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0 pointsBurningFrog4y ago0 comments

We still don't really understand how diet affects health long term.

The effects of smoking OTOH are extremely clear.

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6 comments · 1 top-level

josho4y ago· 5 in thread

> We still don't really understand how diet affects health long term.

I thought it was pretty clear that we do. Go talk to any physician and they will tell you the 3 things you control to increase your chances of a long & healthy life are:

1. Limit alcohol/tobacco 2. exercise frequently 3. eat a healthy diet

Are you suggesting for #3 they have no data to back that recommendation up?

BurningFrogOP4y ago

They have a lot of recommendations. The problem is that they change radically about once per decade.

~10 years ago they still thought eating fat made you fat, and recommended high carb diets.

Perhaps the 2021 recommendations are finally the correct ones. But how do I know that?

josho4y ago

Yeh, that's science. As we learn more the guidance is refined. Generally speaking for decades the guidance has been to eat a well balanced diet—that hasn't changed.

There is also a second issue, government agencies have been co-opted by industry to make recommendations not supported by the science. I'm specifically thinking about recommendations around fat&sugar, the same thing you called out that indicates the problem is not the science but rather regulatory capture.

tomrod4y ago

Eh, yes there is data but the association is not clear and straightforward that diet is the necessary or sufficient condition for metabolic or cardiovascular diseases. What you're quoting is, in healthcare, called the "standard of care" and is the workflow that is recommended for doctors (i.e. less likely to be sued for malpractice if they follow the route). Most doctors are technicians, not researchers establishing causal claims with strong data.

Please don't misread, I agree with you in principle. I am simply pointing out there are nuances.

mgkimsal4y ago

"Most doctors are technicians, not researchers"

Thanks. Very succinct, and helps me frame my medical interactions a bit more clearly now.

R0b0t14y ago

You are wrong. There are great volumes of evidence that keeping a low weight and keeping macronutrients roughly in some gap makes you live longer. I'm not sure what is left to be talking about. Specific fad diets?

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