The Importance of Randomized Trials

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correlation not causation that's the quote that you'll see I see a lot online and it's kind of just thrown out there flippantly from people to disregard all nutritional epidemiology right as if these studies have no place in helping form nutrition recommendations. You can't disregard correlation or what we call also association just because it isn't by itself final proof it's part of the evidence. We will seldom have the perfect kind of evidence like we might want to have so again long term our court studies combined with randomized studies is probably going to be the best quality information that we can get.

Episode #266. Learn the key pillars for a healthy diet from the world’s most cited nutrition scientist, Dr Walter Willett. In this two-hour exchange, Dr Willett shares the cornerstones of a healthy diet, providing the practical guidance you need to live a long, healthy life.

We discuss:

Introduction (00:00)
Which Foods Should You Eat to Stay Healthy? (04:10)
Does the Quality of Foods Matter? (06:39)
The Impact of the Average American Diet on Health (08:29)
Do We Have Sufficient Evidence on How Nutrition Impacts Our Health? (11:05)
Key Tasks/Leaves to Make Healthy Choices (14:03)
How Diet Patterns Have Changed from the 70s till Now (15:09)
Walter Willet: A Nutrition Story (18:20)
Ancel Keys' Research on Fat (19:40)
Three Large Observation Studies by Walter Willet and His Team (27:19)
Advantages of Large Observation Studies over Randomized Control Trials (32:45)
Correlation and Causation in Nutrition (39:15)
Food Frequency Questionnaire: Importance of Methods for Measuring Dietary Intake (50:58)
Biochemical Analysis in Three Cohort Observations of Walter Willet's Studies (55:18)
Are Low-Fat Diets Good for Cardiovascular Health? (1:00:37)
Polyunsaturated Fats and Cardiovascular Disease (1:02:21)
Benefits of Switching from Saturated Fat to Unsaturated Fats (1:08:31)
Is Dairy Bad or Good? (1:09:04)
Should You Consume Full-Fat or Low-Fat Dairy? (1:11:29)
Daily Recommendation for Dairy Consumption (1:16:03)
Can You Be Healthy Without Consuming Dairy? (1:20:42)
Confusion Surrounding Unprocessed Red Meat (1:23:00)
What is Substitution Analysis? (1:25:55)
Insights into the Research Process (1:27:45)
Contrast and Exposure in Research (1:29:33)
Safe Intake of Red Meat (1:33:02)
Is Grass-Fed Beef Good for Me? (1:33:51)
Is White Meat Better Than Red Meat? (1:35:57)
Fish vs. Legumes: A Comparison (1:36:37)
Dietary Cholesterol and Its Impact on Human Health (1:40:08)
The Best Diet for a Healthy Life (1:43:28)
Outro (1:52:01)

To learn more about Dr Walter Willett and read his studies, head to his Harvard Academic Profile. Dr Willett has also published four books; you can find his bestseller, Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating here.

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Enjoy, friends.

Simon

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Simon Hill, MSc, BSc (Hons)

Creator of theproof.com and host of The Proof with Simon Hill

Author of The Proof is in the Plants

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