PF Episode 33: Dear Science: How to Interpret Health and Fitness Research

Jen: Welcome to Practically Fit, Real Fitness Over 40. I'm Jen Chamberlain — and, well, Alex is on vacation this week, but I'm very excited to have a special guest on the program. Those who listen to us regularly know that Alex and I like to talk about fitness through the lens of science — although we are not scientists, by any stretch of the imagination. We're communications majors. So today I'm so excited to welcome Wendy Sudman Kraft, who actually is a scientist, and is here to help me and our listeners understand how to think about research studies, and maybe share a little bit of her own fitness journey too. Welcome, Wendy.

Wendy: Thank you, glad to be here.

Jen: So, Wendy, without telling us exactly where you work, tell me a little about what you do for your job.

Wendy: Yeah, so I work for a biotech company, where I carry out in vivo and in vitro experiments to test a hypothesis.

Jen: So, backing way up from that — how did you get into the sciences? What inspired you to go down that path in your career?

Wendy: I've always been curious about the world — questioning the answers, that sort of thing. I originally wanted to go into medicine, and found out that path wasn't for me, but I still wanted to help people. So that's where I landed, in the research side of things.

Jen: So now you have kind of the best of both worlds — you get to do research in this space without having to go through the full medical degree and everything that comes with it. Fantastic.

What Makes Good Science

Jen: So now, getting down to brass tacks — the thing we're really curious about. Whenever Alex and I are researching an episode for the podcast, we like to go out, Google research, and look up scientific articles and studies on whatever fitness topic — it could be how much sleep you should get, or what types of exercise are most beneficial for someone over 40, like myself — actually over 50, for me. That's kind of the theme of our podcast. But for a layperson like Alex and me, what makes a good scientific study? What characteristics should we look for, being complete laypeople in this area?

Wendy: If you can get a hold of the details, start with who sponsored the study.

Jen: Oh, okay.

Wendy: Because there can be a lot of bias there. The other thing would be numbers — how many people were in the study, what were the age groups, that sort of thing. Because anybody can take a study and give you an example like, "oh, milk is better for you than orange juice." But when you dig in — if the keyword is "significant," they could say it's significantly better, which means they've actually done some math with real statistical power behind it. Or they could just say "it is better for you" — and to make that claim, literally only one person in the study needs to have had some benefit from milk over orange juice.

Jen: Oh wow, that is fascinating. We strongly suspected both of those things were important — who sponsored it, that's a big one, we always look at that — but also how many people are in it. I cited a study last week that had 11 people, and I thought, is that really a good sample size? I wasn't sure.

Wendy: Typically not.

Jen: Okay, so more questions about research, since this is really why we wanted to have you on the program. What are some other terms we should look for? For example, when I read a study and it's double-blind, randomized, and controlled, that seems like the gold standard to me — but what do I know, I'm not a scientist. What should we actually look for?

Wendy: I think you nailed it — it should definitely be blinded. I think, naturally, as humans we have a tendency to be biased, whether we want to be or not — even scientists try hard not to be, but if it's not a blinded study, you're going to have some bias regardless.

Jen: And what does that actually mean, a blinded study?

Wendy: It just means the population is completely randomized, and both the person in the study and the person administering it don't know who's in the treatment group versus the non-treatment group.

Jen: Okay — placebo. That's the other thing I've seen, placebo-based. So that would also be a key component of good research.

Wendy: Oh, for sure.

Reading Between the Headlines

Jen: So when we see scientific research covered in the popular press, what are some misconceptions or misinterpretations that drive you crazy? You see this all the time — you'll read a magazine and see, "studies say drinking five glasses of wine a day will help you live longer," or "coffee will kill you," that kind of thing. When you read that kind of coverage, what are some of the things that drive you crazy about it?

