Posts Tagged ‘health reporting’

Exercise Self-Reports Predict Less Benefit for Men Than Women?

February 29, 2024 — What could explain the observation that self-reports of exercise predict less of a benefit for men than women? In the Journal of the American College of Cardiology researchers nimbly leap to a conclusion that women get greater gains in mortality risk reduction from “equivalent doses” of physical activity. But would men exaggerate their self-reports? When […]

Kimchi for the Win in Obesity? Not Really

February 10, 2024 — The setup has been great. Kimchi lands near the top of the list of “must-eat fermented foods for a healthy gut.” On top of that, nutrition gurus advise us “food is medicine” and a fermented food diet “increases microbiome diversity and decreases inflammatory proteins.” So we should be ready to believe when a study tells […]

Promoting Insight Instead of Contempt on Obesity

January 11, 2024 — Clicks rule the internet and much of social media, so rudeness is rather easy to find, but hard to take. Reporting that brings insight and understanding is more rare and more rewarding. On obesity yesterday, we found a sharp contrast between promoting insight and promoting contempt. From the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public […]

Vegan Diet Cuts Risk of Heart Disease After Two Months?

December 1, 2023 — Enthusiastic promoters of vegan diets are quite happy with headlines coming out of Stanford today. The Times of London captured the aspirational promise with their headline quite well: “Vegan diet cuts risk of heart disease after two months.” The Stanford University PR department was a little more subtle. They merely said “a vegan diet improves […]

The Difference Between Measured and Imagined Life Expectancy

November 26, 2023 — As an article of faith, we like to believe that healthy habits will lead us to a longer life. So of course, it makes sense to develop healthy habits for eating, enjoy an active life, and get enough good sleep every night. But putting a number on the benefit of those habits is not so […]

Cutting Salt “Works as Well” as Blood Pressure Medicines?

November 14, 2023 — Please. We don’t need fake controversies and false comparative claims. But in reporting on an excellent new study of the effects of cutting salt on blood pressure, we’re getting a little bit of both. The study that is generating this frenzy simply doesn’t line up with the headlines that reporters are spinning out of it. […]

Seriously? Horror Films Are Good for Health?

October 31, 2023 — “If you want to improve your resistance to pain, lose weight, and just scream very loudly, take a trip to a cinema near you.” This soundbite from the BBC World Service at the end of sober news reports mainly about the war in Gaza came from a credible source. But it seemed more like something […]

Headlines Say Fructose Drives Obesity. Research Doesn’t.

October 26, 2023 — It’s like some kind of holy grail. Obesity prevalence keeps rising and everyone (including ourselves) wants to know why. So headlines saying “major study claims to identify the root cause of obesity” really do grab our attention. News reports are pelting us with headlines saying fructose drives obesity. The only trouble is, the headlines are […]

Ultra-Processed, Hyper-Palatable Pumpkin Spice Lattes

September 30, 2023 — We hate to be the bearer of bad news. But those pumpkin spice lattes that define the pleasure of fall are both ultra-processed and hyper-palatable. In other words, they spell doom for our dietary health. That is, they do if we accept the current presumption that UPF and HPF explain all that is increasingly unhealthy […]

Early to Bed, Early to Rise … Has Links

September 25, 2023 — “Morning workouts turbocharge the benefits of exercise,” says Psychology Today. A litany of headlines like this have been crossing our screen for weeks now. They are insistent. “The early bird gets the worm – and sees better workout results,” said People magazine. “This is the best time of day to work out if you want […]