"Low-Carb Diets Bad for Kidneys and Bones"

"What if Fat Doesn't Make You Fat?"

"Atkins Diet Heart Healthy After All?"

These are only three of the many headlines about the Atkins Diet that recently appeared in prominent magazines, newspapers, and journals. Given these ongoing contradictions, followed by proponents from either side cheering their publication, the only clear information is that it's not easy to make sense out of conflicting scientific research about diet and health.

Surveys continue to show that Americans obtain more news about food safety and nutrition from the news media than from health care providers. The Center for Media and Public Affairs, after a three month analysis of stories, found that although the media frequently featured stories about research findings, the stories often omitted details that would allow readers to determine the relevance of the study results to their own lives. Few reports, for example, described the study's design, study conditions, or the statistical significance of the results. These omissions do a grave injustice to the study, because study design is critical to the interpretation of the results. Unfortunately, reporters rarely have the luxury of time or space to provide in-depth explanations of the various types of studies. If they did, they probably wouldn't be newsworthy. After all, we were more intrigued by the results of the NIH study on hormone therapy (formerly called hormone replacement therapy) that showed 8 women out of 10,000 on the drug had a heart attack. The research criteria didn't note whether these were the non-exercising part of the cohort (study group) or whether these were women who didn't take an often recommended dose of one baby aspirin a day to prevent heart attacks.

Research on disease takes many forms. There are, for example, several kinds of epidemiologic studies which help determine the incidence and distribution of diseases in population. Basic research is conducted in a laboratory under conditions that strictly control extraneous factors that could affect the results. They may be done with animals or cell or tissues. Clinical trials are research studies involving people who have agreed to follow a specific regimen.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but until a subject is studied from all these perspectives, and the study is repeated, it's difficult to get a consensus re which of several conflicting stories is accurate. So, when a headline grabs your attention, especially one abut diets, look to the experts who understand what these studies really mean. When it comes to diets, that is the Food and Nutrition Science Alliance, a partnership of four professional societies who have joined forces to speak with one voice on food and nutrition issues. Member organizations are The American Dietetic Association, The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc., The American Society for Nutritional Sciences, and the Institute of Food Technologists.