American Council on Science and Health

American Council on Science and Health Promoting evidence-based science and health since 1978. We debunk hype. Read our stories: www.acsh.org

The American Council on Science and health was founded in 1978 by a group of scientists who had become concerned that many important public policies related to health and the environment did not have a sound scientific basis. These scientists created the organization to add reason and balance to debates about public health issues and to bring common sense views to the public.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: What's the Real Impact?Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are quickly digested, triggering insu...
01/18/2025

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: What's the Real Impact?

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are quickly digested, triggering insulin release and other regulatory pathways leading to visceral fat accumulation, insulin resistance in the liver and skeletal muscles, and weight gain. The resulting excess body fat and metabolic dysfunction further stimulate inflammatory cytokines, increasing the risk of hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. As a result, SSBs can contribute to the onset of cardiometabolic diseases, i.e., diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), as well as excess weight gain, which makes its own contribution to diabetes and CVD.

Sugar-sweetened beverages, the liquid delight promising a moment of joy and delivering a lifetime (?) of regret. Position as a public health disaster by some, how much of the blame can we pin on SSBs? With so many other lifestyle culprits in play, it’s worth asking if they’re the real villain or...

01/18/2025
Could this fundamental discovery revolutionise fertiliser use in farming?Researchers have discovered a biological mechan...
01/17/2025

Could this fundamental discovery revolutionise fertiliser use in farming?

Researchers have discovered a biological mechanism that makes plant roots more welcoming to beneficial soil microbes.

This discovery by John Innes Centre researchers paves the way for more environmentally-friendly farming practices, potentially allowing farmers to use less fertiliser.

Production of most major crops relies on nitrate and phosphate fertilisers, but excessive fertiliser use harms the environment.

If we could use mutually beneficial relationships between plant roots and soil microbes to enhance nutrient uptake, then we could potentially reduce use of inorganic fertilisers.

Researchers in the group of Dr Myriam Charpentier discovered a mutation in a gene in the legume Medicago truncatula that reprogrammes the signalling capacity of the plant so that it enhances partnerships with nitrogen fixing bacteria called rhizobia and arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) which supply roots with phosphorus.

Researchers have discovered a biological mechanism that makes plant roots more welcoming to beneficial soil microbes…

What I Am ReadingLet’s ponder life's great mysteries: What’s in a name? Why does RFK Jr. believe he’s the Socrates of va...
01/17/2025

What I Am Reading

Let’s ponder life's great mysteries: What’s in a name? Why does RFK Jr. believe he’s the Socrates of vaccines? Can public health officials stop making nutrition mistakes long enough to determine why Double Stuf Oreos are more appealing than kale? Spoiler: it’s not because Oreos are cheaper; it’s because kale is kale.

Let’s ponder life's great mysteries: What’s in a name? Why does RFK Jr. believe he’s the Socrates of vaccines? Can public health officials stop making nutrition mistakes long enough to determine why Double Stuf Oreos are more appealing than kale? Spoiler: it’s not because Oreos are cheaper; ...

Great Women of Science: Dr. Hedwig Kohn, Pioneering Physicist in Radiometry and Flame SpectroscopyWho could imagine a wo...
01/17/2025

Great Women of Science: Dr. Hedwig Kohn, Pioneering Physicist in Radiometry and Flame Spectroscopy

Who could imagine a world without plasma TV screens? Or a blood test without measurements of key electrolytes, sodium, and potassium? Both technologies rely on the fields of radiometry and flame spectroscopy. But one scientist – a woman - who pioneered work in both areas is almost unknown. Her name is Dr. Hedwig Kohn.

Who could imagine a world without plasma TV screens? Or a blood test without measurements of key electrolytes, sodium, and potassium? Both technologies rely on the fields of radiometry and flame spectroscopy. But one scientist – a woman - who pioneered work in both areas is almost unknown. Her nam...

Not much to disagree with here. Calling for more openness in science.
01/17/2025

Not much to disagree with here. Calling for more openness in science.

I was never an avocado eater. And guacamole looks gross. But my wife got me to try them and I like them even guac.
01/16/2025

I was never an avocado eater. And guacamole looks gross. But my wife got me to try them and I like them even guac.

Editorial comment: Avian influenza was first detected in Italy in 1878. But it was not until 1997 when it crossed over t...
01/16/2025

Editorial comment: Avian influenza was first detected in Italy in 1878. But it was not until 1997 when it crossed over to infect humans, killing six. And that was in China.

How Close Are We To The Avian Flu Outbreak Escalating Into a pandemic?

Avian flu is rampant in poultry farms and in wild birds in the U.S. Every mutation brings the virus one step closer to the brink of human-to-human transmission, but predicting whether a virus will cross that threshold remains an uncertain science.

Avian flu is rampant in poultry farms and in wild birds in the U.S. Every mutation brings the virus one step closer to the brink of human-to-human transmission, but predicting whether a virus will cross that threshold remains an uncertain science.

Viewpoint: DEI is infecting America’s science and medical establishmentDr. H. Holden Thorp, the editor-in-chief of the p...
01/16/2025

Viewpoint: DEI is infecting America’s science and medical establishment

Dr. H. Holden Thorp, the editor-in-chief of the prestigious journal Science since 2019, described on Substack a discussion that occurred during [a] meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In the closing plenary session, he posed to a “panel of scientific leaders” the question, “Who is a scientist?”
The answers from the audience “ranged from very narrow (just people who are doing or planning research) to very broad (every living human).”

r. H. Holden Thorp, the editor-in-chief of the prestigious journal Science since 2019, described on Substack a discussion that occurred during meeting of

Editorial comment: I don't know, 40 years ago we didn't have these problems. What changed?Obesity won’t be solely define...
01/16/2025

Editorial comment: I don't know, 40 years ago we didn't have these problems. What changed?

Obesity won’t be solely defined by BMI under new plan for diagnosis by global experts

A group of global experts is proposing a new way to define and diagnose obesity, reducing the emphasis on the controversial body mass index and hoping to better identify people who need treatment for the disease caused by excess body fat.

Under recommendations released Tuesday night, obesity would no longer be defined solely by BMI, a calculation of height and weight, but combined with other measurements, such as waist circumference, plus evidence of health problems tied to extra pounds.

Obesity is estimated to affect more than 1 billion people worldwide. In the U.S., about 40% of adults have obesity, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

New recommendations on how to define obesity would reduce the emphasis on body mass index and also take into account health problems from extra weight and other measurements.

"From 'Food Rules' to Food Reality: Machine Learning Unveils the Ultra-Processed Truth in Our Grocery Carts"Fourteen yea...
01/16/2025

"From 'Food Rules' to Food Reality: Machine Learning Unveils the Ultra-Processed Truth in Our Grocery Carts"

Fourteen years ago, Michael Pollan offered us Food Rules; today, researchers armed with machine learning and 50,000 grocery items are trying to turn Pollan’s “wisdom” into science. The findings suggest your shopping cart is less a Whole Foods utopia and more an ultra-processed dystopia.

Fourteen years ago, Michael Pollan offered us Food Rules; today, researchers armed with machine learning and 50,000 grocery items are trying to turn Pollan’s “wisdom” into science. The findings suggest your shopping cart is less a Whole Foods utopia and more an ultra-processed dystopia.

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In 1978 scientists began to fight back against two decades of scaremongering by lawyer-driven activist groups who adopted the veneer of environmentalism in order to terrify the public and increase their ideological control of society. The result was the American Council on Science and health and since then we have added reason and balance while debunking manufactured claims about public health issues.