Wendy: I think you just nailed that too — there are so many different pathways within our bodies, and sometimes something like wine might help one pathway — maybe better eyesight, or nicer skin — but it's also going to be harder on your liver, maybe your kidneys, other things like that. So if a study is only looking at one aspect of the whole human body, that's inherently a kind of bias — they're only focusing on that one piece, and they'll say, "yes, this is better," or "no, it isn't." And it's not necessarily wrong, what they're saying is probably true — but it's still misleading to the general public.

Jen: Yeah, because our bodies are like an integrated system, right?

Wendy: Right.

Jen: And that's something we like to talk about a lot on this podcast — it's all about balance. If you take things to an extreme in any direction... I remember Alex found a study once that said coffee was bad for you, but the person in the study was drinking like 10 cups of coffee a day. That's a bit different than having a morning cup of joe.

Wendy: Yeah, your average person doesn't drink 10 cups of coffee a day, so it's not really applicable.

Jen: Exactly. So that's why we think it's really important to look at the facts when we're doing this research — how many people were involved, like you said, what were the other conditions, and so on. So, this is really exciting — next question, bear with me here: are some areas of research sexier than others?

Wendy: Sexier?

What Gets Studied, and Why

Jen: Yeah, so, an example — a lot of times, when we're researching some topics, like we did a podcast on sleep, and there was tons of research, whole journals devoted to sleep science, all this research coming out of sleep centers — I've actually been in one, it was a really bizarre experience. But then other topics, we find there's not that much research, and the go-to phrase is "more research is needed." So what basically drives what scientists choose to study?

Wendy: Well, there are sort of two ways to look at it. One is academia — in academia, you have to apply for grant money to have your study funded, so you have to really make the case: "I love this part of the body, this molecule, whatever it is I want to study, and here's a really good reason for it," in order to get funding. The other side is more industry-driven, where it's kind of about what's sexy, what's happening right now, what's popular — that's what gets the funding there.

Jen: Okay — so a combination of genuine interest, and then also what actually gets funded. So when it comes to something like fitness, is it also kind of faddish, to some extent? Do things come and go in popularity?

Wendy: For sure. I think as far as long-term science goes, most scientists tend to hold onto one area they study for most, or all, of their careers. But that area itself will go in and out of popularity, for sure. I'd say we kind of need to keep up with the times — just thinking about fitness, for example, what used to be considered a healthy weight isn't necessarily considered healthy anymore, or maybe it will be again in the future. And weight is just one aspect of fitness and health, obviously. But it is somewhat faddish — what we learn now, we have to keep applying to the research we're doing going forward. Once you learn something new, and it's proven to be true, you kind of have to accept that and move on with your research. So I'd say it is kind of — I don't have a better word for it — variable, in terms of what we focus on at any given time.

Jen: Yeah, absolutely. And that brings me to another point — we always try to choose studies that are fairly recent when we're researching, because I'd assume the science changes over time. So something written two decades ago about fitness may not match up with, like you said, how we look at BMI today, or the things we've learned since then.

Wendy: Right, yeah, exactly.

Wendy's Fitness Journey

Jen: Switching gears a bit — in addition to talking about fitness from a science-based perspective, we also love hearing about people's personal fitness journeys, since everyone's experience is unique. I know you and I have talked about running before, though I know you've also had a bit of a setback recently, with an injury. So I was wondering, can you tell me a little about your own fitness journey — how you got into running, and share a bit about that?

Wendy: Yeah, so, basically, I was always pretty active in high school, and then in college I realized you have to pay money for gyms. I was a poor college student, and decided that wasn't going to work for me. So I just started running, and I also realized along the way that it's a really good stress reliever for me — I could process everything I needed to process. I kept that up into my early-to-late 20s, did a couple of marathons, had goals, that kind of thing. But then I became a mom, and things got harder — my body changed significantly, and it got tougher. I did get back out there, and I kept running, up until more recently, when I broke my leg. When I say "run," I mean, after kids, I wasn't doing marathons anymore — more like two, three, maybe five miles on a weekend. Then, after a really bad leg injury — I'm actually still dealing with the effects of it — I had three surgeries to get my leg put back together. I managed a 5K last year, but it's been rough since then. I'm still — everything just doesn't go back together quite the same. It's been a struggle, but I'm pretty determined. I'm seeing a physical therapist now, and I'm going to keep pushing.

