Funding Sources

This applies to every health site you read or any "study findings" pertaining to any topic. Research the funding sources. Find out who the funding sources are. Be assured that "study results" will be skewed by funding sources.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has a My Pyramid which is supposed to contain health eating suggestions. What the FDA doesn't tell you is that certain funding sources would not let the independent scientists incorporate researched facts into the Pyramid guidelines.

For instance, scientists wanted to state that red meat needed much stricter consumption guidelines. The American Cattle Industry is a USDA funding source, so results needed to be skewed to favor more red meat consumption.

Scientists wanted to incorporate stricter guidelines for minimizing soda pop consumption. That could not happen due to the soda pop industry being a USDA funding source.

These are just two examples of the importance of knowing who funds certain studies.

I know because I performed extensive research into this area while doing a number of college-level research papers.