[mercy]

**** Also mythical are almost all claims linking diet and health. ****

Well that's quite a statement. Could you give us some details. I really want to know. I promise not to flame you.

[Just another Joe]

It's just a little thing but it will give you the general idea.

The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you

[Steve Eisenberg]

Also mythical are almost all claims linking diet and health.

Well that's quite a statement. Could you give us some details. I really want to know. I promise not to flame you.

Thanks for the promise! I certainly hope I would catch myself before ever flaming anyone with mercy's screen (or real) name.

I agree that it is a sweeping statement. There are thousands of turgid articles in epidemiology and related medical journals making such claims, and no one person can examine them all. But most are pitifully weak from a scientific proof standpoint.

I strongly recommend the book "The Rise and Fall of Modern Medicine" by James Le Fanu. The first half of the book, on the rise of modern medicine, is consistently facinating, and the ending section, on the fall of most medical research into near irrelevance, tackles this issue far better than I could ever attempt to.

A good internet link (but not as good as that book) is:

Junk Science

[Steve Eisenberg]

The link I post immediately, or almost immediately, above, was bad. Many here are probably already aware of the Junk Science site. But if not, try this:

JunkScience