I recently ran across a news article quoting a study that raised my eyebrows, not because of the deep scientific details it provided, but because it hit on a passion of mine: cheese. I love cheese. So much so, I take psyllium husk every night so I can eat cheese! (For those of you who do not know what that means, ask a cheese lover!)
This study was titled “Milk and dairy consumption and risk of cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality: dose–response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies”. It stated that eating cheese, milk, and yogurt – even full-fat versions – does not increase the risk of a heart attack or stroke, according to research that challenges the widely-held belief that dairy products can damage health. Awesome, if true, as I eat cheese like it was going out of style.
The problem (and the point of this article), is the fact that this study was funded by several dairy associations. Other studies have shown that high fat consumption does not cause heart disease, but rather high inflammatory diets, caused by sugar and processed foods, do cause heart disease. So, the article sounds legitimate and great. Especially for cheese lovers like me. The problem, however, is the fact that the dairy associations paid for the study.
In my mind, and hopefully in yours, this makes this study completely invalid and useless! If there is a financial reason for a study to be published, then we all need to ignore it. Rather than just trusting a news source for your health information (or any, for that matter), you need to dig deeper and find out who paid for it. There are too many money-based biases in health reporting, so find someone who can weed through the studies and get to the truth for you! Even if it just involves cheese.
