Goodfellas or Real Science?

So this morning Ginger posted a link over on Facebook and it’s been stressing me out ever since.  The guy is a scientist for Peet’s sake and he’s allegedly been using grant money to snow the public about the benefits of red wine – findings that he’s published in multiple medical journals – but apparently it’s all been a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

Great.  Here’s the article

The thought of some dude in a lab slicing up garlic & drinking red wine makes me think Das watched a little too much "Goodfellas".  What's next?  All helicopters really ARE following you?  Is this what my tax money pays for in this country?  And, hey, where’s my chance to do that study, huh?

Hell, I’ll eat garlic & drink red wine every single day and hire a couple interns to come hang out with me while I do it if the Government is going to subsidize it.  Actually, nah, never mind.  I think I’d rather if they let me publish works about sitting around with my friends and smoking a whole bunch of pot then eating a bag of Doritos.  My study will be on if that kind of behavior is causing any benefit to the mind.  Sounds amazing don’t you think?

I already started the research years ago and I can safely say that back then I sure felt a lot less stressed out, much happier and lighter in body.  Can I get my grant now?  Isn’t that how it works or do I have to write some long philosophical dissertation on why the G.O.V. should start sending me pot so I can resume the research?  Guess Das was a pretty fantastic Writer.  Perhaps he should be a hero, not someone I'm upset with.

Yeah, I know.

You all know I have a tongue in cheek on one side but I am completely tongue free on the other, right?  The thing that really bothers me about these kinds of articles truthfully is that it brings a person down, man.  I mean here we are with a whole slew of people believing that a glass of red wine & a little garlic everyday have great benefit to their heart.  They feel lighter in mind, body and spirit knowing they’re doing something great.

Then kerblammy!  Suddenly it’s like ‘yeah, sorry about that, we kinda fucked that one up giving our money to that guy to study that stuff, we’re pretty sure he took off for Italy on our dime’ or something equally out of control as that.  Because no matter how you look at it the guy did get money, spend money & publish what is now being called into question.  Sigh.  Then we question everything and it makes us sad because there’s no way to know the real truth.

Well I say to hell with it.  To hell with them saying that maybe garlic & red wine aren’t as fundamentally amazing as they said they were before.  I’m going with my own evidence on this one and here’s what I know to be true for me:

1.      Red wine is delicious.

2.      Garlic is delicious.

So I’m going to continue to eat and drink and enjoy the laughter with friends and family while I do.  Laughter and lightness really are just overall good for our heart…our mind, and our soul.  So at least there’s that.