Essay: Darth Dietician: RationalWikians, I find your lack of trust in nutritional science disturbing.

RationalWiki is a politically left-leaning website that skews towards atheism/agnosticism in terms of its worldview. The website is under the auspices of nonprofit foundation the Rational Media Foundation. RationalWiki has a small fraction of the web traffic it had before October 2019 (see: RationalWiki and web traffic).

Darth Dietician: "RationalWikians, I find your lack of trust in nutritional science disturbing."

For more information, please see: Rational Media Board of Director and RationalWiki Moderater User: Spud and ultra-processed/unhealthy/junk food

Atop the user page of User: Spud is this picture of french fries which is featured above.

According to Healthline.com's 2017 article The 15 Unhealthiest Junk Foods in America: "In spite of their popularity, these deep-fried potatoes are very unhealthy."

The Bible-believing Christian User: Conservative eats a more scientifically sound diet than User: Spud and other RationalWikians.

On behalf of all Bible-believing Christians eating a scientifically sound diet that is in accordance with nutritional science, I hereby declare total victory! Olé! Olé! Olé!

Question: RationalWikians, have you eaten your 5 servings of fruits and vegetables today?

Rational Media Board of Director and RationalWiki Moderater User: Spud, nutrition and his rejected application to study for a Ph.D.

As far as academic achievement in university and college students, results suggest that diet may be associated with academic achievement, with the majority of studies associating more favourable dietary intake with higher academic achievement.

See also: Rational Media Board of Director and RationalWiki Moderater User: Spud and ultra-processed/unhealthy/junk food and Academic performance and nutrition and Atheism and academic performance and Atheism and intelligence

As noted above, the consumption of ultra-processed is associated with cognitive decline and lower mental performance and the consumption of highly nutritional food enhances mental performance (See: Consumption of ultra-processed foods and brain impairment and Cognitive decline and diet

On July 10, 2023 Rational Media Board of Director and RationalWiki Moderater User: Spud wrote:

“

In case anyone was curious, my application to study for a Ph. D. was not successful. The worst part about making this announcement is that I feel the need to feed the troll a bit... by saying that my rejection had nothing to do with suggesting other RationalWiki users might like to join me in having one packet of crisps and one bar of chocolate once a year on 30 April, or suggesting they might like to have one meal in a fast food restaurant once a year on 30 April, or having a picture of a chip butty on my RW user page, or any inaccurate assumptions you might make about my diet on the basis of those things, or being fat (which I'm not), or being an atheist, or being British, or using the word "c*nt". The f*cking c*nt will probably still gloat about it anyway. But I won't respond to his c*ntery any further. Anyway, it was on 5 June that I found out. So, I've had over a month to get over it. My contract as a research assistant at Chang Gung University came to an end at the end of April. After I found out I wasn't going to be a Ph. D. student, I started applying for English teaching jobs. I was accepted for two. But now I'm being rehired as a research assistant at Chang Gung University from 5 September. So, everything's good. Spud (talk) 03:20, 10 July 2023 (UTC)

”

The conclusions section for the 2017 Swiss medical journal article Associations between Dietary Intake and Academic Achievement in College Students: A Systematic Review published in the medical journal Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) states:

“

This review examines the current evidence base relating dietary intake and academic achievement in university and college students. Overall, results suggest that diet may be associated with academic achievement, with the majority of studies associating more favourable dietary intake with higher academic achievement. Therefore, health promotion practitioners in the university setting should consider the positive role diet may play in students’ academic achievement when developing initiatives to promote healthy eating to students. Furthermore, health promotion practitioners may utilise the findings from the review to advocate within the university setting for the need to better support students to improve their eating habits, due to the potential impact on their academic performance. However, a limited number of lower methodological quality studies were identified, and some significant limitations of the available evidence are highlighted. Further research to more accurately determine the impact of diet on academic achievement in university and college students is warranted. Future studies should consider the use of validated dietary assessment methods, comprehensive measurement of overall dietary intake, standardised assessment and reporting of academic outcomes, and appropriate adjustment of analyses for confounding factors.

