this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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[–] jwt@programming.dev 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

"What we found is that consuming high amounts of ultra-processed foods could increase your risk of developing depression by up to 50%"

and

"He said that ... they cannot say highly processed food causes depression"

Those statements sound contradictory (Or do they mean that it 'could' be 50% or 0%? But if so, why say anything at all)

[–] hanni@lemmy.one 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He can’t say it definitely because, even though the observational results are convincing, you’d want to produce biological/neurological evidence to be able to make the claim with certainty.

[–] jwt@programming.dev 2 points 1 year ago

Sure. Then imho if he can't say it definitively, he should not make the first claim (slipping in weasel words like 'could' and 'up to' serve as a lazy catch-all disclaimer in that case.)