Retraction of paper on "Gut Makeover Diet" and the microbiome retracted for fundamental flaws including that it did not in any way look at the microbiome #overselling #hype #microbiomania

Made a Twitter moment that people may be interested in about a Buzzfeed article by Stephanie Lee on retraction of a deeply flawed paper supposedly connecting the Gut Makeover Diet to the microbiome and to beneficial health effects.

 See below

  "Gut Makeover" paper retracted for fundamental flaws #microbiome

Buzzfeed sadly promoting #FakeScience of Colon Cleansing

I am sorry but why in the ever living $*#(@# is Buzzfeed thinking here.





A 1st year PhD student at UC Davis Will Louie, who rotated in my lab earlier this year, sent this video around to me and the rest of my lab justifiably expressing concern over it.  And he is dead right - this is stunningly bad stuff from Buzzfeed.

The video promotes Colon Hydrotherapy as though it is a wonderful perfect treatment.  For example there is a part where it claims some of the benefits of this include speeding up metabolism, increased energy, improved digestion and more.




Later on they make the claim that it helps people lost weight too.  And no mention anywhere of any risks.  Well, that is a problem because benefits of this have not been shown scientifically and risks are known.  See for example:

Colonic irrigation: therapeutic claims by professional organisations, a review - Ernst - 2010 - International Journal of Clinical Practice - Wiley Online Library

From this paper:

Colonic irrigation is a popular treatment promoted for a wide range of conditions. The aim of this analysis is to evaluate the therapeutic claims made by professional organisations of colonic irrigation. Six such organisations were identified. On their websites, a plethora of therapeutic claims were made. Common themes were detoxification, normalisation of intestinal function, treatment of inflammatory bowel disease and weight loss. None of these claims seemed to be supported by sound evidence. It is concluded that the therapeutic claims of professional organisations of colonic irrigation mislead patients.

And also the Mayo Clinic page "Is colon cleansing a good way to eliminate toxins from your body?". Some quotes from this page are below:

Proponents of colon cleansing believe that toxins from your gastrointestinal tract can cause a variety of health problems, such as arthritis, allergies and asthma. They believe that colon cleansing improves health by removing toxins, boosting your energy and enhancing your immune system. However, there's no evidence that colon cleansing produces these effects.

And colon cleansing can sometimes be harmful. In fact, coffee enemas sometimes used in colon cleansing have been linked to several deaths. Colon cleansing can also cause less serious side effects, such as cramping, bloating, nausea and vomiting.

Other concerns with colon cleansing are that it can:

• Increase your risk of dehydration
• Lead to bowel perforations
• Increase the risk of infection
• Cause changes in your electrolytes, which can be dangerous if you have kidney or heart disease or other health problems

I mean, if you want to do colon cleansing that is your business I suppose.  But presenting a misleading video promoting it with fake science and no caveats.  Not cool Buzzfeed.

What is next for Buzzfeed?  Are they going to do a video with Gwyneth Paltrow on the benefits of vaginal eggs? And don't even get me started on the pressure points in your foot for treating your liver part of the video. Truly disgraceful Buzzfeed.

Buzzfeed includes microbiomes in "77 facts" but alas, gets the facts (and the math) wrong

Well, I admit it - I clicked on this Buzzfeed link someone posted on Facebook - 77 Facts That Sound Like Huge Lies But Are Actually Completely True.  There are some pretty funny and interesting things on the list.  However, I note - I did not click on the link per se for entertainment.   I clicked on it to see if there was anything about microbes on the list.  And happily, there was.  Alas, what there was, was, well, a bit wrong:

Let's start with #67.  "There is 10 times more bacteria in your body than actual body cells".  Well, alas, this is a nice bit of information.  But it is not based on facts.  See Peter Andrey Smiths wonderful article in the Boston Globe about this issue. The Buzzfeed article links to a 2010 Discover Magazine bit about this topic.  So they were trying to use facts.  But alas, that was not based on facts itself.

Then, let's go to #68.  "And 90% of the cells that make us up of aren’t human but mostly fungi and bacteria.".  So - I am at a bit of a loss on this.  First, isn't this really just rehashing #67 with the addition of fungi to the story?  Also - I note the math here is weird.  #67 would lead one to conclude that 90.9% of the cells in your body are bacterial (10:1 = 10/11 = 90.9%).  So then if one adds fungi to the picture the percent of cells in our bodies that are not human goes DOWN to 90%.  How does that work exactly?

So not only do they get the 10x as many cells fact wrong, they do something really weird by basically repeating #67 and then doing some weird math.

Oh well, glad they have something on microbiomes.  Too bad it came out a bit wrong.