I Fooled Millions Into Thinking Chocolate Helps Weight Loss. Here's How
isulo_kura
Posts: 818 Member
A great Article and a good example of why you shouldn't believe it just because it's in the popular press
http://io9.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800
“Slim by Chocolate!” the headlines blared. A team of German researchers had found that people on a low-carb diet lost weight 10 percent faster if they ate a chocolate bar every day. It made the front page of Bild, Europe’s largest daily newspaper, just beneath their update about the Germanwings crash. From there, it ricocheted around the internet and beyond, making news in more than 20 countries and half a dozen languages. It was discussed on television news shows. It appeared in glossy print, most recently in the June issue of Shape magazine (“Why You Must Eat Chocolate Daily”, page 128). Not only does chocolate accelerate weight loss, the study found, but it leads to healthier cholesterol levels and overall increased well-being. The Bild story quotes the study’s lead author, Johannes Bohannon, Ph.D., research director of the Institute of Diet and Health: “The best part is you can buy chocolate everywhere.”
I am Johannes Bohannon, Ph.D. Well, actually my name is John, and I’m a journalist. I do have a Ph.D., but it’s in the molecular biology of bacteria, not humans. The Institute of Diet and Health? That’s nothing more than a website.............
http://io9.com/i-fooled-millions-into-thinking-chocolate-helps-weight-1707251800
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Eye opener on how easily people are tricked. Sad But true.0
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That original article is worth reading in its entirety. Thanks for sharing.0
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I'm not saying that the people who published this information shouldn't have been more careful, but given the number of benefits to eating chocolate that people have been discussing for the past decade, saying that it is beneficial to weight loss isn't that farfetched. It would be interesting to see the results of a properly done study that looks at this.0
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Tim, you missed the point. The point was how easy it is to cook research.
I've bookmarked the linked list of dodgy publishers. I have a feeling that will be very useful around these parts.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »I'm not saying that the people who published this information shouldn't have been more careful, but given the number of benefits to eating chocolate that people have been discussing for the past decade, saying that it is beneficial to weight loss isn't that farfetched. It would be interesting to see the results of a properly done study that looks at this.
really???? I am gonna start calling you Sheldon cause you apparently don't get sarcasm...0 -
..."Frank said it was a favorite of the “whole food” fanatics. “Bitter chocolate tastes bad, therefore it must be good for you,” he said. “It’s like a religion.”
I'd like to meet Dr. Frank.0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »I'm not saying that the people who published this information shouldn't have been more careful, but given the number of benefits to eating chocolate that people have been discussing for the past decade, saying that it is beneficial to weight loss isn't that farfetched. It would be interesting to see the results of a properly done study that looks at this.
you must be a blast at parties….
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mamapeach910 wrote: »Tim, you missed the point. The point was how easy it is to cook research.
I've bookmarked the linked list of dodgy publishers. I have a feeling that will be very useful around these parts.
Caveat to my own post: it was also about how sad science reporting is.
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His mother had him tested.TimothyFish wrote: »I'm not saying that the people who published this information shouldn't have been more careful, but given the number of benefits to eating chocolate that people have been discussing for the past decade, saying that it is beneficial to weight loss isn't that farfetched. It would be interesting to see the results of a properly done study that looks at this.
really???? I am gonna start calling you Sheldon cause you apparently don't get sarcasm...
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I fooled my hubby in to a home "cure" for cold sores that went like this. He could not find any holes in my argument and he remains cured to this day. I shared my "cure" with my (MD) sister and she cried, "unethical!" If I were a doctor maybe, but I made no special claims. Here's my "cure".
Cold sores can be caused by stress. B vitamins are good for stress. I found a B vitamin formulation that had a large label "STRESS" on it. I told hubby how it worked and I stressed it was to reduce his stress. His chronic cold sores cleared up and he continues to take his "STRESS" pill daily.
Can you guess how this worked? What are the flaws in my strategy?0 -
I fooled my hubby in to a home "cure" for cold sores that went like this. He could not find any holes in my argument and he remains cured to this day. I shared my "cure" with my (MD) sister and she cried, "unethical!" If I were a doctor maybe, but I made no special claims. Here's my "cure".
Cold sores can be caused by stress. B vitamins are good for stress. I found a B vitamin formulation that had a large label "STRESS" on it. I told hubby how it worked and I stressed it was to reduce his stress. His chronic cold sores cleared up and he continues to take his "STRESS" pill daily.
Can you guess how this worked? What are the flaws in my strategy?
You need to post this anecdote in the ayurveda thread.
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TimothyFish wrote: »I'm not saying that the people who published this information shouldn't have been more careful, but given the number of benefits to eating chocolate that people have been discussing for the past decade, saying that it is beneficial to weight loss isn't that farfetched. It would be interesting to see the results of a properly done study that looks at this.
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If you can be fooled into thinking high calorie sugar snacks will make you lose weight, you probably weren't serious about losing weight in the first place.0
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I fooled my hubby in to a home "cure" for cold sores that went like this. He could not find any holes in my argument and he remains cured to this day. I shared my "cure" with my (MD) sister and she cried, "unethical!" If I were a doctor maybe, but I made no special claims. Here's my "cure".
Cold sores can be caused by stress. B vitamins are good for stress. I found a B vitamin formulation that had a large label "STRESS" on it. I told hubby how it worked and I stressed it was to reduce his stress. His chronic cold sores cleared up and he continues to take his "STRESS" pill daily.
Can you guess how this worked? What are the flaws in my strategy?
I. Want. This. Placebo.0 -
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Wow, the article definitely shows how people are fooled and just swallow false information, with out doing any investigating themselves.0
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As the saying goes "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't".0
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Even when researchers aren't promoting an angle, reporters very often misunderstand scientific studies and write sensational stories about the report, rather than accurate ones.
