Be Aware of Scientific Studies: A Grain of Salt #1

Hello again, and welcome back to Chicago Fitness Training; I hope your practice is going well! I am often asked what my opinion is by a number of personal training clients about a variety of topics. Some of them do not even have anything to do with fitness or nutrition. Typically, they had seen a brief news clip or read an article about the results of a study and were trying to understand how it impacted them. Most recently a client told me of a study that showed that wine has been found to burn fat.

And so today we begin a new series, A Grain of Salt. If you are not familiar, the saying "take it with a grain of salt" has come to be a warning that something should not be taken completely at face value, or as entirely truthful. For example, take a political campaign promise with a grain of salt. This saying unfortunately has to be applied to scientific studies as well.

Science is one of the greatest innovations in the history of civilization. It has lead us to countless discoveries and helped to make the world a better place. The hallmarks of the scientific method are "systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses" (Oxford English Dictionary). The problem with scientific studies lie not with the science itself, but with subjective motivations of those that fund, conduct, and report on them.

Studies are often funded by a group that hopes to profit from the results of the study. Scientists themselves have the same motivations as you or I when it comes to achieving success and renown in their field. Journalists and news companies seek to increase their viewership with sensational headlines that play on the emotions and desires of their target demographics.

That is the grain of salt you must take when you read or hear about a scientific study that espouses the benefits of this food or denounces that activity as bad for you. Whenever I see the words "research shows" or "studies show", a number of questions come to mind: What are the specifics? Who funded the study? How long was the study conducted for? How many participants did the study have? Has a different team verified the results independently? How many studies agree? Are there studies that disagree, and how many do so?

One study does not make something a fact. The more studies that independently agree, the more sure you can be of the truth. So take a grain of salt when you hear or read about something close to heart that has been part of a scientific study. Keep a healthy amount of skepticism and do not let sensational news derail the progress that you have made.