Musings on the New Year

January. A time of reinvention, of crowded gyms, streets filled with joggers and smoothies that taste “all right”, but only because it’s better than yesterdays.

I touched on the health craze that annually sweeps the nation this time of year briefly in my last article, but I wanted to go into a bit more depth this week in light of a pair of articles my colleague very kindly pointed out to me.

These articles are from the NHS Choices website, which I heartily recommend as a goldmine of good and grounded information on all manner of topics. Find it here.

I despair at what comes at the turn of each year. My twitter feed is inundated with various celebrities and public figures all promising to be better people and eat less junk food  My Facebook wall is similarly burdened with old schoolmates swearing off Alcohol/Cigarettes/McDonalds (other fast food chains are available)* only for me to see them outside the pub later that week with a cigarette in one hand and a pint in the other.

This rant is not aimed at making people feel bad about their New Years Resolutions, and if you are taking part in the Dry January challenge, or quitting smoking, and used the New year as a starting point then well done, and I believe you are more than capable of doing it. Remember, if you need help, there are organizations set up to help you quit smoking and reduce alcohol intake.  And you can always help others while doing it! https://registration.dryjanuary.org.uk/

What I want to express though, and the point of the article, is that there are a myriad of schemes, plans, mantras and “diets” that are based in dodgy science at best. The article my aforementioned colleague showed me was penned by Dr  Alicia White, who shared the same concerns as me.

She was concerned that most people do not know how to properly assess the legitimacy of a particular piece of text, be it a research paper or newspaper article.

The problem we face these days is oversaturation of the news. You can’t possibly read every piece of news that meanders its way through over your breakfast table, there simply isn’t time.  Just as you are unlikely to research into the minutiae of every diet you consider. Many people pick one based on a celebrity who lost a bunch of weight, or a “Superfood” like flavour of 2013, the blueberry.

The article I refer to explains this in a much more concise and enjoyable fashion than I will here, so the link is right here: http://www.nhs.uk/news/Pages/Howtoreadarticlesabouthealthandhealthcare.aspx.

Please give it a read, it’s well written and convincing, and provides invaluable information about several extremely relevant topics.

I’d also like to qualify this article by mentioning that by no means should you write off all diets and healthy living plans. As an example, I have been adhering to the 5:2 diet mentioned in the article above. A “fad” diet by definition, it suggests you reduce your calorific intake on two of every seven days to around 500 calories. Remember, I am not advertising this diet, but I would like to mention that I went into it with eyes open, and sceptical myself, which I believe is key to anything run by a for profit organisation. I did my research and found the scientific basis to it sufficiently convincing that I was prepared to try it. I was helped by my Dad’s success at it, and have been using what is effectively an altered eating plan for around 9 months. I’ve lost 3 stone now, and feel good. However, rather than risk this turning into a Weightwatchers Testimonial, I acknowledge that a good part of this weight loss is down to me starting to exercise more, drinking  less beer after leaving Uni, and that willpower isn’t just the force that Prince Charles' son can exert.

Why is this all relevant on a library blog? Well, for one thing, I wanted to write an article about this, and saw my chance when Helen the aforementioned colleague showed me the relevant source material. The other reason is that as a library, our job is to make knowledge more accessible. However, there is a lot of knowledge out there, and we can’t sift through the whole lot to ensure it is all pertinent and trustworthy for each individual. The referred to article lets you critique what you are reading for yourself.

 Knowledge is power, and we want to empower you.

 

Sorry for the slightly more serious article this week, but some topics don’t lend themselves to wanton tomfoolery. We’ll be back to more fun and frolics next week!

*Oh wait, I don’t work for the BBC…