Advice, Faith, and Facts – part 1

More years ago than I care to admit, I taught at a Christian, liberal arts college back east. During a Week of Prayer service there one year, the guest speaker said something that I’ve never forgotten:

When it comes to advice, there are really only two kinds –

Advice that is based on facts (currently referred to as “evidence-based” advice in the medical world) – Fact-Based Advice requires you to have faith in the facts

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Advice that is NOT based on facts (i.e.- commonly referred to as “opinion”) – Non-Fact-Based Advice requires you to have faith in / belief in / trust in the people who offer such advice.

Faith in people is essential in many areas of life – religion, politics, love, etc. (even buying insurance and used cars). Everyone needs to have faith – at least in some people and some human institutions like churches, government, marriage, healthcare organizations, etc. or you can become paralyzed by insecurities to the point of becoming ineffectual.

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Your health is NOT an area where you should put your faith in other people’s opinions or subscribe to widely held beliefs. For example, many people fervently believe “natural” and “organic” foods are best. In parts of the real world where people have no choice but to grow food naturally (they can't afford fertilizers, pesticides, or much else), starvation and infectious diseases are rampant and life expectancy is dismal. Further, two rigorous studies recently done in Germany and Denmark failed to demonstrate any differences between crops grown using organic and modern farming methods. Health decisions need to be based on evidence, not on modern myths and folklore.

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[NOTE: Some studies have shown biochemical differences between plants grown with and without pesticides; however, no one has demonstrated, to the best of my knowledge, that pesticide-free plants are more nutritious. In fact, the opposite may be true for pests who eat such plants - i.e. some of the biochemical differences noted are the plant's response to the pests trying to eat them.]

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Go to a typical megamall “health & nutrition center” and all the friendly, helpful people who work there will tell you the great new supplement that they just got in from New Zealand made from some newly discovered tropical berry can cure everything from high cholesterol to stress to insomnia to memory loss to constipation to erectile dysfunction.

Why should you believe them? What evidence do they offer to back their claims (the ad copy on the box?)? Can they profit if you take their advice?

I am a firm believer in evidence-based healthcare. I don’t expect the readers of this blog to blindly take my word for anything. It’s only my opinion (though I try to make my opinions evidence-based). To that end, I try in include links to the sources of information I use when I write this blog. Check out the evidence yourself. Form your own evidence-based opinions. Only then you can become confident in the decisions that you make about your health.

In my next post, “Advice, Faith, and Facts – part 2”, I’ll tell you “How To Find Facts You Can Trust”.