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Editorials |16 February 1999

Fat, Foreboding, and Flatulence

Howard M. Spiro, MD

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Author, Article, and Disclosure Information
  • Yale University; New Haven, CT 06520 (Spiro)
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In this issue, Sandler and colleagues (1) tell us that snacks of potato chips and their congeners made with olestra or vegetable oils caused inconsequential symptoms to study participants who ate them during a 6-week period. The participants were mostly “high consumers” who were selected because they had volunteered for other studies; in this one, they ate a median daily amount of more than 1 ounce of chips. Although men ate more chips at a time than women, women ate chips more often and thus consumed a greater total median amount.
Medical commentaries too often get bogged down with cabalistic statistics, but, heeding Aristotle, who suggested that the beginning of wisdom is knowing when not to measure, I will review the broad picture rather than statistical niceties. When this editorial was requested, conflict of interest was mentioned, which makes me confess that I am regarded as fat. I fight weakly against additional weight gain, so I welcome olestra-containing products as potential allies. After my one oral encounter with them, I did have some unwonted cramps and diarrhea, but I have not replicated that n-of-1 study.
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Spiro HM. Fat, Foreboding, and Flatulence. Ann Intern Med. ;130:320–322. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-130-4-199902160-00018

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Published: Ann Intern Med. 1999;130(4_Part_1):320-322.

DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-130-4-199902160-00018

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