Epidemiological Studies - How Pretzels Cause Alcoholism


(Gregory - You can teach an old dog new tricks.) #1

I really like this one from Dr. Georgia Ede

The Problem with Epidemiological Studies

The scientific method, which seeks to improve our understanding of the natural world, requires two phases:

  • Phase 1: Generate a hypothesis about why something is happening in the world around you. In our example, the hypothesis is that berries may help prevent cognitive decline.
  • Phase 2: Test your hypothesis in an experiment to see if you’re on the right track. For example: feed some people berries, deprive other people of berries, then test everyone’s thinking and memory down the road to see if either group fared better.

Nutrition epidemiology concerns itself entirely with phase one, never venturing into phase two.

Read more to find out how eating pretzels leads to alcoholism and how eating 3 slices of bacon every day vs 1 slice, increases the risk of colon cancer by a whopping .08%…

Never mind that the epidemiologists reported the relative risk of 20%. ( .40 vs .48% )


(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

Giving up pretzels was one of the best things I ever did for my health, especially the real cheapies they give away at all the bars.


(Doug) #3

A classic confounder was finding out that drinking several cups of coffee per day caused heart attacks. Yet a deeper look revealed that those who drank multiple cups of coffee per day at the time tended to more often be cigarette smokers. Control for cigarette smoking and voilà - turns out that drinking coffee doesn’t cause heart attacks.