Based on this headline, you may be tempted to run out immediately and get yourself a couple of chocolate bars. However, you would be doing a disservice to your health if you didn’t read below this tantalizing headline, to assimilate and analyze the evidence on which the headline is based.
The media are routinely bombarded by press releases sent from medical journals, food companies, organizations, and universities about research being conducted and/or conferences being sponsored by these institutions. These releases are sent for one reason: to gain publicity. Reputable news organizations that report these findings will seek out independent experts in the field to weigh in on the research and, just as importantly, explain how these findings relate to the public. If you don’t read beyond the headlines, you are probably missing important details of the story. Even worse, if you begin making dietary and lifestyle changes based on each news flash, you become a scientific guinea pig.
When a headline piques your interest, read the article with a critical eye, and ask yourself the following questions.
1. Was the Research Finding Published in a Peer-reviewed Journal?
You can be confident that studies published in a peer-reviewed journal have been thoroughly reviewed by experts in this area of research. If the research isn’t published in a peer-reviewed journal, you have no way of knowing if the study was conducted in an appropriate manner and whether the findings are accurate. A study about the possible virtues of chocolate in fighting heart disease that is published in the New England Journal of Medicine has more credibility than a similar article published in a baking magazine.
2. Was the Study Done Using Animals or Humans?
Animals are animals and humans are humans. Experiments with animals are often used to study how a particular substance affects a health outcome. But if the study is conducted in rats, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the substance will have the same effect if consumed by humans. This doesn’t mean that animal studies are frivolous.
They are important stepping stones to designing and conducting similar experiments involving humans.
3. Do the Study Participants Resemble Me?
When you read or hear about studies involving humans, you should always seek more information about the individuals who took part in the research. For example, were the people in the chocolate studies college-aged subjects or older individuals with heart disease and high blood pressure?
If older adults were studied, then would these findings be of any benefit to young adults who don’t have high blood pressure or heart disease?
4. Is This the First Time I’ve Heard About This?
A single study in a specific area of research is a lonely entity in the scientific world. Is this the first study regarding the health benefits of chocolate? If the media article doesn’t confirm that other studies have also supported these findings, this one study may be the only study of its kind. Wait until you hear that these research findings have been confirmed by a reputable health organization, such as the American Heart Association, before considering making any changes in your diet.
Reputable organizations will only change their advice based on a consensus of research findings. In your lifetime, you are going to read thousands of newspaper and website headlines, as well as watch and listen to who-knows-how-many similar television and radio reports. Your critical thinking skills in evaluating the sources and information presented will be your best friend when it comes to deciding which blurbs to believe. These skills may also save you considerable money by helping you avoid nutrition gimmicks. When it comes to assessing nutrition information in the media, it’s worth your time and effort to find out where it came from and why (or if) you should care.
