Phil Goodman
Well-Known Member
It’s not too far off-topic when you say this:You're straying farther afield here; this is not the thread, or even the forum, for a debate on climate change. Let's stick to the studies on the health effects of plant- and animal-based foods. Now if you can provide evidence that the results of large studies and meta-analyses on this topic have been influenced by politics then that is fair game.
Your cited study makes at least one point that I assume we'll agree on, which is that displacing meat with plant-based junk food is unlikely to be helpful.
List your specific criticisms of this study. A couple to get you started: Yes, it's observational, and there is an indication that eating more meat correlates with less concern about one's health. We'll have to dig further into the study to see if this potential source of bias was accounted for.
The statements about veering into climate change apply to you too.
I await your evidence of this vast conspiracy that favors increased consumption of plant-based foods.
The two are closely if not directly related.
As far as the study criticisms, let’s start with ann obvious one.
“Questionnaires were used to collect data every 2 to 4 years on the frequency of specific food consumption.”
There is practically zero data-validation involved. The vast majority of people can’t even track calories or meals and we’re depending on them to accurately assess red meat consumption for the previous 2-4 years? If I ask you what you had for dinner a month ago it’s very likely that you can’t tell me. Not a great way to gather data.
Secondly, they didn’t share the questionnaire so we have no idea what they asked or how they worded it. For all we know they asked exactly zero questions about carbs, or worded it in ways to make people overstate red meat intake.
We see this approach again and again in the studies, with surveys done years apart to assess diets. Yet as Gmen has stated, often times studies don’t translate to the real world.
- Argentina, ranked number 1 in beef consumption per capita. Ranked 165th in type 2 diabetes per capita.
- Zimbabwe, ranked 2nd in beef consumption per capita. Ranked 206 in type 2 diabetes.
- United States, ranked 3rd in beef consumption. Ranked 59th in type 2 diabetes per capita.
- Australia, ranked 4th in beef consumption per capita. Ranked 131st in type 2 diabetes per capita.
- Brazil, ranked 5th in beef consumption per capita. Ranked 83rd in type 2 diabetes.
The list could go on and on.
In the other side:
Pakistan is ranked 1st in type 2 diabetes per capita. Way down on the list(don’t feel like counting that many entries but know that they eat less than 1/4th the beef that Argentina(number 1) eats.
And again the list could go on and on. Feel free to look for yourself.
Beef Consumption by Country 2024
worldpopulationreview.com
As has been stated there is certainly a place for scientific studies, but increasingly they need to be scrutinized and assessed for validity because it is sadly pretty common for them to be used to push certain narratives.