5 ms·

Taubes actually started the mainstream reexamination of fat over 10 years ago with his New York Times Magazine article "What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?":

by xefer 14y ago

Taubes actually started the mainstream reexamination of fat over 10 years ago with his New York Times Magazine article "What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?": http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html?pagewanted=all http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-... The key point is that it is only very specific varieties of fat that matter for heart disease. It goes in to much more detail than his opinion piece for those looking for more info.

MDS100 14y ago
http://examine.com/faq/is-saturated-fat-bad-for-me.html http://examine.com/faq/is-saturated-fat-bad-for-me.html
- anon1385 14y ago
  >Meta-analysis of effect of saturated fat intake on cardiovascular disease: overadjustment obscures true associations http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/2/458.long http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/2/458.long I find it hard to take that site seriously when they call fish oil a "brain booster" next to a great big affiliate link to buy fish oil supplements on Amazon [1]. Also they don't seem to have a page about trans fats at all. Are they pushing an agenda through cherry picking and deliberate omission of contrary information? I don't have the time or energy to investigate. (Note: I'm not trying to defend Taubes here, as far as I can tell he is a hack). [1] http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/ http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/
  - aaxe 14y ago
    Is Glen Beck a rapist? I'm just asking questions. That is the exact equivalent of what you did. They clearly say "Why the buy link" right next to that link. And if you actually tried reading it, right here: http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/#summary7-1 http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/#summary7-1 - "brain boosting" So no time or energy for anything but wild accusations.
    - anon1385 14y ago
      If I see claims using bullshit non-scientific language next to a link selling the product then yes I'm going to question the scientific credentials of the site. I make no apology for that.
      - aaxe 14y ago
        Question credentials without spending a single moment looking more in-depth. A+, would read your scientific literature.
  - MDS100 14y ago
    Fish oil, via EPA or DHA, has been implicated in acting as [1]: An anti-inflammatory An anxiolytic A brain booster A heart health compound A liver health compound How is this misleading? See: http://examine.com/about/#support http://examine.com/about/#support Trans fat page is in the works AFAIK. Also it's mainly a supplement site. (wiki for the evidence on supps) FAQ is just a useful addition.
    - anon1385 14y ago
      My issue was that "brain booster" is a bullshit term that means nothing. I put it in the same category as "super food" and other such meaningless terms. If they want to be taken more seriously they should use more precise language.
      - yawgmoth 14y ago
        You should be skeptical, however language can be used for its gestalt. Coming to conclusions without evaluating the rest of the situation (in this case, evaluating the quality of Examine) is pretty meaningless. In my personal opinion the content that has showed up on Examine has been pretty stellar. It has grown considerably in a short amount of time and is one of the few sites that hosts this sort of content and isn't riddled with ads.
aaxe 14y ago
Taubes is a dogmatic cherry-picker.
- enraged_camel 14y ago
  Not sure why your comment is being upvoted, since it offers no evidence whatsoever to support your claim that Taubes is a cherry-picker.
- wpietri 14y ago
  Perhaps you could provide some, I don't know, facts or reasoning or something?
  - aaxe 14y ago
    May as well provide evidence on the earth revolving around the sun. But here you go: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/12edbj/im_gary_taubes_science_writer_and_author_of_sweet/c6ud82x http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/12edbj/im_gary_taubes_...
    - wpietri 14y ago
      Yes, the opinions of one pop-sci writer are just as well-studied and well-understood as something that has been carefully examined since 1543. Your jerkiness aside, his reply to that seems clear and cogent. In particular, this seems like a reasonable criticism: http://nusi.org/the-science/review-of-the-literature/ http://nusi.org/the-science/review-of-the-literature/ It's not even clear to me that the post you link and his reply are necessarily at odds. A calorie-metering approach and a shift in diet could both be effective weight-loss strategies in that they would be acting at different points in the process and using different resources.
      - aaxe 14y ago
        I'm sorry, I didn't realize I needed to put a disclaimer to hyperbole. Besides his general criticism (which is valid), he doesn't actually address any of the findings of the studies. Aka, cherry-picking.

