food makers began replacing fat with sugar – which is exactly what the industry had wanted … Americans consume 30 percent more sugar daily now than three decades ago, according to the Obesity Society. American children eat three times as much added sugar as they should.”
In short, sugar increases the risk of heart disease, some kinds of mental illness, certain cancers, and other life-shortening ailments, but even though the scientists knew it and the sugar industry knew it they outright lied to the public under the cover of “science” because a big industry wanted to sell more dose-dependent poison and the scientists were willing to be bought.
And it is still happening. One of the worst culprits for getting sugar into the blood stream fast is soda pop, and the makers of fizzy sweet drinks know this and are working to minimize the damage to their bottom line while bottoms across the world expand:
“Coca-Cola came under fire for donating $1.5 million to a nutrition nonprofit, while denying its influence in the inner workings of the organisation. Emails revealed that Coca Cola helped pick the group’s leaders, edited its mission statement, and suggested articles and videos for its website.”
Don’t think diet drinks are the answer either. Artificial sweeteners raise the insulin level in your blood without using it, and their consumption is linked with the development of Type II diabetes and obesity.
Worse, cutting sugar out of your diet is harder than you think. It turns out the stuff is hidden in everything and is highly addictive.
The craving for sugar is comparable to the yearning for opiates and cocaine. So, sugar is as “easy” a habit to break as freaking heroin. It’s crack we get in our kids’ breakfast cereal. Halloween and Christmas are basically family-friendly drug parties. Colas, with the added boost of caffeine and salt, just make the addiction that much worse and the Western world has cola to drink with almost every meal.
Yet right now, even knowing all this, I would really LOVE a doughnut. Let me call my dealer – Krispy Kreme.
I agree. Science is only as good as the human creating the experiments and results.
But peer review enables mistakes to be found. Peer review is a part of the process.