Six popular claims, checked against the trials
Green tea, seed oils, nightshades, leaky gut, the Nordic diet, the seven-day reset. Two were tested properly and did nothing. None of the six holds up as stated.
The first six of the twenty-six claims in chapter 3, each graded and each with the source that settles it. Two were tested properly and did nothing. Four rest on weak, contradicted or no controlled evidence.
- Moderate evidence · tested: no effect
“The Nordic diet is anti-inflammatory”
Almost the same foods as the Mediterranean pattern. No effect on CRP, IL-6 or TNF-α at moderate certainty · PMID 40657695, 39364652
- Moderate evidence · tested: no effect
“Green tea reduces inflammation”
38 randomised trials: every oxidative stress marker improved, CRP moved +0.01 mg/L · PMID 40160899
- DVery weak or untested
“Seed oils drive inflammation”
The trial that separated the two families found omega-6 lowered IL-1β more than omega-3 · PMID 42163966, 41568426
- DVery weak or untested
“Nightshades trigger joint inflammation”
No human trial, review or meta-analysis testing removal exists in either direction · searched 2026-09-02
- DVery weak or untested
“Leaky gut causes systemic inflammation”
Permeability is real in diagnosed disease; the commercial zonulin test was shown not to detect the molecule it names · DOI 10.3389/fendo.2018.00022
- DVery weak or untested
“Lower inflammation in 7 days”
Untested, and structurally impossible to test at that length: one night of short sleep moves no marker · PMID 40474574
The full write-up of these six — what each claim gets right, why it was reasonable to believe, and where it breaks — is free to read.