Can the ability to do 40 push-ups protect you from heart attack?A few weeks ago I heard a friend mention an article we had both seen, which spoke a hopeful message for general health: the ability to do 40 or more press-ups gives a good deal of protection against heart attacks.
That is some accessible truth they are positing! It resonated with me because I have recently shifted from chin-ups to press-ups, and had recently hit the alleged sweet spot a few days prior.
My immediate reaction was to feel cocky, secure in my existence and chuffed at how easy it was to get a health guarantee. After all, it's a scientific study isn't it? I mean, with the "scientific study" sticker attached, all you need to do is read the headline surely? Okay, hang on. I access my five star general junior woodchuck level scepticism badge, and remember that the newspaper is not a medical journal, and we have had a recent onslaught of pseudo science factoid stories in the mainstream media (MSM). Why it was only a mere six months ago this very writer was lamenting the media and sciences relationship.
Who can forget the EAT guidelines, financed and pushed by vegan billionaires demanding that we eat 14 grams of meat, and one and a bit egg a day? Not so much science, but activism and alarmism masquerading as science. If you were to look you may find that Zoe Harcombe PhD performs an elaborate nutritional analysis of the imposed, er proposed diet and finds it nutritionally deficient. Christopher Snowden writes a good evaluation of EAT in his blog: Velvet Glove, Iron Fist. "EAT is a campaign group run by a Norwegian billionaire couple who fly around the world in a private jet telling people to eat less meat to save the planet. (Irony?) They state their preferred option bluntly: 'restrict choice' or, better still, 'eliminate choice'.
This has not been reported in the main stream as often as the buzz over saving the planet through eating. Most New Zealanders might find that alarming, and recent purchasers of barbecues may start to tremble.
My point, however subtle, is that if we fail to question the news, we are destined to lose our sanity and the truth is out there. Just not at your fingertips.