Scott Adams of Dilbert fame writes on his blog that science's biggest fail of all time is 'everything about diet and fitness':
I used to think fatty food made you fat. Now it seems the opposite is true. Eating lots of peanuts, avocados, and cheese, for example, probably decreases your appetite and keeps you thin. I used to think vitamins had been thoroughly studied for their health trade-offs. They haven’t. The reason you take one multivitamin pill a day is marketing, not science. I used to think the U.S. food pyramid was good science. In the past it was not, and I assume it is not now. I used to think drinking one glass of alcohol a day is good for health, but now I think that idea is probably just a correlation found in studies.
According to Adams, the direct problem of science is that it has been collectively steering an entire generation toward obesity, diabetes, and coronary problems. But the indirect problem might be worse: It is hard to trust science because it has a credibility issue that it earned. "I think science has earned its lack of credibility with the public. If you kick me in the balls for 20-years, how do you expect me to close my eyes and trust you?"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Appalbarry on Thursday February 05 2015, @02:46AM
The problem obviously isn't science, which overall, and over time, comes up with a pretty good record.
The problem is the kind of sensational and sloppy reporting and commentary that you see on-line and in media, and the charlatans [doctoroz.com] that present pure hoohaw as "science."
Fortunately, scientists have been studying the former! [plos.org]
Highly recommend "Obesity Panacea", [plos.org] where we learn stuff like:
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 05 2015, @01:35PM
So losing weight accelerates global warming! We must stop those dangerous diet eaters! Think of the climate! :-)