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Progress or Flip-Flops?

You are what you eat. Most of us accept this precept. The problem is knowing exactly which foods should we be eating to achieve good health. The nutrition experts seem to change their minds daily about the advice they give. Does the flip-flopping mean nutrition science is wrong?

Actually no. Science evolves one plodding step after another. Discarding information that has been proven wrong is a scientific strength—not a weakness. And, that is exactly what nutrition science does, translate the latest scientific findings into advice about what to eat, discarding or changing advice that’s no longer accurate.

Fat is a good example. Our knowledge has expanded from eat less fat to eat less saturated fat to eat less saturated and trans fat; at the same time we’ve learned that we should be eating more good fats from fish, olive oil and nuts. It’s an information evolution. Or more precisely, it is a knowledge refinement—over time, we’ve gone from a broad knowledge of fats in general to a more specific understanding of the positive and negative effects of specific fats on health.

Fiber is another good example. In the past, we were told fiber had no calories and its primary function was to prevent constipation. Today, we know that fiber does yield a few calories, acts as a major prebiotic promoting the health of friendly bacteria, and helps to reduce inflammation. All of these functions are vitally important to your well-being. Fiber still prevents constipation, but it also does a whole lot more we didn’t understand until more research was done.
When solid nutrition research delivers new information the science is doing just what it should, using that information to make new recommendations, even if they differ from previous ones. Initially this shift can be disruptive, but ultimately it is providing the most effective health advice available.

These facts, however, stand only until new information is discovered. It is almost certain that eating advice will change because scientific inquiries are continuous and new findings are inevitable—there are more scientists working today than have existed in total throughout history.

What muddies this process is publicity. In today’s information age new scientific findings are made public faster then ever before. In the past, scientists talked to scientists, papers were eventually published. and in time reported to the public through reputable outlets. Occasionally there would be a TV news story, but for the longest time health was not covered on hard news programs. Today, it is very different.

Scientific journals now hire public relations firms to promote studies with the hope of getting more exposure, subscriptions and advertisements. Google “nutrition” and you’ll get more than 181,000,000 results. Every major media outlet covers health and nutrition. Nutrition intrigues people, because their individual food choices are something they can control and do something about.
The benefit of media exposure is that it gives scientists a larger audience and may even result in funding for more research. The drawbacks are that early publicity is often sensational and may at first appear contradictory with previous knowledge. And, findings may be sensationalized or simplified to the point where they offer you no practical or helpful information.

Where does all this leave you? Nothing in life is more constant than change. Understand that scientific information must evolve. And, with that evolution of scientific information, policies and eating advice need to evolve as well. The first study is always newsworthy, but what really counts is confirmation of those findings—and sometimes that takes years. Don’t change your diet because of the latest newscast, but consider changing when a reputable group like the American Heart Association promotes new guidelines. These guidelines were developed from the consensus of findings of many studies which points to information that will benefit the public at large.

And most important, don’t agonize over every mouthful you eat. Good health and good eating are not based on one bite, one meal, or even one day. It is based on making good choices most of the time.

© NRH Nutrition Consultants, Inc., January 2008

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