The Fourth of July will simply not be the same with cabbage on the grill and cucumbers filling hot dog buns. But “according to the latest study” by Walter Willett, the Harvard epidemiologist recently admonished by the prestigious scientific journal Nature for trying to gloss over complexities in the overweight debate, steaks just might kill you.
Red meat apparently gives you diabetes. According to a recent study conducted by Willett and his colleagues, “increasing red meat intake during a 4-year interval was associated with an elevated risk of T2DM” or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
Walter Willett is once again blinded by his apparent ideological vendetta against red meat and penchant for attacking foods about which he can tease out a statistical relationship between consumption and seemingly any condition from hangnails to hair loss. Willet is a serial scaremonger waging crusades against the evils of soda, sugar, potatoes, white rice, and now red meat.
Before you blow Willett off and chomp on a cheeseburger, take note: Willett doesn’t have a history of leaving people alone. He repeatedly advocates for legislation that would limit sweeteners in drinks — essentially soda Prohibition — and banning soft drinks on public property. Willet argues, “The evidence is so strong that it is essential that the F.D.A. use its authority to make sugary drinks safer.” Give Willet the helm, and the “Soft Drink Security Administration” will patrol grocery and convenience stores to keep Americans safe from the “dangers” of a refreshing cola.
Essentially, Willet personally dislikes meat, soda, and potato chips and the best way to push his agenda is to put forth a study which one of his colleagues admits “is observational and does not prove cause and effect.” There is no mention in the abstract of increased exercise by patients, weight training or aerobic, which Willett colleague Frank Hu (co-author of the study) admits decrease the risk of diabetes. We’re forced to wonder: Is this study simply an attack on red meat-eaters?
