4 ms·

Socio-economic status was not used as a covariate in this study. They report that this issue is smaller than in other studies because only health-professionals

by wjnc 13y ago

Socio-economic status was not used as a covariate in this study. They report that this issue is smaller than in other studies because only health-professionals were in the study. Well at least for the economic part, there are pretty huge disparities within healthcare. And then my other remark. In the appendix. Table S4: most of the confidence intervals overlap all the way from the 'no nuts'-group to the 'daily nuts'-group. I know you shouldn't focus overly on those intervals. But those splines don't look that convincing to me. So considering you have a measured effect that is not that clear, where you really expect the "true" effect to be orders smaller than the reported 20% reduction in mortality, without proper controls in the studies for one of the largest effects (higher income >> longer life) and with lots of overlapping confidence intervals, I wouldn't bet my nuts on this study.

stonemetal 13y ago
Given all that I don't find: The researchers also accepted a grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation to cover the cost of analyzing the data. to be a surprise either. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/11/21/246549388/nuts-for-longevity-daily-handful-is-linked-to-longer-life http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/11/21/246549388/nuts-f...
spodek 13y ago
As much as I love the findings since I replaced nearly all my junk food with eating nuts I get at the bulk food store near me, you don't have to look into any detail to challenge the report. The funding would seem to indicate bias. From the article: "The study was supported by National Institutes of Health and a research grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation." That said, if you eat chips, pretzels, candy and such and want to cut down, nuts work great. You can get them bulk online if no stores near you have them. At first they don't have the intense flavors and crunch of typical junk, but the more you eat them the more you find the subtleties in their flavors and textures, much richer and complex than chips and candy. http://joshuaspodek.com/variety-choice-manufactured-illusion http://joshuaspodek.com/variety-choice-manufactured-illusion This fall I noticed the nuts I normally got tasted a lot more flavorful. I checked and it turns out nuts are seasonal, so they'll taste different at different times of the year, depending on where you source them. I should have known that, but I enjoyed learning it by noticing the taste. I wouldn't have noticed such subtlety without stopping eating junk food and I find catching those subtle complexities more pleasing than the intensities of junk food. I throw a bunch on my oatmeal with chopped fruit and chia seeds for a great breakfast that takes less than a minute to prepare. http://joshuaspodek.com/fitness-beliefs-habits-part-2 http://joshuaspodek.com/fitness-beliefs-habits-part-2 The mix I get has cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, and pecans. So much better than pretzels, chips, or candy. The pecans I don't put in the cereal or eat with the rest. They taste so much better to me. I eat them one at a time so I can savor them specially.
capnrefsmmat 13y ago
Testing whether confidence intervals overlap is a poor test for statistical significance -- confidence intervals can overlap and still represent a statistically significant difference between groups. http://www.refsmmat.com/statistics/significant-differences.html#when-significant-differences-are-missed http://www.refsmmat.com/statistics/significant-differences.h... Skimming through the paper, it appears they did not correct for making multiple comparisons. That will raise their false positive rate. Oh well...

by wjnc 13y ago

stonemetal 13y ago

Given all that I don't find: The researchers also accepted a grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research and Education Foundation to cover the cost of analyzing the data. to be a surprise either. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/11/21/246549388/nuts-for-longevity-daily-handful-is-linked-to-longer-life http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/11/21/246549388/nuts-f...

spodek 13y ago

As much as I love the findings since I replaced nearly all my junk food with eating nuts I get at the bulk food store near me, you don't have to look into any detail to challenge the report. The funding would seem to indicate bias. From the article: "The study was supported by National Institutes of Health and a research grant from the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation." That said, if you eat chips, pretzels, candy and such and want to cut down, nuts work great. You can get them bulk online if no stores near you have them. At first they don't have the intense flavors and crunch of typical junk, but the more you eat them the more you find the subtleties in their flavors and textures, much richer and complex than chips and candy. http://joshuaspodek.com/variety-choice-manufactured-illusion http://joshuaspodek.com/variety-choice-manufactured-illusion This fall I noticed the nuts I normally got tasted a lot more flavorful. I checked and it turns out nuts are seasonal, so they'll taste different at different times of the year, depending on where you source them. I should have known that, but I enjoyed learning it by noticing the taste. I wouldn't have noticed such subtlety without stopping eating junk food and I find catching those subtle complexities more pleasing than the intensities of junk food. I throw a bunch on my oatmeal with chopped fruit and chia seeds for a great breakfast that takes less than a minute to prepare. http://joshuaspodek.com/fitness-beliefs-habits-part-2 http://joshuaspodek.com/fitness-beliefs-habits-part-2 The mix I get has cashews, almonds, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, and pecans. So much better than pretzels, chips, or candy. The pecans I don't put in the cereal or eat with the rest. They taste so much better to me. I eat them one at a time so I can savor them specially.

capnrefsmmat 13y ago

Testing whether confidence intervals overlap is a poor test for statistical significance -- confidence intervals can overlap and still represent a statistically significant difference between groups. http://www.refsmmat.com/statistics/significant-differences.html#when-significant-differences-are-missed http://www.refsmmat.com/statistics/significant-differences.h... Skimming through the paper, it appears they did not correct for making multiple comparisons. That will raise their false positive rate. Oh well...