”

The journal article The influence of eating habits on the academic performance of university students published in the Journal of American College Health notes:

“

Our study found that breakfast consumption, i.e. the number of days students consume breakfast per week, has a positive effect on their self-reported GPA. Students who had breakfast on at least five days per week reported a significantly higher GPA than students who had breakfast on three days or fewer. However, there are other factors, such as sleep habits and hours worked, that may have a greater positive or negative influence on student grades than eating breakfast. Fast food consumption, on the other hand, has a negative effect on student achievement. Students who had fast food at least seven times in the past week reported significantly lower current GPAs than students who had eaten fast food less than four times or not at all.

”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): "Data from the 2019 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) show that students with higher academic grades are more likely to engage in healthy dietary behaviors compared to students with lower grades."

Wilder Research, a nonprofit research and evaluation group, notes: "Recent studies have demonstrated that nutrition affects students’ thinking skills, behavior, and health, all factors that impact academic performance. Research suggests that diets high in trans and saturated fats can negatively impact learning and memory, nutritional deficiencies early in life can affect the cognitive development of school-aged children, and access to nutrition improves students’ cognition, concentration, and energy levels."

Rational Media Board of Director and RationalWiki Moderater User: Spud application to study for a Ph. D. was rejected. Whether or not better nutrition would have made a difference is unknown given that academic performance is the result of many factors such as study habits, intelligence, nutrition, etc. See also: Atheism and academic performance and Atheism and intelligence

Trent Toulouse (one of the founders of the website RationalWiki) and obesity

See also: Atheism and obesity

Trent Toulouse is one of the founders of the atheist/agnostic/skeptic website RationalWiki. He is also one of the board of trustees of the RationalMedia Foundation.

A picture of an obese Trent Toulouse can be found HERE and HERE.

The RationalWiki website has a significant amount of content criticizing alternative medicine. Its alternative medicine article describes alternative medicine thusly: "Alternative medicine is any medical treatment that is not part of conventional evidence-based medicine, such as one would learn in medical school, nursing school or even paramedic training." Evidence-based medicine strongly indicates that obesity poses significant health risks.

Obesity is positively associated with impulsiveness, lower self-discipline and neuroticism.

The scale, friend or foe? by the Mayo Clinic

Two of the major risk factors for becoming obese according to the Mayo Clinic are poor dietary choices and inactivity. According to the Gallup Inc., "Very religious Americans are more likely to practice healthy behaviors than those who are moderately religious or nonreligious."

Message to RationalWiki Admin Ace McWicked who is a New Zealand, atheist hiker and cricket player with a bad diet. You cannot outrun a bad diet!

RationalWiki admin Ace McWicked on flouting medical science by living an unhealthy lifestyle which could reduce his longevity and/or cause chronic diseases: "I'm in the office and fee like I am having a heart attack. Pretty sure I walked too quickly while doing an overview of the work-site and smoked too heavily in the process. Or maybe it was the lashings of Jagermeister and mac'n'cheese I had for dinner. Either way not much changes with ol' Ace. Being in my early 40's now I don't feel the need to make any lifestyle changes anymore. I'll just the age happen and see how long I last. I reckon I have another 20 years left." - RationalWiki admin Ace McWicked, May 8, 2023 See also: Atheism and smoking and Atheism and alcoholism and Macaroni and cheese, processed food, and health risks and Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health risks and Atheism and life expectancy

The RationalWiki admin Ace McWicked, who is a New Zealand, atheist hiker and cricket player with a bad diet, wrote: User: Conservative "is still going on about our unhealthy lifestyles. I’ll throw him a bone - I spent all weekend drinking and smoking. Yet I did a 14km hike and played cricket with casual team I have created."

"London cardiologist Dr. Aseem Malhotra blames the food industry for encouraging the idea that sufficient exercise can counteract the effects of unhealthy eating. "That is unscientific and wrong. You cannot outrun a bad diet," he writes in a piece in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Ace McWicked, I trust this clarifies matters! You cannot outrun a bad diet!

P.S. User: Conservative is about to go on 3.7 kilometer walk. A victory walk to celebrate another total victory over you!

