That Huge Mediterranean Diet Study Was Flawed. But Was It Wrong?

[elleng]

A highly publicized trial in Spain found that the Mediterranean diet protects against heart disease. Now the original work has been retracted and re-analyzed, with the same result.

'The study was a landmark, one of the few attempts to rigorously evaluate a particular diet. And the results were striking: A Mediterranean diet, with abundant vegetables and fruit, can slash the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

But now that trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2013, has come under fire. The authors retracted their original paper on Wednesday and published an unusual “re-analysis” of their data in the same journal.

Despite serious problems in the way the study was conducted, their conclusions are the same: A Mediterranean diet can cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes by about 30 percent in those at high risk.

Not everyone is convinced. “Nothing they have done in this re-analyzed paper makes me more confident,” said Dr. Barnett Kramer, director of the division of cancer prevention at the National Cancer Institute.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/health/mediterranean-diet-heart-disease.html?

[hlthe2b]

1. Nutritional trials are incredibly difficult and five years is incredibly hard to maintain accurately

I'm not convinced their results are wrong, but the methods used to account for selection bias are not reported nor are any statistical adjustments used in the reanalysis.

Still, I see a lot of "throwing the baby out with the bath water" response from some researchers to this. I think that is likewise inappropriate.

[rami999]

2. what!

thank you but i am not convinsed