Recovering from Injury

Jen: That's great — and you're so right, coming back from injuries can be so hard. Alex actually broke his leg last summer, on his honeymoon in the UK — and, you know, it takes a really long time for your body to heal, and like you said, it doesn't always go back together quite the way it was. So I'm curious — did you learn anything through that process, about how to approach recovery? Is there anything that's helped you with being patient, specifically, since that seems like the hardest part?

Wendy: Yeah, being patient is very difficult for me. I literally couldn't put any weight on my leg for three months, and I was starting a new job at the same time — it was rough. But I think the number one thing is to listen to your body. I had this plan in my head — I want to be at this point of recovery by now — and sometimes I just wasn't there. I'd get really down on myself about it, but I had to remind myself, look how far I've come. I also realized, as I get older — I was never really into vitamins or supplements or anything like that — but I'm literally growing a bone right now. And I do need supplements — I don't have enough calcium and vitamin D naturally in my diet. I eat well, but it's still not enough to grow an entire bone. So I had to let go of that younger version of me who didn't want to take any supplements, and I've actually looked into what we actually need, what's in my diet, and what I need to add, to make myself healthier and happier.

Jen: Yeah, that's such a great perspective. I think that's something you learn in training too — you have to fuel your body, and give it what it needs to handle whatever extra thing you're asking of it. So it applies both to recovery and to training. So, tying this all together — do you take a scientific approach to health and fitness yourself? Are you a data nerd, like Alex and I are, or are you more of a go-with-the-flow kind of person?

Wendy: I'd say I'm a hybrid. I do a bit of both. I definitely try to focus on what's good, especially as I get older — I'm in my 40s now, and I want to live well beyond that — so I look at what's out there, I look at the data. But I wouldn't say I change every habit based on it. I'll read up on it, and make some small changes if it feels appropriate for my life, but I wouldn't go drastic — because everybody knows, when you do something drastic like that, it never really sticks anyway.

Takeaways

Jen: Yeah, exactly, exactly. So — great discussion. Thank you so much for sharing some of your fitness journey, and for talking us through the research side. If there's one thing you'd want our listeners — many of whom aren't scientists, like me and Alex — to take away about health and fitness research, what would you say to people reading all this information in the popular press?

Wendy: So, I know scientific papers can be extremely overwhelming. But what you, as a layperson — and honestly even me, as a scientist — actually need to get out of a paper is basically in the abstract and the conclusion. You can skip everything in between — that's really just them proving their methodology to their peers, so their peers can review it and say, "yes, I believe you." You don't need any of that. Focus on the abstract — it's designed to be written in layman's terms, for exactly that reason. Also, look for other research — if you found one paper, is there another paper out there that backs it up, that kind of thing? I think that would be really helpful. And honestly, be careful with mainstream media — depending on which outlet you're looking at, they can say completely opposite things.

Jen: Yeah, so it sounds like you're encouraging listeners to have some healthy skepticism about this kind of thing.

Wendy: Absolutely.

Jen: Fantastic. Well, thank you so much, Wendy, I really appreciate your time tonight. That's it for the program. My key takeaways: it matters who's funding these research studies, we need to look at sample size, and double-blind, randomized studies get you pretty close to that gold standard. So I really appreciate you walking us through all of that today.

Wendy: Sure — thank you, thanks for having me.

Jen: So that's it for my episode today, since Alex is still on vacation. Just a reminder, we'll be taking a bit of an extended break, and then we'll be back with new content, and hopefully some new guests to share their own fitness journeys. Until then, be sure to check out our past content over at practically.fit.