Appendix Vindicated (and more): Science Sensei 4

The microbes present are actually beneficial ones: They help the body digest food. And as surgery professors William Parker and R. Randal Bollinger reported in the Journal of Theoretical Biology, the appendix seems to serve as a "safe house" for these beneficial bacteria. For instance, if the body is overwhelmed by diarrhea, the beneficial microbes can hide out in the appendix until the intestinal distress is over, and then repopulate the rest of the gut.

Such a purpose is – to a certain extent – useless in modern society, where good medical care and sanitation typically prevent people from experiencing life-threatening diarrhea. Indeed, the researchers maintain that appendicitis cases should still be treated by removing the appendix. Their work was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

McHealthy?

In what amounts to a Jedi mind trick, restaurants that have a reputation for being healthy may be causing people to eat more unhealthy food than they intended.

Marketing and economics researchers Brian Wansink from Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab and Pierre Chandon of INSEAD conducted a series of four experiments.

First they surveyed people who had just finished eating at either McDonalds (reputation: unhealthy) and Subway (reputation: healthy) to estimate the number of calories contained in their meal, and then compared their estimates to the actual calorie content.

In experiment two, they asked people who had eaten at least three times at Subway and McDonald's in the previous year to estimate the number of calories contained in two Subway sandwiches and two McDonald's burgers – when the sandwiches from the different restaurants actually had the same amount of calories.

In the third experiment, half of the volunteers were given a coupon for a McDonald's sandwich, and the other half were given a coupon for a Subway 12-inch sandwich. They then gave the participants a menu that included a small, medium, or large fountain drink; a small, medium, or large diet fountain drink; and one or two chocolate chip cookies -- and asked if they wanted anything else with their order.

In the last experiment, they gave volunteers a typical fast-food menu, including a target sandwich and eight other food choices. Some people got a menu from a restaurant called "Good Karma Healthy Foods." That menu included healthy choices like "cream of carrot soup" and "organic hummus platter." Others got a menu from a restaurant called "Jim's Hearty Sandwiches." That menu included high-calorie foods such as "beef on a wick" or a "sausage sandwich." The menu provided a short description of the food, prices, and calorie content, except for one target food. The target food was described as "our famous classic Italian sandwich, with Genoa salami, pepperoni, and bologna." The volunteers were then given a 6-inch Italian bologna sandwich and a 20-ounce glass of Coca-Cola Classic. Some were told the sandwich was from "Good Karma Healthy Foods" while others were told it was from "Jim's Hearty Sandwiches." Volunteers were asked to estimate the number of calories in the meal or indicate their intention to order potato chips with this meal.

In general, the results of these experiments confirmed to the researchers that when a restaurant is perceived as being healthy (what they refer to as a "health halo") people tend to underestimate their caloric intake by up to 35 percent, and that they are more likely to order additional, unhealthy side dishes or drinks when eating in a "health halo" restaurant.

Ultimately the researchers, who received no outside funding, are trying "to explain a particular facet of the American obesity paradox — the simultaneous increase in obesity and in the popularity of healthier fast-food restaurants serving lower-calorie foods."