Editorial

A Monumental Scientific Reversal

David A. Lombardo

As I look back on the body of scientific facts mankind has been taught, the opening line for the 1938 radio broadcast "War of the Worlds" immediately comes to mind. It was the fictional broadcast narrated by Orson Wells that sent Americans into a panic, thinking it was for real. Everyone thought we were alone in the universe until Wells said with great sincerity, "We know now that in the early years of the twentieth century, this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man's and yet as mortal as his own."

The point is scientists assure us that scientific research is irrefutable until the next piece of scientific research comes out that begins with the sentence, "We know now..." which essentially says, "Oops, we screwed up." This is hardly a phenomena limited to contemporary times.

There was a time when people believed that the Earth was at the center of the universe and that the Sun, Moon and other heavenly bodies orbited around the Earth. Ptolemy's epicycle theory to explain the retrograde motion of Mars was a classic example of fitting scientific evidence into preconceived notions. Gee, that couldn't possibly happen today, right? Well, except for scientists cautioning us in the 1970s that our lifestyle was bringing on a new ice age, only to say 30 years later, when it didn't occur, "We know now that your lifestyle is causing global warming."

Until the late 1800s scientists believed that diseases such as cholera and Black Death were caused by a miasma, a noxious form of "bad air." In the late 1800s scientists issued a profound, "We know now." A variant of that theory appears to have resurfaced with reference to flying commercial or driving in a car full of coughing Cub Scouts.

As peptic ulcers became more common in the 20th century, doctors increasingly linked them to the stress of modern life and prescribed antacids as a cure. In the 1980s it was discovered that stress had nothing to do with it, and a bacterium, H. pylori, is what causes peptic ulcers. The veracity of that research was briefly called into question when a random sampling of people whose stock portfolios were heavily invested in GlaxoSmithKline, the company that made billions of dollars selling Tums antacid, developed severe ulcers upon hearing the news that Tums was no longer considered a treatment for ulcers.

For as long as I can remember, we've been told that animal protein is bad for our health, but scientific evidence now contradicts that conventional wisdom. We know now both animal and plant protein are beneficial for health, increase fat burning, reduce appetite and lead to automatic weight loss. Ever since that, "We know now," I am an unabashed consumer of dead cow.

Similarly science beat us over the head with "animal fats cause heart disease," but it turns out saturated fat and cholesterol actually lead to improvements in the blood cholesterol profile because both raise HDL, the good cholesterol, which is protective against heart disease. Pork, we know now, is a protein-rich substance that clears the skin, protects the liver, detoxifies the lungs and even cleanses the system of cholesterol. Okinawans - lauded as the longest-living people on the planet - are the only Japanese to eat pork. The Japanese as a whole do not rate high on the life expectancy table, only the pork eaters. I mean seriously, is there anything on Earth that isn't better if you add bacon?

And now yet another monumental scientific reversal has been announced. Studies on eggs, which we know are loaded with cholesterol, did not find a relationship between egg consumption and heart disease. Recent, multiple, parallel studies assure us that saturated fat and cholesterol were wrongly demonized and are in fact completely harmless for the majority of people. The finding follows an evolution of thinking among many nutritionists who say, we know now that for healthy adults eating foods high in cholesterol may not significantly affect the level of cholesterol in the blood or increase the risk of heart disease.

I know in my heart that ice cream will eventually be found to have long-term, life-enhancing benefits. But for now I'm going to make a huge pile of scrambled eggs and a triple rasher of crisp bacon and bask in the knowledge that I'm not harming myself in the process. At least until a different group of scientists issue a study on bacon and eggs that starts with, "We know now..."