How a Scientist Fooled Millions With Bizarre Chocolate Diet Claims

Posted by timothy on Thursday May 28, 2015 @04:11AM from the tongue-in-cheek-sandwich-diet-works-too dept.

__roo writes: Did you know chocolate helps you lose weight? You can read all about this great news for chocoholics in the Daily Star, Daily Express, Irish Examiner, and TV shows in Texas and Australia, and even the front page of Bild, Europe's largest daily newspaper. The problem is that it's not true. A researcher who previously worked with Science to do a sting operation on fee-charging open access journals ran a real—but obviously flawed—study rigged to generate false positives, paid €600 to get it published in a fee-charging open access journal, set up a website for a fake institute, and issued press releases to feed the ever-hungry pool of nutrition journalists. The doctor who ran the trial had the idea to use chocolate, because it's a favorite of the "whole food" fanatics. "Bitter chocolate tastes bad, therefore it must be good for you. It's like a religion."

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Scientists are generally trusted by craigminah · 2015-05-28 04:20 · Score: 0, Troll

Because scientists are trusted they hold a lot of power to do good or in this case, evil. Reminds me of the junk science and lies with "global warming".

Like cops, teachers, priests, etc., scientists are highly regarded and our blind trust in them can lead to tragic results.
Chocolate is for luddites. by Anonymous Coward · 2015-05-28 04:23 · Score: 0, Troll

Modern appers lose weight by eating apps, which have no substance!

Apps!