Iron Culture presented by MASS Ep 347 - New Retraction (and What It Means For "Evidence-Based" Fitness)
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Oct 2, 2025 A recent paper on apple cider vinegar was retracted, raising critical questions about evidence-based fitness. Dr. Trex dives into the dramatic claims of the original study and the subsequent statistical investigation that revealed major discrepancies. He emphasizes the flaws in the retraction process and the public's misunderstanding of scientific findings. Additionally, he discusses the importance of scrutinizing research and anecdotes while advocating for community discourse to enhance trust in fitness science.
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Too-Good-To-Be-True Results
- The apple cider vinegar paper reported extremely large weight-loss effects comparable to GLP-1 drugs.
- Those magnitudes triggered biological plausibility concerns that warranted scrutiny.
Team-Up To Question The Data
- Trexler, Vahid, and James Heathers collaborated to scrutinize the paper and write a letter to the editor.
- They used SPRITE reconstructions and flagged improbable data distributions in the reported tables.
Missing Data Raises Red Flags
- The authors claimed their data were uploaded as supplementary files but only a press release was available.
- Missing underlying data prevented immediate verification and increased suspicion.