"Be skeptical, but don’t let that turn you into a cynic where you think there’s nothing you can do or you don’t pay attention to any scientific information."
Robert Davis
EFR 553: Revealing the Truth Behind Public Health, Biases in Health and Nutrition Research, and How to Be a Healthy Skeptic with Robert Davis
Robert J. Davis, PhD, is a health journalist with a public health background as well as the Author of The Healthy Skeptic: Cutting Through the HYPE About Your Health.
As a journalist, Robert realized how much people are trying to lobby for their new exercise routines, diets, and hospitals. That opened his eyes to all the money and propaganda involved in skewing science and persuading the public to do certain things.
So, should we be putting our trust into “industry experts” on the same level as scientists? Is the validity of health studies and journalism going away?
In this discussion, Robert and Chase examine the role of skepticism in diet culture, nutritional sciences, and general health and wellness. Robert offers tips on how to discern which health studies and claims are trustworthy and which are misleading, noting trusted health resources and publications you can use to stay educated about nutrition. He also shares his candid thoughts on weight loss supplements, precision medicine in weight loss and nutrition, and the power of belief systems in nutrition and health.
Follow Robert @healthyskept
Follow Chase @chase_chewning
Key Highlights
Robert encourages everyone to be a healthy skeptic. Become educated, don’t fall for fad diets and diet myths, and don’t despair.
As research in health and nutrition changes, popular culture perpetuates false and harmful misconceptions, often through fad diets. Fad diets don’t consider long-term health and vitality.
Health research studies are not created equal and research is far from perfect. Pay attention to who conducts the studies, who funds them, and who the hypothesis is tested on. Remember, even the smartest human beings have biases.
Two areas of public health Robert was highly skeptical of were cannabis and psychedelics. Though, after doing his due diligence, he concluded that studies show they have great benefits for various conditions.
Robert is very excited for further scientific research on precision medicine in weight loss and nutrition so that people can finally find the best approach for them.
Powerful Quotes by Robert J. Davis
Be skeptical, but don’t let that turn you into a cynic where you think there’s nothing you can do or you don’t pay attention to any scientific information.
If you look at the history of science, there have been a lot of horrible ideas that have just been perpetuated because of hunches and anecdotal observations. So, at least science gives us a leg up to have a better sense of what is actually true and what is not.
People should be aware of, and there’s a lot of it out there, hyperbolic language… words like secret or shortcut or something that sounds too good to be true. If it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.
Episode resources:
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