That's always the same story. A group of researchers finds a funny correlation in the data. They don't know the cause of the correlation, but they just write an article explaining that. Of course, the article if full of conditionals and sentences like: "this should be investigates further".
Then, a journalist finds this paper, eliminates all the conditionals and writes a click-bait article, so his employer can earn money from the announcers. Profit.
And I am not talking only about this article in particular, but about all the scientific journalism in general.
Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
41–50 of 122 posts
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#42I love spicy food so this is great news. But lately I've been wondering about the potential effect of spicy food on gut bacteria. Anyone who's had a painful bowl movement after eating some high Scoville level hot sauce knows what I'm talking about.
I don't know about the impact on gut bacteria, but I can tell you that I very rarely suffer "spicy" bowl movements now that I take fiber supplements.
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#43Since some comments are trying to explain away the findings, here is a quote from the article about what variables were controlled for and the results: > After controlling for family medical history, age, education, diabetes, smoking and many other variables, the researchers found that compared with eating hot food, mainly chili peppers, less than once a week, having it once or twice a week resulted in a 10 percent r…
I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that you eat less food when it's particularly spicy? Fasting/caloric intake reduction and better health/longer life have been correlated for a while.
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#44The spicier the food, the slower/less you eat?
The spicier the food, the more water you drink (maybe). There's also the link to certain spices (like chili peppers) that are highly anti-inflammatory. Personally, the more spicy food I eat, the more I have dessert.
"The spicier the food, the more water you drink (maybe)."
Negative. Water actually amplifies the sensation. The sugar in the desert counters the sensation, as does milk. If I go awhile without eating "11" hot, when I return I have to follow it with milk or sugar(or both=Thai Tea or Cafe Sua Da). Otherwise, the subsequent burning sensation can be quite unpleasant. I always go to "11" when I feel a cold or flu coming on to combat the contagion, it works 9 times out of 10. YMMV.
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#45In an editorial that was also published in thebmj they point out alternative explanations for their results: http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h4141
TL;DR: "As the authors acknowledge, a cause and effect relation cannot be inferred from their work. In this prospective study, Lv and colleagues have shown temporality of association, but we need to evaluate additional criteria to judge the strength of evidence. Their findings should be considered hypothesis generating, not definitive, and will undoubtedly encourage further work."
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#46Since some comments are trying to explain away the findings, here is a quote from the article about what variables were controlled for and the results: > After controlling for family medical history, age, education, diabetes, smoking and many other variables, the researchers found that compared with eating hot food, mainly chili peppers, less than once a week, having it once or twice a week resulted in a 10 percent r…
I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that you eat less food when it's particularly spicy? Fasting/caloric intake reduction and better health/longer life have been correlated for a while.
Or sick people eat less spicy food?
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#47That's always the same story. A group of researchers finds a funny correlation in the data. They don't know the cause of the correlation, but they just write an article explaining that. Of course, the article if full of conditionals and sentences like: "this should be investigates further". Then, a journalist finds this paper, eliminates all the conditionals and writes a click-bait article, so his employer can earn m…
What can be done to fix this problem?
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#48That's always the same story. A group of researchers finds a funny correlation in the data. They don't know the cause of the correlation, but they just write an article explaining that. Of course, the article if full of conditionals and sentences like: "this should be investigates further". Then, a journalist finds this paper, eliminates all the conditionals and writes a click-bait article, so his employer can earn m…
This is exactly how news is created these days, unfortunately. "Cancer cure using garlic!" is actually "Long term study of 1000 garlic eaters shows a 5% decrease in the incidence of gastrointestinal cancers."
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#49That's always the same story. A group of researchers finds a funny correlation in the data. They don't know the cause of the correlation, but they just write an article explaining that. Of course, the article if full of conditionals and sentences like: "this should be investigates further". Then, a journalist finds this paper, eliminates all the conditionals and writes a click-bait article, so his employer can earn m…
And then it's posted and discussed at hackernews.
Re: Eating Spicy Food Linked to a Longer Life
#50> As the study, published in the BMJ on Tuesday, was observational, conclusions could not be drawn about cause and effect but the team of international authors, led by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, suggested that more research could lead to dietary advice being updated. Experts warned that the study did not provide evidence to “prompt a change in diet”.