The other thing that reporters and the general public don't get is that just because a study comes out saying "Such-and-such is good for you", that doesn't mean that the results are set in stone and infallibly true because all scientists everywhere are nodding in agreement with the results, because SCIENCE. Like I saw an article the other day called something like "This study proves why dinosaurs became extinct." Bull. It's one study and the reporter isn't trained to see the potential flaws that would skew the results. Science is a process, and often it's the process of one scientist looking at another scientist's study and going, "Wow, you used THAT methodology? No, no, no. I'm going to do a similar study using THIS methodology and my results will be different (and CORRECT), you'll see."
In a lot of ways science isn't so much about trying to prove as trying to disprove. I take "miracle food" reports with the biggest grain of salt.0 -
BlueSkyShoal wrote: »Even when researchers aren't promoting an angle, reporters very often misunderstand scientific studies and write sensational stories about the report, rather than accurate ones.
The other thing that reporters and the general public don't get is that just because a study comes out saying "Such-and-such is good for you", that doesn't mean that the results are set in stone and infallibly true because all scientists everywhere are nodding in agreement with the results, because SCIENCE. Like I saw an article the other day called something like "This study proves why dinosaurs became extinct." Bull. It's one study and the reporter isn't trained to see the potential flaws that would skew the results. Science is a process, and often it's the process of one scientist looking at another scientist's study and going, "Wow, you used THAT methodology? No, no, no. I'm going to do a similar study using THIS methodology and my results will be different (and CORRECT), you'll see."
In a lot of ways science isn't so much about trying to prove as trying to disprove. I take "miracle food" reports with the biggest grain of salt.
QFT0 -
Oh my goodness, the music videos about using chocolate for weight loss are just... so.... omg. XD0
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It's things like this that make me an *kitten* on the Internet. THIS is why I demand links to papers. This is why I don't take you seriously if you can't provide them. And when you say "do your own homework" I know that you never read or understood the paper and you don't like to admit you might be mistaken.
(This is a reply to the article, the "you" is general and not pointed at anyone in particular)0 -
BlueSkyShoal wrote: »Even when researchers aren't promoting an angle, reporters very often misunderstand scientific studies and write sensational stories about the report, rather than accurate ones.
Reporters are also infamous for printing the "shocking" or "revolutionary" conclusions from studies without doing their due diligence and reporting on the often vigorous peer criticism that follows a study being published. Science very rarely does a 180 degree shift on anything but you'd think that given the way it is reported.In a lot of ways science isn't so much about trying to prove as trying to disprove. I take "miracle food" reports with the biggest grain of salt.
Agreed. And I'd put "demonized foods" in the same category.0 -
Does anyone have a link to the published paper? I can't find it!0
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just act like you know what you are talking about and people will follow. Even if you tell them you making it up. then they think you are either lying or excessively modest. It's scary how many people believe some of the stuff that comes out of my mouth and follow me even when I freely admit that I'm full of poop. Of course my husband will call me on it, but it doesn't matter because people follow him even faster.0
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crazyjerseygirl wrote: »It's things like this that make me an *kitten* on the Internet. THIS is why I demand links to papers. This is why I don't take you seriously if you can't provide them. And when you say "do your own homework" I know that you never read or understood the paper and you don't like to admit you might be mistaken.
(This is a reply to the article, the "you" is general and not pointed at anyone in particular)
I can use Google as well as anyone, so I'm never too concerned about whether someone provides a link or not. I'm more interested in people and what they have to say about a topic. They could be as wrong as can be and be basing their opinion on something that makes no sense at all, but I find their point of view interesting.0 -
peter56765 wrote: »BlueSkyShoal wrote: »Even when researchers aren't promoting an angle, reporters very often misunderstand scientific studies and write sensational stories about the report, rather than accurate ones.
Reporters are also infamous for printing the "shocking" or "revolutionary" conclusions from studies without doing their due diligence and reporting on the often vigorous peer criticism that follows a study being published. Science very rarely does a 180 degree shift on anything but you'd think that given the way it is reported.In a lot of ways science isn't so much about trying to prove as trying to disprove. I take "miracle food" reports with the biggest grain of salt.
Agreed. And I'd put "demonized foods" in the same category.
Yes! When I had my second son, I was attempting a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean.) A study came out while I was pregnant that showed the risk of uterine rupture based on various levels of intervention. Despite the fact that no intervention carried about the same risk (less than 1%) of a "normal" pregnancy, all of the articles about this study crowed about how "dangerous" it was to have a VBAC, instead of how dangerous it is for doctors to intervene unnecessarily. And the infuriating part was when I ended up on the table anyway, the idiot doctor tried to talk to me about the study. I quickly shut him up when I was able to rattle off all of the real numbers.
The moral of my overly long story is, I get why people ask to see the actual study instead of an article or a blog post about the study and I get why they're so skeptical. And yes, doctors are just as guilty of falling for this nonsense. So even if your doctor tells you something, do your own research!0 -
I want chocolate.0
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I admittedly just skimmed the article (SO long), but who were the millions that beleived this? Or are they just assuming all readers believed it?0
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I fooled my hubby in to a home "cure" for cold sores that went like this. He could not find any holes in my argument and he remains cured to this day. I shared my "cure" with my (MD) sister and she cried, "unethical!" If I were a doctor maybe, but I made no special claims. Here's my "cure".
Cold sores can be caused by stress. B vitamins are good for stress. I found a B vitamin formulation that had a large label "STRESS" on it. I told hubby how it worked and I stressed it was to reduce his stress. His chronic cold sores cleared up and he continues to take his "STRESS" pill daily.
Can you guess how this worked? What are the flaws in my strategy?
hahaha, awesome! Made me laugh
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