> A 2015 study from UCLA linked higher walnut consumption to improved cognitive test scores. Never trust "a study", especially without a specific citation. Her

> A 2015 study from UCLA linked higher walnut consumption to improved cognitive test scores. Never trust "a study", especially without a specific citation. Here's the study in question[0]. FWIW, the study was partially funded by the California Walnut Commission[0]. This doesn't mean the science is bad, but probably worth double-checking the methodology. I have no evidence that it's bad. I just don't trust any single study. Did they just examine NES2 outcomes, or did they try dozens and publish the ones with significant effects? Did they control for income? Is this the only study of walnuts and cognitive outcomes, or have we done dozens--published or otherwise--and are just picking the one with an interesting/desirable outcome? This isn't just the walnut study. The "Berries" section talks about "a study" (still no citaiton, but Google knows[1]). Was this a study of berries, or a study of hundreds of foods and they published the one that had interesting outcomes? We do this stuff wrong all the time. Here's a nice video about one Very Bad study that made the news lately[3]. TL;DR: They looked at numerous outcomes from thousands of variables and published one that was statistically significant. Relevant xkcd: https://m.xkcd.com/882/ https://m.xkcd.com/882/ [0] https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-ucla-research-suggests-walnuts-may-improve-memory-300023660.html https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-ucla-research-s... [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25732213 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25732213 -- Sci-hub is timing out for me when I try, but this is the URL: https://sci-hub.tw/10.1007/s12603-014-0569-2 https://sci-hub.tw/10.1007/s12603-014-0569-2 [2] This one: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22535616 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22535616 [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQrBblRuQFo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQrBblRuQFo