I read the papers every day and I never cease to be amazed at the total lack of credibility of the health stories. This is across all the papers, because it's what we, the public, are told it's what we want to read. Well, it's not what I want to read. And I believe that many of us glance through the stories and then get on with our balanced diet, with a bit of exercise and a healthy, positive approach to life. Or do we? I'd like to think so, but the sheer volume of these stories mean that at some point, we're going to stop and read on and give them more than a cursory perusal.
Two such stories caught my eye this morning. The first is about a diet based on our genes. To be specific, a genetic test based on the normal variation of seven genes. These seven genes out of thousands of genes have been picked because of their role in metabolism and were decided upon by researchers working on diabetes type 2. Diabetes is a serious health condition and genetically speaking is a complex multi-factorial disease. That means that it's not just what you do or don't eat, it also depends on your genetic make-up and how your genes interact with your environment (I have written more on this here). And there are certainly more than seven genes involved. A lovely blonde woman is shown as having lost loads of weight and, they say, dieters using this diet have kept the weight off. Isn't it more likely that people who are supported and encouraged on diets in these studies have more success at weight loss than those who diet on there own?
The second story is a re-hash of the old don't eat processed meat story, you'll get cancer. We know. But a bacon sandwich or a sausage roll occasionally is both delicious and can be part of a balanced diet. We are enlightened enough to understand the health disadvantages of eating a high fat, processed food diet, but it is after all our choice. And I choose to eat bacon if I want to, I don't eat it every day. I also eat broccoli and oily fish and brazil nuts for selenium. And I may or may not get cancer or heart disease.
The point is, we have made huge advances in genetics but we do not know everything about how our genes work. It is something that has potential in science and medicine and I wholly support the scientific study in this area. But please don't give up a healthy, balanced lifestyle in the hope that nothing bad will ever happen to you.