Smashing Magazine: 16 Pixels: For Body Copy. Anything Less Is A Costly Mistake
‘There are some particular findings that are pivotal to issues such as readership and readability and comprehension, which is really what body copy is all about. If people won’t read it, or if they can’t read it or understand it, then what’s the point of having it?’
This may be worth looking into. I waffle on whether this sort of thing is ultimately a good decision — you're relying on someone else's framework, it takes a while to learn and master, and once you decide to go with it you're essentially stuck with it. But isn't that the case with any pseudo-framework developed for a website design? I should test this on a little project.