Let's say you're trying to lose 20 pounds or boost your immunity or increase your ability to fight COVID or even cancer.

Well, the amazing thing is with the right diet, you are well in your way to achieving these vital health goals.

Welcome to the NutritionFacts Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Greger.

It's time for the NutritionFacts Grab Bag where we look at the latest science on a whole variety of topics.

And our first story will look at the dangerous effects of heavy metal music.

If you search for heavy metal in the National Library of Medicine database, most of what you find is on heavy metal contamination.

In fish, for example, making it so hard to clearly establish the role of fish in a healthy diet, perhaps helping to explain the quintupling of odds of autoimmune diseases like juvenile arthritis, for instance.

But searching the hazards of heavy metal also pops up entries on the risks from heavy metal music.

Here they were talking about traumatic injuries from slamming around, but you're more likely to get injured in alternative rock concert.

It's the Goo Goo Dolls. You got to worry about not nine inch nails.

Okay, sure. Music-induced hearing loss is a serious problem, but that can be from any loud music.

It's interesting. Clinical recommendations include the 80-90 rule.

No more than 80% of the maximum volume on personal listening devices for no more than 90 minutes a day.

But that's not what the science shows. Do not exceed 60% of the maximum volume, maybe more evidence-based, but they figure teens would just ignore that so they came up with a more acceptable advice.

I assumed I'd see a lot of satanic panic nonsense from the 80s where parents bereaved by suicides started suing heavy metal musicians.

What kind of evidence did the parents present? There's been little scholarly research until this study that proceeded to try to correlate the number of statewide heavy metal magazine subscriptions to youth suicide rates.

Oh, you got to be kidding. When researchers called psychiatric institutions pretending to be parents worried because their sons started listening to that heavy metal music, even though they made it clear.

That their son didn't exhibit any symptoms of mental illness, no drugs, no alcohol, and was doing fine at school.

Ten of the twelve facilities believed the son required psychiatric hospitalization.

Imagine what that would do to a kid. Turns out if you actually come back a few decades later, metalheads were significantly happier in their youth and appear better psychologically adjusted than their peers.

Some studies were just strange to Parkinson's patients walk better listening to yellow submarine or master of puppets.

Other studies were just like duh, heavy metal musicians exhibit a higher heart rate than those performing contemporary Christian.

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