Science Friction

• 04 | Cooked: A peculiar potato experiment

  Why did a group of anonymous strangers on the internet try to eat almost nothing but potatoes for a month? On Cooked this week, an unusual experiment and the possibilities and perils of a mono-diet.Guests:Andrew TaylorMelbourne, AustraliaSlime Mold Time MoldScientist collectiveDr Jess DanaherAssociate Dean, RMIT University; Nutrition Scientist and DietitianCredits:Reporter: Alistair KitchenPresenter: Dr Emma BeckettProducer: Carl SmithSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Angie GrantThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples.More information:Weight Loss and Fad Diets - Better Health ChannelThe Potato People - Kitchen CounterSMTM Potato Diet Community TrialSMTM Potato Diet Community Trial: 6 Month Followup

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  25:45
• 03 | Cooked: Mystery in the Mediterranean

  It was one of the world's biggest nutrition trials. A study of thousands of people which found that following a Mediterranean diet could meaningfully reduce someone's risk of heart disease and stroke.But as data detectives began to comb through the results of the trial, something wasn't quite adding up.On Cooked this week, we're taking a look at what can go wrong when implementing a nutrition science trial at scale ... and what it means for one of the world's most popular diets.Guests:Dr John CarlisleAnaesthetist, NHS, United KingdomDr Gideon Meyerowitz-KatzEpidemiologist, University of WollongongDr Evangeline MantziorisProgram Director, Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of South AustraliaCredits:Presenter: Dr Emma BeckettProducer: Carl SmithSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Angie GrantThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples.More information:The analysis of 168 randomised controlled trials to test data integrity - Anaesthesia, 2012.Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet - New England Journal of Medicine, 2013.Data fabrication and other reasons for non-random sampling in 5087 randomised, controlled trials in anaesthetic and general medical journals - Anaesthesia, 2017.Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease with a Mediterranean Diet Supplemented with Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or Nuts - New England Journal of Medicine, 2018.Mediterranean‐style diet for the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease - Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2019.Translation of a Mediterranean-Style Diet into the Australian Dietary Guidelines: A Nutritional, Ecological and Environmental Perspective - Nutrients, 2019.Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet is associated with physical and cognitive health: a cross-sectional analysis of community-dwelling older Australians - Frontiers in Public Health, 2022.In conversation with John Carlisle: the silent hero shaping medical publication integrity - ENT and Audiology News, 2024.That Huge Mediterranean Diet Study Was Flawed. But Was It Wrong? - NYT, 2018.Errors Trigger Retraction Of Study On Mediterranean Diet's Heart Benefits - NPR, 2018.How the Biggest Fabricator in Science Got Caught - Nautilus, 2015.Statistical vigilantes: the war on scientific fraud - The Guardian, Science Weekly Podcast, 2017.

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• 02 | Cooked: All-meat eaters say they feel great - but why?

  Diets like carnivore have been popping up all over the place. People who go carnivore aim to eat nothing but a select few animal products, like meat and eggs.So why are some people turning to an all-meat diet? And why do they say they feel good doing so?On this episode of Cooked, we sift through some of the counterintuitive findings around carnivore — the scientific pitfalls you need to be aware of when reading the research — and the health effects in the short and long term.Guests:Mick and JennyNew South Wales, AustraliaDr Jacob MeyAssistant Professor and Registered Dietitian, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, LouisianaDr Richie KirwanLecturer, Nutrition and Exercise Physiology, Liverpool John Moores UniversityDr Janet ChrzanNutritional anthropologist, University of PennsylvaniaAuthor, Anxious Eaters: Why We Fall For Fad DietsCredits:Presenter: Dr Emma BeckettProducer: Carl SmithSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Angie GrantThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Wurundjeri, Jagera and Turrbal peoples.More information:Behavioral Characteristics and Self-Reported Health Status Among 2029 Adults Consuming a "Carnivore Diet" - Current Developments in Nutrition, 2021.Limitations of Self-Reported Health Status and Metabolic Markers Among Adults Consuming a “Carnivore Diet” - Current Developments in Nutrition, 2022.Fruit and Vegetable Intake and Mortality: Results from Two Prospective Cohort Studies of US Men and Women and a Meta-Analysis of 26 Cohort Studies - Circulation, 2021.Long-Term Consumption of 10 Food Groups and Cardiovascular Mortality: A Systematic Review and Dose Response Meta-Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies - Advances in Nutrition, 2022.Association of changes in red meat consumption with total and cause specific mortality among US women and men: two prospective cohort studies - BMJ, 2019.Anxious Eaters: Why We Fall For Fad Diets - Columbia University Press, 2022.What is the carnivore diet? - Harvard Health Publishing, 2024.

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• 01 | Cooked: Could ice cream actually be good for you?

  Two decades ago, nutritional epidemiologists made a startling finding – that people eating more ice cream were less likely to develop diabetes.In the years since, various groups have tried to account for this peculiar scientific signal — with limited success.In multiple studies the link between ice cream and a reduced risk of diabetes persists. Yet nutrition experts globally still aren’t convinced.But if it’s not true, what’s causing the signal?Grab a spoon and dig into culture, causation and confounders — and the joy of a tub of ice cream.Credits:Presenter: Dr Emma BeckettProducer: Carl SmithSenior Producer: James BullenSound Engineer: Nathan TurnbullThis story was made on the lands of the Gadigal, Jagera and Turrbal peoples.More information:Nutrition Science's Most Preposterous Result - The Atlantic.Here's the scoop on the new thinking about ice cream, yogurt, cheese and health - WBUR.Dairy and your heart health - Heart Foundation.

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  25:30
• 00 | INTRODUCING — Cooked

  For Science Friction, a new series — Cooked!On Cooked, we dig into the nuance of nutrition. Why are studies showing that ice cream could be good for you? Do we really need as many electrolytes as the internet says? And why are people feeling good on the carnivore diet?Nutrition and food scientist Dr Emma Beckett helps comb through the evidence on food groups and ingredients like meat, dairy and salt — to unpick why nutrition studies can be so conflicted and confusing.

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