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Teenage Fashion Bloggers Should Skip This

September 16, 2007 by WendyB

I expect this will be very boring for a certain demographic, but I loved the cover story of the New York Times Magazine this weekend (site requires registration). Gary Taubes wrote about the tendency to confuse association with cause-and-effect in large-scale observational studies. In other words, just because you notice two trends occurring simultaneously, it doesn’t mean one caused the other. In the most amusing example from the article, scientists observed a decline in heart-disease deaths among women taking hormones. However, scientist Diana Petitti, who observed the same decline, pointed out that among the women in the study she β€œfound an even more dramatic reduction in death from homicide, suicide and accidents.” Estrogen prevents murder? I think not.

My point is that you don’t need to believe every medical hypothesis that bubbles up. Science is all about coming up with a theory and proving or disproving it. That’s how we progress. But my REAL point is that if I know you in actuality, and we are having lunch at Balthazar, and you are paying which would be so very generous of you, do NOT cite a study, your friend’s boyfriend’s cousin or US Weekly and tell me that:

  • taking 1 million mg of vitamin C a day will prevent death/cancer/common cold/flu;
  • drinking a gallon of pomegranate juice daily will prevent death, etc.
  • yoga will prevent death, etc.
  • herbs will prevent death, etc.
  • salmon three times a day will prevent death, etc.
  • veganism will prevent death, etc.
  • no carbs will prevent death, etc.
  • no fat will prevent death, etc.
  • no alcohol will prevent death, etc.
  • enemas will make my skin look better. Ew!

(And if you smoke, do NOT give me any health advice, EVER! I will cut you. With my butter knife, but it will still hurt.)

My real-life peeps, I love you, but I must break some sad news to you: nothing will prevent death and sometimes you just catch a damn cold. The studies you cite are totally unconvincing to me, as are the cousin you never met and the celebrity magazine. The fact that I smile and nod when you tell me these things means I am being polite, not that I agree and certainly not that I will ever try your parsley-and-grape-jelly cancer prevention diet.

To thank you in advance for allowing me to enjoy my free lunch in peace, I will leave you with these words of health wisdom based on good science:

  • Smoking has been scientifically proven to HASTEN death. Don’t smoke!
  • Looking both ways when crossing the street may help delay death. While it is not a guarantee, it is still a good idea.
  • In a very small-scale study, it was observed that eating nothing but Harry & David’s chocolate-covered cherries for a week does not necessarily lead to death. More study is necessary. You know where to send the cherries.

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Filed Under: health, In the News, insanity

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. bigglassesgirl says

    September 16, 2007 at 8:49 pm

    correlation is not causation
    indeed

  2. bigglassesgirl says

    September 16, 2007 at 8:50 pm

    …and the best things in life are carbs, no?

  3. WendyB says

    September 16, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    The best things in life are chocolate-covered cherries…after that, carbs for sure πŸ™‚

  4. ParisBreakfasts says

    September 17, 2007 at 3:31 am

    Forget the pomegranate juice and eat the seeds ONLY.
    Not catching the common cold has many advantages.
    I LOVE YOUR golden pomegranate!
    I sure it must be good for one’s health…mental health πŸ™‚

  5. wendygital says

    September 17, 2007 at 3:36 am

    I’d also like to make my contribution allowing myself to serve as a subject of study for the chocolate-covered cherries effects… πŸ™‚

  6. Shaz says

    September 17, 2007 at 6:08 am

    very true, how alot of unrpoven studies have been takien for fact and blown out of proportion

  7. In Yr Fshn says

    September 17, 2007 at 8:22 am

    I can’t wait to fax this article to my mom; she is the queen of unfounded health “advice” (equally unasked for!). Maybe it’ll get her to quit nagging me about taking my Airborne. (Never!)

  8. WendyB says

    September 17, 2007 at 9:19 am

    @IYF, I know what you mean! But really, I think I get this kind of advice from people three times a week at least. Everyone in NYC thinks they have the “magic bullet.” And then if you get sick despite their advice, they act like you did something wrong and brought it on yourself. The things people wind up believing just so they can live in denial…!!!

  9. Frasypoo says

    September 17, 2007 at 10:38 am

    Wendy,
    I love your blog….its a mix of everything.You are a funny gal
    I hate that pomegranate myth.My dad was very sick and my mom would peel pomegranates till her fingers looked like one(they stain)but it never changed his health at all.
    Vitamin C gives you diaarhea so I’ll take a cold over that!!!

  10. In Yr Fshn says

    September 17, 2007 at 11:50 am

    Wendy, I couldn’t agree more! It’s also irritating (and I think I may have said this when I was sick) how people lecture and give unsolicited advice, yet they do not take public transportation three times a day. They act like you get sick on purpose. That drives me out of my mind.

  11. dorkas says

    September 17, 2007 at 9:02 pm

    it’s so true: chocolate & fruit combinations make my serotonin levels skyrocket, & therefore are about as close to a “magic bullet” as i care to have.

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Award-winning designer of fine jewelry inspired by women's history and pop culture. A former journalist who writes about jewelry, fashion, medieval history, news, feminism, dogs, cats and whatever else is on her mind. Blogging since 2007.
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