Nutrition psychology. "Consuming more legumes and less red and processed meat may have a surprisingly positive impact on men’s health" (UH). Another case of Continued Influence Bias?

Based on the so-called EAT – Lancet Commission's proposition, nutritionists at the University of Helsingfors have conducted a six week intervention, from which they make the claim that less meat and more legumes may have a surprisingly positive impact on men’s health. The premise for the study is that LDL=cholesterol and Willet et al. 2019 (the so-called EAT Lancet paper). In reality, LDL transports cholesterol, and Willet et al. has been disputed on scientific grounds. Our species have adapted to animal source food. Children need to consume animal source food to develop physically and mentally. Adults need to consume animal source food to sustain physical and mental health. In 2023, Finland's largest tabloid – Helsingin Sanomat reported that the research at the University of Helsingfors had collapsed. This may likely be caused by Continued influence bias. Worth noting. UH has not recovered. 7 pages.

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Based on the so-called EAT – Lancet Commission's proposition (Willet et al. (2019), nutritionists at the University of Helsingfors have conducted a six week intervention, from which they make the following claim:

Link to source

Link to soruce.

However, Bäck et al were not the first to do so.

In 2022, Hanken School of Economics organized a whole conference based on the EAT-Lancet proposition. And the lunch was restricted to vegan only. 

There, the staff claimed that Willet et al 2019 was correct because it was a meta-analysis.

Really? 🤔

Here's my take (Österberg. 2022).

In reality, the study (Willet et al. 2019) which the Finnish nutritionists have used as a starting point:

1. is said to have been funded by the Norwegian hospitality mogul Petter Stordalen, likely as a gift to his second wife Gun-Britt.
   
   
2. was politically oriented, but scientifically rejected (Beal, 2023); has been shown to lack scientific relevance.
   
   
3. increases flatulence in men several times over.

Why is this bad?

Finland has a high prevalence of lifestyle diseases and everyone knows that it is explained by what you eat. For example:

• Childhood obesity (NAFLD/NASH) is rampant (Eva Roos, Folkhälsan, October, 2020).
  
  
• Women's relational aggressiveness (psychological domestic violence) (Hyde, 2005) is the big issue (Helsingfors Polis department, April, 2022).
  
  
• Too many Finnish children fail in reading comprehension and #numeracy (Ministry of Education and Culture, May, 2022). Numeracy is the foundation for instrumental and epistemic rational thinking (2011, 2016).
  
  
• Finland has the highest prevalence of depression in the EU (Estlander, Bensow, November 2023).
  
  
• 40% of Finnish school kids are victims of psychological domestic violence (Estlander, Bensow, November, 2023).

In 2023, the EU/OECD compared the prevalence of deaths as a function of welfare diseases. The comparison between Finland and Sweden, two countries with common genetics, history, and language, is interesting.

Death due to lack of oxygen in the heart:

• Sweden: 10%.
  
  
• Finland: 15%. Note. 50% higher prevalence per capita compared to Sweden!

Death due to Alzheimer's/dementia:

• Sweden: 10%.
  
  
• Finland: 20%. Note 100% higher prevalence per capita compared to Sweden!

Worth noting. Finland also has the highest prevalence of Alzheimer's/dementia in the world!!!!!!!!!! 🥶

So what does international research (as well as other Finnish research) say about food and health?

Premise. LDL is a lipoprotein that transports the vital cholesterol, a fat, in the body and the brain.

Over millions of years, our ancestors have adapted to animal source foods (Aiello och Wheeler, 1995; Mann, 2018; McPherron et al 2010; Pobiner, 2016; Thompson et al. 2019).

The diet-heart hypothesis, the bread and butter for the University of Helsingfors, has been rejected on several occations (Howard et al. 2006; Nutrition Coalition; Ramsden et al. 2016; Teicholz , 2014, 2023).

The recurrent claim from Finnish nutritonists that consumption of meat causes colon cancer was also refuted (and they are aware of it) (Han et al. 2019; Johnston et al. 2019; Zeraatkar et al. 2019).

Children need to eat animal source foods to develop physically and mentally (Adesogan et al. 2020; Balehegn et al. 2019).

Adults need to eat animal source foods to maintain physical and mental health (2019; Itkonen et al. 2020; Tong et al. 2020; Ylilauri et al. 2019).

We need to eat saturated fats to produce myelin – a lipid-rich material that surrounds nerve cell axons (Poitelon et al. 2020):

“However, myelin assembly requires a significant amount of lipids, and lipids play an important role in glial cell myelination”.

Adults who abstain from animal source foods report mental health issues (Dobersek et al. 2023).

How come the nutritionist's at the University of Helsingfors missed or ignored these facts?

In 2023, Finland's largest tabloid, Helsingin Sanomat, reported that research at the University of Helsingfors (UH) had, and I quote, collapsed (Bäckgren, HS, 2023). See the dark blue line in attachment.

And the decline continued.

In 2024, the Finnish brain foundation predicted that 50% of Finnish women and 33% over the age of 45 will contract a serious brain disease. They probably meant Alzheimer's/dementia.

That didn't take the cake.

In 2025, the University of Helsingfors predicted that 77% of all Finnish women and 70% of all Finnish men (no age limit as far as I could see) will receive a mental health diagnosis. 🥶

Link to source

Worth noting. UH has not recovered.

Why is this happening?

The short possible answer: Continued Influence bias – misinformation continues to influence memory and reasoning about an event, despite the misinformation having been corrected (Cacciatore, 2021).

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