Why you can't trust health headlines

You probably saw the news…

High-protein diet ‘as bad for health as smoking’

Research finds that people who eat diet rich in animal protein carry similar cancer risk to those who smoke 20 cigarettes each day (The Telegraph)

Diets high in meat, eggs and dairy could be as harmful to health as smoking

People under 65 who eat a lot of meat, eggs and dairy are four times as likely to die from cancer or diabetes, study suggests (The Guardian)

High protein diets made the list.

I guess red meat was already there though. Along with eggs. And sugar. And saturated fat. And carbohydrates in general. Gluten maybe?

Be afraid. They’re all killing us. And that’s not to mention fast food or alcohol. Or a whole host of non food-related things we’re warned about on a near daily basis. There’s always something! Indeed, in single-study assessments, it appears everything we eat is associated with cancer!

1. News is mostly about fear

Sure you’ll hear of the latest diet fads and quirky trends, but don’t expect any sound advice. The news is an industry. They report what sells. And what sells is fear, sensationalism and scaremongering.

Prior to my adventure in Latin America, several people raised the ‘danger’ issue. The risk I was apparently taking in visiting that part of the world. But their only source of information had been the news.

I’m not suggesting there aren’t risks in other countries but it’s easy to forget that the news predominantly reports on the ‘bad’ stuff. It’s a one-sided story. There’s unlikely to be a 10 o’ clock bulletin on the backpacker who had a great time overseas and came home safely. No one cares.

2. News is mostly about headlines

Coming up with the headline is one of the aspects of blogging I find most challenging. I’m well aware that if that line at the top of the page isn’t click-worthy, my work is far less likely to be read.

High-protein diet ‘as bad for health as smoking’ is a great headline.

But what about the message, the actual content? Did any of the journalists reporting the story even look at the study?

Of course not. That’s not their job. Their job is to sell us ‘news’.

It’s easy to take a press release, a quote or an eye-catching summary of a study and pronounce: Science says this…

But despite the craving for headlines, science isn’t usually that conclusive. Every scientific study has limitations and rather than leaping to giant conclusions, we have to be careful in how we interpret studies.

As it turns out, that particular study has a lot of limitations. In fact, from the very same study, the headline could just as easily have read:

No relation between higher protein intake and all-cause mortality!

…although I guess that wouldn’t have had the same impact.

For an in depth look at the study and how best to interpret it, I suggest you check out this article by the guys at Examine.

Thinking for yourself

Since news-watching has been shown to trigger “persisting negative psychological feelings”, maybe we don’t need to be seeking out that stuff in the first place? Does it make your life better?

If we do choose to consume the news, rather than taking it as gospel, we need to be able to think for ourselves. With regard to health and fitness, this usually means using a large slice of common sense and some critical thinking.

Let’s be sensible. The fundamentals of health are unlikely to change wildly any time soon.

We know that human beings have survived for millions of years eating a wide variety of plants and animal products (what else was there?).
We know that eating a lot of crappy, modern food products, in general, isn’t great for us.
We know that being physically active is good for our health.
We know that social community and time in nature can benefit our overall sense of wellbeing.

Contrary to what the news suggests, we don’t need to be afraid of everything. The stress of dietary angst is probably more harmful than just eating the food. We don’t need a special diet. We don’t need to restrict certain foods. We just need to keep it simple and chill out.

Eat nutrient-dense, whole food, cook at home, move often, and enjoy life. Do the fundamentals, consistently, over time!