As somebody who has submitted to journals myself, and knows something about scientific guidelines, how this “article” ever got past the peer reviewers I have to wonder. This is a sloppy, incredibly biased meta-review with a number of scientific inaccuracies littered throughout. These inaccuracies would take a long time to write and point out here (I hope Dr McD if you're watching, this will be commented on in a newsletter to come!). However, I’ll try and summarize overall why, in a few examples, the authors are able to come up with spouting BS in their conclusions.
Take one of their passages – first example:
“CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE
Low-fat, calcium-rich dairy products are generally considered to lower blood pressure. This was supported by a meta-analysis of six observational studies, whereas no association was found with intake of high-fat dairy products.”
If you compare low fat products compared to high fat dairy products (or actually, pretty much high fat ANYTHING) then yes, you will get lower blood pressure. Problem is, this does not mean your lifetime blood pressure is
low! What’s the baseline for what healthy (low) blood pressure ought to be? If we are told that (don’t count on these authors doing that, that would require them to assess the totality of scientific evidence),
then you would stand a chance of getting some scientifically valid thinking.
Second example:
“When compared to habitual diet with a lower total and saturated fat content (33), or compared to diets with lower total fat content but higher content of high-GI carbohydrates (34, 35), a high intake of cheese was found not to increase LDL-cholesterol.”
Again, compare with a dodgy baseline (notice the terms “lower total" and "lower total fat content” – and not specifying as to what this means) then yes it won’t probably increase. That’s partly because the average Joe's LDL cholesterol level is already far too high in the first place!
My favourite quote from the authors that summarizes how poor their logic is at times:
“Dairy is an essential part of the food culture in the Nordic countries; thus, inclusion of milk and dairy products in the diet may be natural for many Nordic individuals”.
Then this logic would also follow:
“Murder is an essential part of the culture in North American countries; thus, inclusion of murder in people’s behavior may be natural for these countries …
Conflicts of interest - yes, very possibly– look at the dairy funding for the authors, which bbq has posted out. But that’s not so much an issue as the balls the authors have got to put this piece into print, misleading the public further: consumers, media, and other scientists alike. Have to agree with healthyvegan - it’s another deceptive, paid advert for the dairy industry - from authors who seem to have fallen down the bandwagon of self-justification, throwing science out the window to do it.
"All people are made alike - of bones and flesh and dinner. Only the dinners are different.”
Gertrude Louise Cheney
