The author is Harriet Hall, supposedly a skeptic, but what I can see in the review is a set of assumptions that are, for her, unchallenged. Small example: salt. A few people with high blood pressure may benefit from salt reduction. Most people don’t. Some people may be harmed.
This attitude that studies that go against prevailing beliefs should be ignored on the basis that, well, they go against prevailing beliefs, has been the norm for the anti-salt campaign for decades. Maybe now the prevailing beliefs should be changed. The British scientist and educator Thomas Huxley, known as Darwin’s bulldog for his advocacy of evolution, may have put it best back in 1860. “My business,” he wrote, “is to teach my aspirations to conform themselves to fact, not to try and make facts harmonize with my aspirations.”
These critics have in common that they misrepresent Taubes. He’s raising possibilities, not claiming proof.
However, what Taubes points to is the possibility that what they have been advocating for decades might be harming people. This is unthinkable.
He must be wrong, so they will find every flaw, real or imagined, ignoring the central problem, that sound research has never done more than imply possible harm, and that at best reduced salt, for normal people, may have a tiny effect on longevity, and, in the other direction, may have serious consequences, increasing mortality.
People whose entire livelihoods, long-term, depend on the “consensus” that they created and pushed, often against the evidence, often against strong scientific opposition, with retaliation against those with contrary opinions, then imply that Taubes is making it up to make money.
When an old pot calls the new kettle black, we may need to stand back and develop some perspective.
For some of the other side, see a review of Taube’s latest book, “Why We Get Fat”.
The author is Harriet Hall, supposedly a skeptic, but what I can see in the review is a set of assumptions that are, for her, unchallenged. Small example: salt. A few people with high blood pressure may benefit from salt reduction. Most people don’t. Some people may be harmed.
Taubes again in the New York Times, Salt, We Misjudged You.
The summary:
This attitude that studies that go against prevailing beliefs should be ignored on the basis that, well, they go against prevailing beliefs, has been the norm for the anti-salt campaign for decades. Maybe now the prevailing beliefs should be changed. The British scientist and educator Thomas Huxley, known as Darwin’s bulldog for his advocacy of evolution, may have put it best back in 1860. “My business,” he wrote, “is to teach my aspirations to conform themselves to fact, not to try and make facts harmonize with my aspirations.”
What Taubes encounters:
Gary Taubes is a Blowhard
Center for Science in the Public Interest
These critics have in common that they misrepresent Taubes. He’s raising possibilities, not claiming proof.
However, what Taubes points to is the possibility that what they have been advocating for decades might be harming people. This is unthinkable.
He must be wrong, so they will find every flaw, real or imagined, ignoring the central problem, that sound research has never done more than imply possible harm, and that at best reduced salt, for normal people, may have a tiny effect on longevity, and, in the other direction, may have serious consequences, increasing mortality.
People whose entire livelihoods, long-term, depend on the “consensus” that they created and pushed, often against the evidence, often against strong scientific opposition, with retaliation against those with contrary opinions, then imply that Taubes is making it up to make money.
When an old pot calls the new kettle black, we may need to stand back and develop some perspective.