by xefer 14y ago

MDS100 14y ago

http://examine.com/faq/is-saturated-fat-bad-for-me.html http://examine.com/faq/is-saturated-fat-bad-for-me.html

anon1385 14y ago
>Meta-analysis of effect of saturated fat intake on cardiovascular disease: overadjustment obscures true associations http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/2/458.long http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/92/2/458.long I find it hard to take that site seriously when they call fish oil a "brain booster" next to a great big affiliate link to buy fish oil supplements on Amazon [1]. Also they don't seem to have a page about trans fats at all. Are they pushing an agenda through cherry picking and deliberate omission of contrary information? I don't have the time or energy to investigate. (Note: I'm not trying to defend Taubes here, as far as I can tell he is a hack). [1] http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/ http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/
- aaxe 14y ago
  Is Glen Beck a rapist? I'm just asking questions. That is the exact equivalent of what you did. They clearly say "Why the buy link" right next to that link. And if you actually tried reading it, right here: http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/#summary7-1 http://examine.com/supplements/Fish+Oil/#summary7-1 - "brain boosting" So no time or energy for anything but wild accusations.
  - anon1385 14y ago
    If I see claims using bullshit non-scientific language next to a link selling the product then yes I'm going to question the scientific credentials of the site. I make no apology for that.
    - aaxe 14y ago
      Question credentials without spending a single moment looking more in-depth. A+, would read your scientific literature.
- MDS100 14y ago
  Fish oil, via EPA or DHA, has been implicated in acting as [1]: An anti-inflammatory An anxiolytic A brain booster A heart health compound A liver health compound How is this misleading? See: http://examine.com/about/#support http://examine.com/about/#support Trans fat page is in the works AFAIK. Also it's mainly a supplement site. (wiki for the evidence on supps) FAQ is just a useful addition.
  - anon1385 14y ago
    My issue was that "brain booster" is a bullshit term that means nothing. I put it in the same category as "super food" and other such meaningless terms. If they want to be taken more seriously they should use more precise language.
    - yawgmoth 14y ago
      You should be skeptical, however language can be used for its gestalt. Coming to conclusions without evaluating the rest of the situation (in this case, evaluating the quality of Examine) is pretty meaningless. In my personal opinion the content that has showed up on Examine has been pretty stellar. It has grown considerably in a short amount of time and is one of the few sites that hosts this sort of content and isn't riddled with ads.

aaxe 14y ago

Taubes is a dogmatic cherry-picker.

enraged_camel 14y ago
Not sure why your comment is being upvoted, since it offers no evidence whatsoever to support your claim that Taubes is a cherry-picker.
wpietri 14y ago
Perhaps you could provide some, I don't know, facts or reasoning or something?
- aaxe 14y ago
  May as well provide evidence on the earth revolving around the sun. But here you go: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/12edbj/im_gary_taubes_science_writer_and_author_of_sweet/c6ud82x http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/12edbj/im_gary_taubes_...
  - wpietri 14y ago
    Yes, the opinions of one pop-sci writer are just as well-studied and well-understood as something that has been carefully examined since 1543. Your jerkiness aside, his reply to that seems clear and cogent. In particular, this seems like a reasonable criticism: http://nusi.org/the-science/review-of-the-literature/ http://nusi.org/the-science/review-of-the-literature/ It's not even clear to me that the post you link and his reply are necessarily at odds. A calorie-metering approach and a shift in diet could both be effective weight-loss strategies in that they would be acting at different points in the process and using different resources.
    - aaxe 14y ago
      I'm sorry, I didn't realize I needed to put a disclaimer to hyperbole. Besides his general criticism (which is valid), he doesn't actually address any of the findings of the studies. Aka, cherry-picking.