One More Thing : 6.11.2023 Confounding Health Benefits of Ice Cream

Confounding Health Benefits of Ice Cream

(I mentioned this in Contemporary Worship, but just in passing.)

       This is an illustration I came across last week. I was preaching about how the gospel of Jesus Christ shows up in so many of our great stories.  The gospel is about what God has done for us—all that we cannot and could not do for ourselves—has been done through the death and resurrection of Jesus.  It is good news—it is joyous news.  Talk about joyous news…Ice Cream is good for you!  Even if we don’t know why.

       “Writing for The Atlantic, David Merritt Johns says that a most confounding story appeared in his inbox by a tipster who prefaced it by saying, “I’m sorry, it cracks me up every time I think about this.”

       Harvard doctoral research student Andres Korat found a curious result from a 2018 study: Among diabetics, eating half a cup of ice cream a day was associated with a lower risk of heart problems. After consulting with his department chair, Korat set out to debunk his initial finding with more research, but it ended up being stubbornly consistent.

       Korat wrote in his findings, “There are few plausible biological explanations for these results.” But he also mentioned several prior studies that found similar results. Mark Pereira is an epidemiologist who authored one of those prior studies. He said, “I still to this day don’t have an answer for it.”

       In his deep dive into the story, Johns claims that several medical researchers ended up spinning their data into conclusions more readily acceptable to mainstream audiences. Instead of touting the health benefits of ice cream, they pivoted to yogurt. One research paper read: “Higher intake of yogurt is associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. Whereas other dairy foods and consumption of total dairy are not.”

“The conclusions weren’t exactly accurately written,” acknowledged Dariush Mozaffarian, who co-authored the paper. “Saying no foods were associated—ice cream was associated.”

       Here’s my unscientific conclusion.  You tell me that we’re going out to Culver’s, Graeter’s, Handel’s, or Dairy Queen and experience an involuntary jump in my heart rate.  It doesn’t matter if I’m full or hungry; it doesn’t matter if I’m “in the mood;” it doesn’t even matter if it’s 8 o’clock in the morning—something special and delicious is potentially on the horizon and with it, the expectation of joy.  People who regularly imbibe in ice cream are people who are actively pursuing their bliss (though my bliss requires more than a measly half a cup).  Those who regularly eat ice cream are people who are open to the small wonders in life and that—I believe—is what makes their hearts stronger. 

       My new motto, since reading this report is “A splurge a day keeps the cardiologist at bay.”  Better yet, she who is open to the good things of life—no matter how small—are likely also open to the good things that God has provided for God’s people.

Adapted from David Merritt Johns, “Nutrition Science’s Most Preposterous Result,” The Atlantic (4-13-23)