Live data from Hacker News

The Mars company has sponsored hundreds of studies to show cocoa is good

vox.com

101–110 of 128 posts

Re: The Mars company has sponsored hundreds of studies to show cocoa is good

#101

I've decided that any study presented by the media is the result of hype/marketing by a company with a bias. Year after year I've seen a constant flow of "health news" that eventually turns out to be marginally true or outright false. Here's another one. No, chocolate is not health food. I suspect coffee is the next one to fall. Most reporters aren't knowledgeable enough to distinguish between hype and true breakthro…

> On a related idea, 10-15 years ago, the news media was full of stories reporting on how doctors were underprescribing pain medicines.

I remember around the same time, there were tons of stories about how malpractice lawsuits were out of control and Americans were all suing anything that moved, which lead to a lot of states passing bills to cap malpractice awards. When I got older I read Noam Chomsky's "Manufacturing Consent". Powerful people are working hard to push narratives that benefit them, and it's important that we be skeptical whenever we don't know where the narrative is coming from.

Re: The Mars company has sponsored hundreds of studies to show cocoa is good

#102
post #96

I've decided that any study presented by the media is the result of hype/marketing by a company with a bias. Year after year I've seen a constant flow of "health news" that eventually turns out to be marginally true or outright false. Here's another one. No, chocolate is not health food. I suspect coffee is the next one to fall. Most reporters aren't knowledgeable enough to distinguish between hype and true breakthro…

Obligatory: https://xkcd.com/1853/

also obligatory :) http://phdcomics.com/comics.php?f=1174

Re: The Mars company has sponsored hundreds of studies to show cocoa is good

#103
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think my next crazy taste test will be straight cocoa nibs whole.

crush toasted cocoa nibs with some agave nectar and they are great on spreads.

So take the sugar out of chocolate, then add it back on top?

Re: The Mars company has sponsored hundreds of studies to show cocoa is good

#104

> “Dark chocolate probably has some beneficial properties to it,” said Salt Sugar Fat author Michael Moss, “but generally you have to eat so much of it to get any benefit that it’s kind of daunting, or something else in the product counteracts the benefits. In the case of chocolate, it’s probably going to be sugar.” Interestingly, the chart just below this quotation shows that it takes ~70 calories of straight cocoa…

Jibes with your first thought.

Re: The Mars company has sponsored hundreds of studies to show cocoa is good

#106
http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html

" Why do the media keep running stories saying suits are back? Because PR firms tell them to. One of the most surprising things I discovered during my brief business career was the existence of the PR industry, lurking like a huge, quiet submarine beneath the news. Of the stories you read in traditional media that aren't about politics, crimes, or disasters, more than half probably come from PR firms."

Re: The Mars company has sponsored hundreds of studies to show cocoa is good

#107

http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html " Why do the media keep running stories saying suits are back? Because PR firms tell them to. One of the most surprising things I discovered during my brief business career was the existence of the PR industry, lurking like a huge, quiet submarine beneath the news. Of the stories you read in traditional media that aren't about politics, crimes, or disasters, more than half pro…

Upon re-reading that, I wonder how often "politics, crimes, or disasters" occur in the _same_ stories ... ;)

Re: The Mars company has sponsored hundreds of studies to show cocoa is good

#110

I've decided that any study presented by the media is the result of hype/marketing by a company with a bias. Year after year I've seen a constant flow of "health news" that eventually turns out to be marginally true or outright false. Here's another one. No, chocolate is not health food. I suspect coffee is the next one to fall. Most reporters aren't knowledgeable enough to distinguish between hype and true breakthro…

> Most reporters aren't knowledgeable enough to distinguish between hype and true breakthroughs.

From personal experience I've learned that few reporters are knowledgeable about anything outside how to be a reporter.

Post reply on HN