Online health trends: fact versus fiction

According too a new report from the Pew Research Center, half of Americans under 50 are getting health information from social media influencers and podcasters, the majority of which are not health care professionals. Many describe themselves as coaches, entrepreneurs, or mothers. 

Of those looking to influencers for insights, nearly a fifth say the advice is very or extremely different from what they’ve been told by health care providers. Many say they struggle to tell what’s true and what’s not. 

So today, we’re talking about why people are turning to Instagram and TikTok for health advice and tackling some of the biggest online health and wellness trends: How much protein should you consume? What about creatine? And what the heck are “peptides” and “parasite cleanses?” From the wacky to the banal, we have two doctors in the house to help us sort fact from fiction. 

Guests: 

• Dr. Nyree Dardarian, board-certified specialist in sports dietetics, registered dietitian nutritionist, director of the Center for Nutrition & Performance, and assistant clinical professor at Drexel University.
• Dr. Jess Steier, public health expert, science communicator and founder of Unbiased Science where she creates content devoted to debunking health misinformation.