The Guide to Spotting Junk Science

Why do health studies contradict each other so often, and how do you know which headlines to trust? In this episode of The Habit Healers Podcast, I’m teaching you how to read health research like a scientist, starting with the correlation vs causation trap that fooled some of the best researchers in medicine. It begins with beta-carotene. Observational studies suggested this antioxidant protected against lung cancer, so researchers tested it in heavy smokers in a large randomized controlled trial. The trial was stopped early because the people taking the pills were getting more lung cancer, not less. The problem wasn’t bad math. It was the healthy user effect, a form of selection bias that makes a healthy lifestyle look like a miracle supplement. From there, I walk you through the hidden biases in medical research that most people never hear about, including recall bias, publication bias, and sponsor bias. Then I share the nine Bradford Hill criteria, a simple checklist you can use to decide whether a claim about food, supplements, or disease really holds up. You don’t need a PhD to spot bad science. You just need to know which questions to ask. What you’ll learn: * Why correlation vs causation matters every time you read a nutrition study headline * How the healthy user effect and selection bias can make a supplement look protective when it isn’t * How recall bias creates links between food and disease that aren’t real * Why publication bias and industry funding can tilt the evidence * How to use the Bradford Hill criteria to judge whether X really causes Y Dr. Marbas Substack Article: https://drlauriemarbas.substack.com/p/the-guide-to-spotting-junk-science Check out the Habit Healers Community: https://www.skool.com/habithealers/about Get full access to The Habit Healers at drlauriemarbas.substack.com/subscribe