Can science mean anything you want it to? A new study claims that everything we eat affects our lifespan. It joins a long history of confusing and contradictory food science.
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One hot dog can lose you 36 minutes of life
Can science mean anything you want it to? A new study claims that everything we eat affects our lifespan. It joins a long history of confusing and contradictory food science.
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Food for thought
Yes: Science has often been manipulated. Kellogg's claimed one of its cereals made children 20% more attentive but were found to have compared the effect of eating cereal with that of having just water for breakfast. Colgate claimed that 80% of dentists backed its toothpaste, while not mentioning that a similar number of dentists had also selected competitors.
No: The facts are the facts. What we have to learn is to read statistics carefully to understand what they show. Scientific research is vital to our understanding of the world. We should not condemn it.
Or... Scientists are usually responsible in their research, and present things to the best accuracy they can. It is when scientific research escapes from the lab and enters the public domain that it becomes distorted.
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Keywords
Michael Phelps - An American swimmer and the most successful Olympian of all time.
Life expectancy - The number of years that a person can expect to live.
Cholesterol - A type of blood fat produced by the liver.
One hot dog can lose you 36 minutes of life
Joey Chestnut after winning his 14th Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest in July 2021 © Getty Glossary
Michael Phelps - An American swimmer and the most successful Olympian of all time.
Life expectancy - The number of years that a person can expect to live.
Cholesterol - A type of blood fat produced by the liver.