RationalWiki User: User:RagingHippie and Stage IV colorectal cancer

On June 9, 2023, RationalWiki User:RagingHippie wrote: "Hey folks. Old guard person here. Been dealing with Stage IV colorectal cancer for a while now."

According to the American Cancer Society one can lower one's risk for getting colerectal cancer by doing the following: "Following a healthy eating pattern that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and that limits or avoids red and processed meats and sugary drinks probably lowers risk."

According to the American Cancer Society:

“

Colorectal cancer risk factors you can change Many lifestyle-related factors have been linked to colorectal cancer. In fact, more than half of all colorectal cancers are linked to risk factors that can be changed. Being overweight or obese If you are overweight or obese (very overweight), your risk of developing and dying from colorectal cancer is higher. Being overweight raises the risk of colon and rectal cancer in people, but the link seems to be stronger in men. Getting to and staying at a healthy weight may help lower your risk. Not being physically active If you're not physically active, you have a greater chance of developing colon cancer. Regular moderate to vigorous physical activity can help lower your risk. Certain types of diets A diet that's high in red meats (such as beef, pork, lamb, or liver) and processed meats (like hot dogs and some luncheon meats) raises your colorectal cancer risk. Cooking meats at very high temperatures (frying, broiling, or grilling) creates chemicals that might raise your cancer risk. It’s not clear how much this might increase your colorectal cancer risk. Having a low blood level of vitamin D may also increase your risk. Following a healthy eating pattern that includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and that limits or avoids red and processed meats and sugary drinks probably lowers risk.

”

User: Conservative's June 2023 dental office visit. Unprocessed food and good dental hygiene = No cavities!

On June 14, 2023, User: Conservative went to the dental office. The dentist told him that he had no cavities. The excitement was raging in the dental office and the dental hygienist put her hand up in the air and User: Conservative gave her a high five! User: Conservative will continue to have a diet of unprocessed foods! On behalf of all Christendom that largely or exclusively eats unprocessed foods, User: Conservative declares total victory over all science-denying atheists that eat a significant amount of ultra-processed food! Olé! Olé! Olé!

User: Conservative feels so sorry for atheists who consume a significant amount of sugary drinks with processed sugar and have the cavities to show for it!

Someone pin a medal on User: Conservative's dentist and dental hygienist. In the patient waiting room of User: Conservative's dentist, there is a sticker on a mirror indicating Jesus is everywhere. God bless Jesus-affirming, American dentists!

RationalWikians, I find your lack of trust in dental science disturbing! Stop eating sugary foods laden with processed sugar and start brushing and flossing after every meal! And remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

By the way, User: Conservative uses Crest Pro-Health Advanced toothpaste. Why? As a lover of creation science, he strongly believes in advanced dental science and all other forms of advanced, real science!

Dental science: It works!

User: Conservative intends to purchase a Waterpik water flosser so he can have a raging river of dental hygiene flowing between the beautiful pearly whites that God ordained for him to have.

The most informed and reasonable scientists, namely those that subscribe to creation science, estimate the age of Niagara Falls to be about 4,400 years old.

RationalWikians, if you had ate more flavorful food that was nutritious, perhaps you would not eat so much ultra-processed food! Study culinary science RationalWikians!

A food science laboratory

See also: Atheism and food science

RationalWikians, as far as I hate to say it, if you had ate more flavorful food that was nutritious, perhaps you would not eat so much ultra-processed food!

• Rational Media Board of Director and RationalWiki Moderater User: Spud and ultra-processed/unhealthy/junk food
• Atheism and culinary science
• Atheism, culinary arts, inspiration, innovation and food science
• Atheism and food science

Humor:

• Atheism, food science and bland food
• God is smiting Britain. The godless land of fat, heavy drinkers! (Godless, British pubs have a long history of serving bland food!)
• Flavorful food is coming to New Zealand in the 21st century

If one follows the general spirit of RationalWiki's dietary advice and other advice, one will shave years off of one's life

As far as RationalWiki, I do find it ironic that if one follows the general spirit of their website in terms of one's diet, one will shave years off of their life and they will have a less environmentally friendly diet. For example, while not completely a pescatarian or vegetarian and merely one who is rapidly weaning myself off of eating meat in order to become a pescatarian (A pescatarian is a person who does not eat meat, but does eat plant-based food and seafood), I do recognize the health benefits of a pescatarian diet that is somewhat between a pescatarian and vegetarian diet (For social reasons and personal dietary preferences, I may make a one or two day exception and eat meat on Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas). For example, PubMed has over 12,000 articles on a plant-based diet and the vast majority of them are very positive in terms of the health benefits and environmental benefits of following a plant-based diet or a more plant-based diet.

