1 - Knowing About Nutrition

Question 1

WHY does nutrition misinformation exist?

Answer 1

Profit (sale of products or internet traffic)

Personal beliefs

Question 2

HOW does nutrition misinformation exist?

Answer 2

Testimonials from experts/celebrities

Exploiting misconceptions

Saying what people want to hear

Science as a marketing tool

Question 3

How do I identify reliable nutrition research or information?

Answer 3

Look out for:

Sentences
Source
Science

Question 4

What to look out for in a sentence (about nutrition research or information)?

Answer 4

Supporting information (e.g., human trial, animals, cells)

Is the claim an extrapolation, suggestion or a misinterpretation of the information cited?

Question 5

What to look out for in a source (about nutrition research or information)?

Answer 5

Consensus vs single opinion

Peer-reviewed research journals

Year of publication

Question 6

What to look out for when assessing the science (about nutrition research or information)?

Answer 6

Cell line and animal studies - more work needs to be done in humans

Human studies - examine the design

Question 7

What are the types of human studies?

Answer 7

Case studies (anecdotal evidence, requires further studies)

Epidemiological study (observational, reveals a correlation)

Intervention study (controlled, reveals cause-effect)

Question 8

What is important in an intervention study?

Answer 8

Subject recruitment (criteria to include or exclude, number of subjects)

Informed consent

Baseline measurements made before randomisation

Subject randomisation

Placebo control (single blinded, double blinded)