Eating is bad for your health!

It seems like tons of studies are coming out with the media telling us the important points you need to know. On Stuff's Health page when I wrote this entry:

Life can be sweeter without sugar: Cutting out sugar is good for you (really? you don't say). It generates free radicals (which are bad for you), but then you build up defenses (which is good), and helps promote a longer life. At least, if you are a worm...

Conscientious people less prone to Alzheimer's: Conscientious people who lead a clean life are less likely to get Alzheimer's. All well and good, but this was a study of priests and nuns, who were considered conscientious to begin with? Actually, they measured conscientiousness by getting the people to fill out a survey, which asked people to rate themselves. Clearly only good thinking religious people aren't going to tick "I torture puppies on the weekend" option. Considering that Alzheimer's is a brain issue that lessens with brain activity (usually by doing lots of mental exercises), I'm going to take a cynical tack and also say that it has less impact on brain patterns that are run over and over again (such as performing rituals that might be associated with religious activities...).

The effects of gluten on health: a gluten expert has linked all sorts of medical problems to a newly invented Gluten Syndrome. Wow, I'm sure no-one could see that coming. Like a cardiologist wouldn't find a heart problem...

Men who smoke risk erectile dysfunction: Correlation isn't causation, so when a link is found between Chinese guys who smoke and those that have erectile dysfunction, it's nice to see no-one's leaping to conclusions...except those who wrote anything to do with this study...

Smoking causes genetic changes - study: Based on a sample of 24 people, valid and robust medical conclusions have been reached... or at least reported, with lots of genetic-related words thrown in...

The Skeptic's Guide has been talking about studies recently. Basic result: trust literature of oft repeated studies, but not individual studies themselves. The effect is often less than the one study reports, if there at all.

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