On the other hand, RationalWiki article on vegetarianism states: "Vegetarianism has been central to a great many fad diets over the years, as well as numerous religious and ethical dietary principles. While not woo in and of itself, vegetarianism has long been considered an eccentricity (or at the least non-normative, as vegetarians are a minority) and is closely associated with a number of forms of quackery." This is not exactly a ringing endorsement of vegetarianism or of eating a more plant-based diet!

For more information, please read: Rational Media Board of Director and RationalWiki Moderater User: Spud and ultra-processed/unhealthy/junk food

Consider this other data

A fruit basket

Pescatarian/vegetarian diet and significantly lower coronavirus infections

"Add this to the long list of reasons to adopt a plant-based or pescatarian diet: New research has found that what you eat — and what you don’t — may lower your odds of developing moderate to severe COVID-19 infection. The study, which was published June 7 in the online journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health, is the first to report an association between dietary patterns and the severity of COVID-19." See: A Plant-Based or Pescatarian Diet May Help Reduce the Risk of Severe COVID-19 (BMJ is the British Medical Journal).

After analyzing the survey data, researchers found that respondents who followed a plant-based diet had a 73 percent lower risk of developing moderate to severe COVID-19; for those who followed a pescatarian diet, the risk was 59 percent lower. “We also found that those who followed low carbohydrate/high protein diets had greater odds of moderate to severe COVID-19 compared with those who followed a plant-based diet,” says Sara Seidelmann, MD, an internal medicine doctor at Stamford Health in Stamford, Connecticut, and a coauthor of the study. See: A Plant-Based or Pescatarian Diet May Help Reduce the Risk of Severe COVID-19

Sardines

Longevity: Plant-based diet and a Sabbath Day to reduce stress

In an attempt to “reverse engineer longevity,” Dan Buettner has spent years researching the parts of the world where people live much longer than average. Most of those locations are outside the United States — including Sardinia, Italy, and Okinawa, Japan — but there is one long-living group stateside. It’s the Seventh-day Adventists, who live an average of 10 years longer than the American life expectancy of about 79 years.

Buettner, whose work is part of the Blue Zones Project, joined HuffPost Live’s Caitlyn Becker on Wednesday to explain what Seventh-day Adventists do right. That includes eating a plant-based diet and having “a social network that reinforces the right behavior.” Their religious beliefs are also a big help, he said.

“They take this idea of Sabbath very seriously, so they’re decompressing the stress,” Buettner said. “About 84 percent of health care dollars are spent because of bad food choices, inactivity and unmanaged stress, and they have these cultural ways of managing stress through their Sabbath.”[1]

While I do recognize that the Seventh-day Adventists practice some good health behaviors, I disagree with their theology and have a great affinity towards Protestant churches that practice a form of Christianity that is closer to early Christianity and that practice sound Bible exegesis.

Atheism vs. theism and life expectancy

See also: Atheism and life expectancy

The prestigious Mayo Clinic found that that religious involvement and spirituality are associated with better physical health, mental health, health-related quality of life and other health outcomes.

The Independent reported:

“

Religious people live on average four years longer than their agnostic and atheist peers, new research has found. The difference between practising worshippers and those who were not part of a religious group could be down to a mix of social support, stress-relieving practices and abstaining from unhealthy habits, the authors suggest. For the study, a team of Ohio University academics, including associate professor of psychology Christian End, analysed more than 1,500 obituaries from across the US to piece together how the defining features of our lives affect our longevity. These records include religious affiliations and marriage details as well as information on activities, hobbies and habits, which can help or hinder our health, not otherwise captured in census data. The study, published in Social Psychological and Personality Science today, found that on average people whose obituary mentioned they were religious lived an extra 5.64 years. Life expectancy was still 3.82 years longer in religious people when they statistically controlled for marriage rates, a factor which has been shown to increase life expectancy and help stave off disease.

