Prove it! Evidence based health blogs.

September 15, 2016 1:25 AM

I'm looking to expand my knowledge about the latest research and breakthroughs in the areas of health, medicine, nutrition and fitness. What are some good resources to peruse?

I am interested in blogs and regularly updated websites to read that deal with evidence based medicine, nutrition, fitness and well being. A blog that I think is indicative of what I'm looking for is Well from The New York Times. Another good website I like is Examine.com.

Are there other such blogs or wesbites that you'd recommend. I'm not a doctor or a medical student so I'm not looking for something overly technical, but I have an understanding of basic science and research methods (and am willing to learn if needed). Blogs that break down scientific peer reviewed literature into easy to understand chunks (not necessarily ELI5, but not at the Ph.D level either) are what I'm after.

posted by rippersid to Health & Fitness (14 answers total)

I like Pain Science, he really trawls through the medical journals, and as a former massage therapist, has an understanding of why people choose to believe in unsupported or unproven claims but also is unflinching in his debunking of spurious treatment methods.
posted by spamandkimchi at 1:55 AM on September 15, 2016 [5 favorites]

The NHS has a service called ‘Behind the Headlines’ which examines the evidence behind health stories in the news. I suppose the idea is a kind of Snopes for health news, only much drier.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:35 AM on September 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

The AMA has a daily email digest called Morning Rounds that I really like. For the most part it's compiled from mainstream outlets, not medical journals directly, so I think it would be very readable for you. It is rarely "enough" information for me when it's covering a topic I'm interested in, but it has alerted me to the existence of interesting topics and studies on many occasions.
posted by telegraph at 4:24 AM on September 15, 2016

I like Authority Nutrition.
posted by Major Matt Mason Dixon at 5:03 AM on September 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

Science-Based Medicine covers the topics you mention (and others.)

The most recent post is NCCIH funds sauna “detoxification” study at naturopathic school.
posted by bdk3clash at 5:33 AM on September 15, 2016 [3 favorites]

Sweat Science: "the science of training and fitness"
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 5:59 AM on September 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

On the more academic side perhaps, but The Medical Care Blog publishes weekly posts about medical and healthcare-related research - a broad range of topics, but mostly focused on peer-reviewed studies.
posted by acridrabbit at 7:12 AM on September 15, 2016

NutritionFacts.org. You can follow on Facebook. From the blog: "Michael Greger M.D. Physician and New York Times bestselling author who scours the world's nutrition research to bring you free daily videos and articles. All proceeds from his books, DVDs, and speaking go to charity."

He reviews nutrition-related information from peer-reviewed journals and provides helpful videos on same.
posted by apartment dweller at 7:17 AM on September 15, 2016 [4 favorites]

Respectful Insolence by David Gorski, who also contributes to the above-linked Science-Based Medicine.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 8:51 AM on September 15, 2016 [1 favorite]

New York Magazine runs a blog dedicated to wellness/well-being/health/psychology: The Science of Us. It's fairly pop sci, definitely not too technical, but every article links to and quotes from the various studies it's referencing, so if you want to go down the rabbit hole you can. It updates a lot. Headlines can be a little clickbait-y, though.
posted by stellarc at 12:57 PM on September 15, 2016

The Health News section of the NHS Choice website might be suitable. One of its goals, as I understand it, is to report on recently announced health news and help readers understand it better. Each post describes the news item or study result in question and then asks and answers these questions:

• Where did the story come from?
• What kind of research was this?
• What did the research involve?
• What were the basic results?
• How did the researchers interpret the results?

posted by Lexica at 3:12 PM on September 15, 2016

second PainScience
posted by evening at 4:57 AM on September 16, 2016

Evidence Based Birth is a really great one for a very specific topic.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:23 PM on September 16, 2016

I enjoy Ergo-Log; its emphasis is on athletics and supplements but also covers nutrition and longevity. Topics that might have a bro-science treatment elsewhere but here the focus is on published research and the commentary will discuss for example, was it double-blind, in a human or rodent model, was funding provided by a manufacturer, etc.
posted by Schmucko at 5:19 PM on October 1, 2016