GLP Podcast/Video: Taking cannabis will not improve your training. Predatory science journals attack GMOs. Will eating insects become compulsory?

CDoes consuming marijuana make your training more effective? According to recent research, probably not. Four scientific publications cover a wide range of anti-biotechnology, anti-chemistry research and commentary found in the headlines. Is Bill Gates trying to force everyone to eat insects instead of meat?

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In episode 252 of Science Facts and Fallacies, host Dr. Lisa Dunn and GLP contributor Cameron English break down the latest news stories.

Some people say that using cannabis before exercise reduces pain, makes you feel better, and increases the effectiveness of your workout. But does the drug actually enhance the effects of exercise? A team of researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder tested that claim. They asked 42 recreational cannabis users to report how they felt while taking CBD or THC, a chemical found naturally in cannabis, and running on a treadmill for 30 minutes. This result will likely disappoint weed enthusiasts.

Many of the claims used to attack crop biotechnology and pesticides originate from one of four scientific publications. Although these outlets have all the academic trappings of academic journals, they are actually predatory websites that publish almost any research or opinion piece for an author to pay for. This pay-for-play arrangement, as it is known, provides activists with a platform to amplify unscientific claims to an unsuspecting public. What can be done to quell this harmful effect?

The internet is full of claims that Bill Gates and other billionaires are colluding to force ordinary people to eat insects instead of meat. Some reporters and fact-checkers have refuted these allegations, labeling them as conspiracy theories promoted by right-wing political commentators. Look at the evidence and try to resolve the dispute. Is the mandatory bug eating a fiction inspired by Alex Jones, or is there actually some truth to it?

Dr. Riza Dunn is a medical toxicologist and medical affairs director at Bayer Crop Science. Follow her on X @DrLizaMD

Cameron J. English is Director of the Biological Sciences Division at the National Council on Science and Health.Visit his website and follow him at X @camjenglish