July 10, 2025 — Whatever one’s politics, it should be plain to all that this is a humbling moment for the righteous cause of public health. An essay by John Tierney in The Atlantic says public health has discredited itself. Tierney describes the state of things in stark terms: “Although many skeptics have overreacted, rejecting sound science in favor […]
June 30, 2025 — Within a month, we expect that U.S. Dietary Guidelines will come out of the MAHA machine, looking like nothing that came before. Speculation is rife and the expectations are low that this new incarnation will be tethered to nutrition research. Writing in The Atlantic about HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and the imminent issuance of […]
April 17, 2025 — The author of some of the most compelling scientific research on ultra-processed foods, Kevin Hall, is leaving NIH because of censorship of his science at the agency. “I experienced censorship in the reporting of our research because of agency concerns that it did not appear to fully support preconceived narratives of my agency’s leadership about […]
April 15, 2024 — “Trust no one.” This classic line sets up thrillers, mysteries, and the moment we seem to be living. Trust in institutions is low and misinformation proliferates through electronic and social media. Because we are in the middle of a very careful, transparent, and public process for developing a new edition of Dietary Guidelines for Americans, […]
December 24, 2023 — Oprah Winfrey says “Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower – it’s about the brain.” This tidbit from a recent interview with People magazine is great. It’s accurate and it corrects a common misconception. No doubt, it will bring a shift away from flawed thinking about this condition that many people have been hanging […]
December 12, 2023 — An amicable discussion about evidence for the effectiveness of soft drink taxes can be, well, somewhat taxing. Scientists with genuine curiosity about this subject often seem harder to find than true believers. But disappointment has come for those true believers. Because some of the evidence to back their firm beliefs in soft drink taxes recently […]
August 12, 2023 — Research integrity is a hot topic these days. People want to know that they can rely upon scientific publications to be accurate reflections of an honest inquiry to find the answer to a research question. Toward this end, data sharing is an important commitment. Increasingly, researchers pledge to share their data in the interest of […]
March 31, 2023 — “Exercise with a buddy, your brain will thank you,” says the Washington Post. “Improve Your Memory, Problem-Solving, and Mental Processing Speeds in Just 6 Minutes,” promises Inc. This is just a small sample of the exuberant claims about exercise and brain health coming at us from news media. There’s only one problem. Some of it […]
October 2, 2022 — From the Annals of Sad but True: “It is not only predatory journals that publish bullshit,” said Guillaume Cabanac. He was commenting of the news last year of hundreds of retractions from special issues in journals published by Springer Nature and Elsevier. This and other recent news suggests that scientific fraud is hardly negligible. But […]
September 21, 2022 — According to Anahad O’Connor in the Washington Post, your microbiome can do amazing things for you. “These vast communities of microbes are the gateway to your health and well-being – and one of the simplest and most powerful ways to shape and nurture them is through your diet.” Because research sez so. So maybe feeding […]
