Science AMA Series: I’m David Johns, from Columbia University’s Mailman
School of Public Health. I study the history of scientific debates over
the health risks associated with excessive consumption of sugar, salt,
and fat. AMA!
- David-Johns ,
- r/Science AMAs
Abstract
On February 16, my colleague Gerald Oppenheimer and I published an
article in Science that challenged high-profile claims in the academic
literature and popular press alleging that the sugar industry paid
scientists in the 1960s to play down the link between sugar and heart
disease and “shift the blame” to dietary fat instead. Our article
focuses on documents unearthed in historical archives about sugar
industry funding of Harvard nutrition scientists in the 1960s, which
some experts have identified as “smoking gun” evidence that the sugar
industry successfully meddled in science and “derailed” the course of
dietary policy. We disagree with these widely publicized claims. As we
write in our article, there was no “smoking gun.” Previously, my
colleagues and I have explored the scientific debates around another
controversial ingredient: salt. We analyzed a wide body of scientific
reports on the health effects of a salty diet, and showed in a 2016
study that the field is sharply polarized between those who believe
population-wide reduction of salt intake will lead to improved health
and those who think the data are not convincing. I am not a nutrition
scientist, and I don’t claim to have the final answers on the risks of
consuming too much sugar or salt! But still: AMA! EDIT: I’M HERE! Thanks
for the questions. I am going to start answering right now!!! EDIT 2: I
have really enjoyed answering all of your excellent questions. Cheers!
Sugar research:
https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/researchers-challenge-claims-sugar-industry-shifted-blame-fat
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6377/747.full Salt research:
https://www.mailman.columbia.edu/public-health-now/news/science-salt-polarized-study-finds
https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/45/1/251/2363485
https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/48x6dv/askscience_ama_series_im_david_johns_a_doctoral/