What’s Happening: Study Trouble

One of the great things about the Paleo world is that we not only read studies, we read them critically, question their conclusions, argue with their methods, and occasionally even reject them as too flawed to tell us anything useful. That’s one of the Paleo community’s best defenses against lousy science – so take a look at two critical reports on recent research:

• Mark Sisson’s skeptical take on last week’s research that seemed to condemn multivitamins: he rightly points out that the multivitamins involved were quite cheap, and that at least one of the studies was done in doctors, which may have skewed the results.

• You might have also seen a study floating around about how meat is bad for your gut flora: Kevin Cann takes on this one at Robb Wolf’s blog here, pointing out that the subjects in that study at an all-meat diet with no vegetables at all, which doesn’t resemble Paleo by any stretch of the imagination. It’s not so hard to believe that a total absence of vegetables is bad for the gut flora, but this study has no real relevance to Paleo in the real world.

It’s not only studies that have been in the news though. Check out the rest of this week’s happenings:

• The latest Bulletproof Executive podcast goes deep into the science of ketosis: if you’re considering experimenting with a zero-carb diet, you’ll definitely want to listen to this first.

• A terrifying pie chart from Marion Nestle gives you a graphic representation of exactly how bad our factory-farm antibiotic problem is.

• If you struggle with stress eating, check out this list of 5-minute stress-busters: one of them involves food, but the rest are Paleo-friendly.

• On a slightly more positive note, check out the Healthy Home Economist’s report on a study that found cod liver oil effective for arthritis pain.

• Nathanael Johnson at Grist provides an informative and helpful summary of all the GMO research that he’s been working through since this summer. If you’re struggling to make sense of the recent labeling debate, or don’t even know where to get started with your research, his series is a pretty good place to begin.

What was the first time you realized that not all studies are equally definitive? Let us know on Facebook or Google+!