Top five meta-facts for 2020
Metafact digest #8
Hello Everyone,
It’s New year resolution time and alot of us like to set vague goals like ‘lose weight’ & ‘eat healthy’. It’s no wonder only 40% of us stick to them after 6 months. Setting small, specific goals are the most effective, so I thought it would be helpful to give you my summary of the top 5 meta-facts during 2019, as verified by many experts.
1. Eat more fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish
The most expert-backed diet on Metafact is the Meditteranean diet. We did a major review on Alzheimer’s Disease and discovered alot of evidence that more plant-based foods, nuts and fish help the brain. For overall health, a number of experts agree with our neuroscientists:
“Regarding long term positive health effects, the mediterrean plant-based nutrition including fish, has most evidence”
wrote Professor Myriam Van Winckel, leading gastroenterologist, pediatrician and nutritionist from Ghent University.
2. Cut down on alcohol
The link between cancer and alcohol is strong, particularly for breast cancer. For women, we learnt that one bottle of wine each week is the equivalent of 10 cigarettes:
It is well established for example that even one glass of wine a day increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer.
wrote Professor Tim Stockwell, an expert on alcohol use from the University of Victoria. I wrote more about this here.
3. Probiotics aren’t needed to be healthy
We completed a major review into Probiotics and experts confirmed you don’t need to take probiotics to have a healthy microbiome. In 2020, save your money and use it to get more fiber from lots of fruits, vegetables and grains.
eat a nutritionally balanced diet that is low glycemic, rich in fiber and resistant starch, low in sugar..
wrote Professor Mahmoud Ghannoum, microbiome expert from Case Western Reserve University.
4. Get vaccinated
There are lots of scare campaigns on vaccines spreading through social media and the internet. We completed a major review on vaccines and it’s impossible to eliminate any risk of adverse events, but vaccines are effective and very safe.
“HPV vaccination is not 100% safe, but no activity in life is 100% safe, even getting out of bed in the morning. However, we can say with 100% certainty that getting vaccinated against HPV is safer than not getting vaccinated and that vaccinating a child against HPV is safer, for example, than having a child ride in a car wearing a seatbelt.”
wrote Professor Gregory Zimet, pediatrician and HPV expert from Indiana University School of Medicine
5. Cut down on processed meat
We learnt that processed meat (sausages, bacon etc) is linked to certain types of cancer, but it’s very important to realize that media reports tend to sensationalize the science to make it sound scarier than the real absolute risk.
There is good evidence that eating processed meats is likely to increase the risk of bowel cancer. It is worth pointing out that, although the reported risk is 18%, this is a relative risk and therefore not that useful for individuals. The absolute risk increase in the rate of cancer from eating 2-3 rashers of bacon per day is about 0.2%, which means that for every 1,000 people who eat extra bacon, about 2 will develop bowel cancer who otherwise wouldn't.
wrote Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz, an epidemiologist from the University of Woollongong. You can make up your own mind on this one.
2019 Year of thanks
2019 is over and it’s been an exciting launch year for us at Metafact and we thank everyone for their support! With a very small team, we’ve been able to host 856 questions and publish 2414 expert answers from around the world.
Since our member launch in September, we’ve been able to investigate and publish 7 major reviews via hundreds of unique expert insights, 12 expert consensus articles and over 250 consensus fact-checks (over 5 experts answering one question). I’ve also started a podcast along with this newsletter.
We thank all of the professors, doctors, specialists and researchers who have shared their knowledge openly during our launch year - our expert-sourced open knowledge model doesn’t work without you.
One time 2020 membership offer
For 2020, we will continue to publish all questions and expert answers openly and freely for everyone to learn. This year I will be more focused on delivering trusted curated knowledge for our members via reviews, newsletters and podcasts. This month we have published Part I on our member-chosen review of Sleep (see below). Members are enjoying Metafact Reviews, so we are planning to increase the number of our reviews for 2020 from potential topics on food, vitamins, supplements, mental health, and climate change or technology.
If you would like to become a Metafact member for 2020, we are offering a one-time 20% discount to join. Just go here, click ‘Become a Member’ and add ‘2020OFFER’ in the coupon section to take advantage. By all means, share this discount code with your friends.
For 2020 and beyond, may the facts be with you!
Ben McNeil, Founder
Metafact Review
Exclusive reviews for our fact-loving members.
Each month we investigate a topic voted by members by asking the world's top experts to review the evidence. Reviews are what you need to know. Read all the reviews here.
We gathered more than 50 of the world’s top researchers in neuroscience and sleep research to share the facts about sleep and health. How much sleep does science recommend? What can a lack of sleep cause? Can you die from a lack of sleep? Can you get too much sleep? This review gives you the latest science-backed intelligence you need to know on sleep and health.
Member Announcements:
Organic Food wins the December poll and will be our next review after we publish Part II of our review on Sleep. Here are the results:
I’m still in the early days of iterating the content for this weekly digest. Please give me feedback on what you like and what you don’t like (send it to ben@metafact.io)
REMEMBER TO VOTE HERE! It’s really important that we are investigating topics you care about. The January poll is open: Go vote here!!
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