”

Christian apologist Michael Caputo wrote about atheism and marriage: "Recently the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has published its mammoth study on Religion in America based on 35,000 interviews... According to the Pew Forum a whopping 37% of atheists never marry as opposed to 19% of the American population, 17% of Protestants and 17% of Catholics." See: Atheism and marriage

According to the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) over 50% of all atheists and agnostics don’t get married. The fertility rate is significantly lower in the atheist population (see: Atheism and fertility rates).

The Iona Institute reported: "A meta-analysis of all studies, both published and unpublished, relating to religious involvement and longevity was carried out in 2000. Forty-two studies were included, involving some 126,000 subjects. Active religious involvement increased the chance of living longer by some 29%, and participation in public religious practices, such as church attendance, increased the chance of living longer by 43%."

The journal article Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications published in the journal International Scholar Research Notes Psychiatry by Harold G. Koenig stated concerning religion/spirituality (R/S):

“

The most impressive research on the relationship between R/S and physical health is in the area of mortality. The cumulative effect of R/S, if it has any benefits to physical health, ought to reveal itself in an effect on mortality. The research suggests it does. At least 121 studies have examined relationships between R/S and mortality. Most of these are prospective cohort studies, where baseline R/S is assessed as a predictor of mortality during the observation period, controlling for confounders. Of those studies, 82 (68%) found that greater R/S predicted significantly greater longevity (three at a trend level), whereas six studies (5%) reported shorter longevity. Considering the 63 methodologically most rigorous studies (quality ratings of 8 or higher), 47 (75%) found R/S predicting greater longevity (two at trend level) [548–566], whereas three (5%) reported shorter longevity [567–569]. Another systematic review [570] and two meta-analyses [571, 572] have confirmed this relationship between R/S and longer survival. The effects have been particularly strong for frequency of attendance at religious services in these three reviews. Survival among frequent attendees was increased on average by 37%, 43%, and 30% (mean effect being 37% across these reviews). An increased survival of 37% is highly significant and equivalent to the effects of cholesterol lowering drugs or exercise-based cardiac rehabilitation after myocardial infarction on survival [573].

”

RationalWiki admin Ace McWicked on flouting medical science and living an unhealthy lifestyle that could reduce his longevity

See also: Science denialism and Atheism and medicine and Atheism and health

RationalWiki admin Ace McWicked on flouting medical science by living an unhealthy lifestyle which could reduce his longevity and/or cause chronic diseases: "I'm in the office and fee like I am having a heart attack. Pretty sure I walked too quickly while doing an overview of the work-site and smoked too heavily in the process. Or maybe it was the lashings of Jagermeister and mac'n'cheese I had for dinner. Either way not much changes with ol' Ace. Being in my early 40's now I don't feel the need to make any lifestyle changes anymore. I'll just the age happen and see how long I last. I reckon I have another 20 years left." - RationalWiki admin Ace McWicked, May 8, 2023

See also

• Comfort food, unhealthy food, negative emotions and self-medicating

• Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health risks

• Dietary practices of atheists

• Atheism and food science

• Atheism and negative emotions/thoughts

• Atheism and emotional problems

• Atheism and obesity

• Atheism and health

• Joe Biden's frequent ice cream and junk food consumption, ultra-processed food and cognitive decline

Humor:

• Comedy and satires concerning atheism and evolution
• Overweight atheists comedy and satire

External links

• Could ultra-processed foods be harmful for us?, BBC, 2023
• How ultra-processed food harms your health and how to fix the problem, New Scientist, April 26, 2023
• Ultra-Processed Foods May Lead To Cognitive Decline, Neuroscience News, 2023

Videos:

• How Ultra-Processed Foods Is Slowly Killing Us by Mark Hyman, M.D.