The Importance of Weight of the Evidence in Recommendations

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There's no perfect study in your kind of recommendations. Is that a combination of the findings from observational epidemiology including your studies and then also findings in randomized controlled trials? Right, you make an important point that I think recommendations should really be based on a single study of any type because it could be some quirk in the data or some flaw in the study design. In science we want to see studies replicated.

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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