I know, I know, with everything that is going on in the world right now, it is hard to believe that the
world is indeed a wonderful place. But I have good news! I will introduce you to "The Ice-Cream
Conspiracy," an article in the May 2023 edition of the Atlantic magazine. The byline of which is: "Studies show a mysterious health benefit to ice cream. Scientists don't want to talk about it." Now, lest you feel I am being biased or frivolous, let me assure you the article is written by David Merritt
Johns who is an American journalist and public health historian and involves a slew of nutritional studies done by Harvard University. To pique your interest I shall quote a paragraph:
"Back in 2018, a Harvard doctoral student named Andres Ardison Korat was presenting his research on the relationship between dairy foods and chronic disease to his thesis committee. One of his studies had led him to an unusual conclusion: Among diabetics, eating half a cup of ice cream a day was associated with a lower risk of heart problems. Needless to say, the idea that a dessert loaded with saturated fat and sugar might actually be good for you raised some eyebrows at the nation's most influential department of nutrition."
Korat was asked to check his findings which he did but "his debunking efforts had been largely futile.
The ice cream signal was robust." And in fact he was not the first one to see a "shimmer of a health halo around ice cream. Several prior studies, he suggested, had come across a similar effect" One scientist said that the ice cream effect was 'similar' in magnitude to, or 'slightly stronger' than, the
one for yogurt"
Well! What to make of this? Could the cure for our ills be...ice cream???
I will leave it to you to find and read this fascinating examination of what happens when scientists find data that don't fit into the prevailing hypotheses (a hint, they ignore them). And in the meantime, in the interests of science, I am going to get myself an ice cream and celebrate a world that is indeed a deliciously wonderful place.
