“Eat a piece of broccoli every Tuesday at 4:32 PM- you’ll lose ten kilos in month and live to be 100 years old“. How many times have you read similar statements online or even in print magazines? I say “even” because I think, maybe a bit unwary, that print should still offer a certain level of guarantee or quality. We are being flooded with reports, break-throughs, scientific discoveries, all kinds of findings coming from the elusively famous “British scientists”. One can find these articles in a variety of places, from social media, different platforms, blogs and even academic forums. So much stuff, so much contradictory stuff. Fat is bad, wait!, fat is actually not that bad, afterall. Coconut oil is everything! Blueberries are life! Your level of cholesterol is driven by what you eat, so put down that piece of bacon! Also, bacon gives you cancer! Flax-seeds are full of Omega-3! Goji berries will make you immortal! Adopt a Mediterranean diet and you’ll never have heart problems! Gluten is killing! Lactose is the devil! Probiotics will save your life! And on and on and on!
Now, let’s be honest and think about how much time we spend reading these or, for that matter, any other articles. The title and a quick diagonal? The title and the first few sentences? Most of the times we only skim through an article and we (almost) never bother to verify the facts presented. We simply take all info at face value. I find it rather naive that we trust the so-called journalists and we make big choices- from the food we eat to the votes we cast- based on what is, most of the time, bluff info. Pseudo-science is everywhere, these days anyone with a WiFi can pretend to be a learned scholar, add a pretty picture, praise the next-big-thing, covert hoards of well-intended people and call it a day. Say hello to the modern internet-health-charlatan, the one that drinks beers with your long-lost Nigerian cousin who insists he wires you your one million dollars inheritance. And even when this info comes from what should be more trustworthy sources, we find ourselves at a loss. Do you remember this study , lead by Professor Peter Rogers from the University of Bristol? Yes, this infamous study claims that, essentially, people who consume diet drinks could be more likely to lose weight than those who drink water. What comes out? The study is sponsored by International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), whose members include Coca-Cola & Pepsi.co. The funding from these biased actors didn’t appear in the paper for “lack of space”, argued the officials from Bristol University, when challenged. Click here if you’re curious to go into the details. I have a few academics in my close circle and family, and I can tell you the resorts of academic research and scientific publication are not always crystal-clear; they can be money-driven and dubious, to say the least.
So what to do in this grimm situation, when fact and fiction mingle into pseudo-science?

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