What to eat? Look to scripture, not nonsense ‘science’

In 2018 I highlighted why it’s so naïve when the left attempts to refer to those on the right as “anti-science.” Those on the right are not anti-science, as I illustrated; they simply have a greater understanding how provisional “science” is and how concrete God’s Word is – and if the two conflict, it’s just a matter of time before the “science” is illustrated to be nonsense. God is omniscient, and His Word is never provisional – while science is always provisional as well as saturated with fraud.

Let me add three updated comments to the 2018 article from the science community itself further illustrating this.

1. There are now over 50,000 “scientific” papers retracted – 10 of those from a Nobel Prize winner.

2. On May 14, 2023, Otto von Guericke, a neuroscientist from the University of Magdeburg, Germany, as well as editor-in-chief of Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, made the following comments during an interview on a National Public Radio broadcast: “Fake studies in academic journals may be more common than previously thought.”

Said Guericke, “So, when we’re looking at the numbers of papers that are identified with our indicators, the percentage was in 2020 at 28% of all biomedical publications. That comes to over 300,000 in the biomedical field alone. Now, if you consider that all of science is maybe roughly double that, then you can sort of roughly estimate that there may be a half million fake papers published per year. And that is a shocking number … whatever the number it is, the scope is shocking, and it is of a major concern. And in my opinion, it’s probably the biggest science scam ever.”

3. Henry Miller, M.D., and S. Stanley Young, Ph.D., wrote, “The Validity of Much Published Scientific Research Is Questionable.” Their analysis includes statements such as:

• Much published science and the “knowledge” resulting from it is likely wrong and sends researchers chasing false leads. …

• An aphorism called the “Einstein Effect” holds that “People find nonsense credible if they think a scientist said it.” There is a lot of nonsense masquerading as science circulating these days. …

There are a large number of issues that can be used to illustrate how dismissing scripture as your rudder to navigate through life leads you completely off course, but I will pick one that will be prominent at the end of this month for Thanksgiving – food.

This piece was inspired by a friend of mine with no science background, but a very good grasp of scripture, who commented how puzzled he was with the barrage of advice on what he should or should not be eating, all of course based upon someone’s take on “science.” The advice can come from well-meaning Ph.D.s, M.D.s, dieticians, nutritionists, athletic trainers, coaches, parents, friends, celebrities, magazines, outright quacks, etc. Basically, every knucklehead has an opinion.

He initiated the conversation due to my background, hoping I could provide some clarity. Since most of my work combating “junk science” has been in the secular arena, but still from a biblical worldview, I think he was anticipating some lengthy technical discussion. So, I asked him a simple question: You have a good grasp of scripture, you know man’s opinions and ‘science’ are unreliable – so what does scripture tell you about what you can or cannot eat?

He initially responded with, “But everyone tells me how bad red meat, eggs and dairy products are for me, so I try to avoid those food items because they are so demonized by the health experts.” I responded, and where do those health “experts” obtain all the “insight” they think they have to justify their opinions? Of course, he responded with “science.”

As stated, science is provisional and laden with poor study design, fraud and fabrication. Nutrition science in particular is dependent on epidemiological studies, which are inherently unreliable because they attempt to “link” or “associate” any particular cherry-picked variable to a disease condition or malady, when any number of other variables could actually be the cause. Also, what we should or should not eat is rarely approached from a biblical perspective, but from an evolutionary one. So, let’s see what would have happened decades ago if nutrition science had just approached this issue using scripture as is hermeneutic tool as to what we can and should eat.

On Sept. 22, 2024, two scientists, both of whom were former members of the expert committee that oversees the “science” for the U.S. Dietary Guidelines, published “The hidden costs of our dietary guidelines.” Now, their article has nothing to do with a biblical approach to anything, just a correct science opinion as to the lack of credibility behind much of the standardized dietary guidelines and the selective use of research to support some personal biases of various members of the dietary guideline committee, resulting in the “unjustified demonization of nutrient-dense foods such as eggs, meat and full-fat dairy, which together play a crucial role in a healthy diet.” They further wrote that the dietary guideline committee “ignored over 20 review papers from independent teams of scientists from around the world, which concluded that strong evidence is lacking for the continued caps on saturated fats.” This same opinion was highlighted in 2020 in The Journal of the American College of Cardiology, as well as in 2023 in the journal Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity.

Now as a Christian who embraces scripture as absolute truth on any and all subject it covers, as well as having a significant nutrition science background, this is hardly surprising. I understand how provisional science is, on any topic, as well as how misguided it can be when “science” attempts to refute what scripture clearly teaches us as true. A plant-based herbivore diet in conjunction with common-sense lifestyle choices is all the direction you need. Yes, you are going to die from something (scripture), but it’s certainly not the egg, red meat, or dairy in your diet that’s doing it. In 2022 I illustrated this for the American Council on Science and Health where I critiqued the nonsense behind the popular National Geographic Blue Zones diet.

Using scripture as the necessary starting point in any debate is crucial if you want clarity. Disregarding scripture but embracing science as your starting point is foolish. This is why those on the left always seem so confused and misguided, often insane, because they embrace science or their own “intellectual” capacity as their source of truth.

So, your first question in any quest for direction in your life is: What does scripture say? No one has better science credentials than God. So, regardless of the subject, such as climate change, gender identity, homosexuality, abortion, etc., if you want clarity, simply open your Bible.