If you are tired of Democrats getting all of the media attention for spouting anti-science nonsense about food, energy and medicine, there is good news; someone on the right-wing can make weird anecdotal proclamations about health as well.
Talk show host Bill O'Reilly recently announced that giving up wheat made his cholesterol drop and "and I feel stronger, more manly."
Well, that's nice. When I was 19 years old I fasted for 4 days every two weeks, nothing but water. It also gave me a lot of energy. Despite the existence of 'hunger pangs' your stomach is a muscle that adapts rather quickly. After 24 hours without food you no longer get them, even though you are more 'hungry' than ever, and the energy increase is tremendous.
But is that a healthy lifestyle? It's as healthy as going gluten-free if you don't have celiac disease.
Why aren't there more solid answers than anecdotes like
O'Reilly? There is no objective data because there is no objective way to get it. It just isn't science. It may make him feel more energy, just like any switch in diet might, or it could be the placebo effect. If O'Reilly says he feels more manly, that's fine. He did not say if other factors were also in play in cholesterol, like a generally healthy lifestyle.
But dropping gluten as part of a fad diet will lead to a big surprise for most people - less health.
Bill O'Reilly Embraces Gluten-Free Pseudoscience by Alex Berezow, RealClearScience
