Ten social media health fads debunked
And how to make sure you never fall for misinformation.
Intro
Although much of today's health and wellness discussion takes place on social media, I’ve felt a growing urge to distance myself from it. We’ve reached a point where misinformation is so rampant that it feels safe to assume 90% of what you see is inaccurate. The first issue is that everyone claims to be an expert. With countless fabricated credentials, it's easy to be misled by “longevity experts,” “brain health coaches,” “holistic coaches,” and the like.
I don’t believe you need to be a physician or hold a PhD to be knowledgeable about health—I only have a nutrition certification. But I’ve been studying health for over a decade and have developed a rigorous framework for how and why I share information. This brings me to the second issue: social media is flooded with opinions, preferences, and, at best, anecdotes. I may not be a scholar, but I’ve learned how to use evidence to inform my views. There’s a significant difference between personal opinion, an article in the New York Times, an observational study with 10 participants, and a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Until more people can at least distinguish between these, I would refrain from taking their advice.
As much as I’ve preferred not to engage on social media, it’s been impossible to ignore the latest claims and “trends” that flood every other Instagram reel or TikTok video. Since my mission is to help people become healthier by making evidence-backed information more digestible, I’ve chosen a few of these health fads to address. For each, I’ll provide a straightforward paragraph that summarizes the evidence to easily dismantle the false claims. At the end of this post, I’ll also share a couple of tools that can help you verify any health claim in just a few minutes.
1. “Due to non-toxic living, I have the fertility of a 20-year-old at 35.”
If you’ve read my series on fertility, you know that the one absolute certainty we have about female fertility is that it declines with age. We are born with all the eggs we will ever have—approximately 1-2 million. By age 30, we’re left with around 120,000 eggs, and by 51, women have fewer than 1,000 eggs remaining in their ovaries. We also know that egg quality is just as important for fertility as egg quantity. Smoking, alcohol, and exposure to chemicals that disrupt endocrine function negatively impact egg quality. However, since no test can measure egg quality, there is no reliable way to gauge a woman’s fertility from an egg-quality standpoint other than her ability to conceive. So, if fertility declines with age for all of us, and there is no test to measure egg quality, the claim that someone has “better fertility” in their 30s compared to someone in their 20s is completely false.
2. A toxin-free lifestyle is better for health.
Speaking of toxins, you might have seen wellness influencers promote “clean beauty”, “non-toxic” cookware and all sorts of products meant to stave off everything from hormonal imbalances to cancer. Environmental toxins can significantly impact human health, but there is limited scientific evidence supporting health benefits from using "clean" beauty products or “clean” cookware. However, endocrine disruptors from plastics and pesticides do affect hormone health. Heavy metals and industrial chemicals that contaminate drinking water, food sources, and the air we breathe have been linked to decreased fertility in both men and women. To mitigate these risks, here’s what to focus on: drink the cleanest water you can, use air purifier to improve air quality, consume organic produce if you can afford it, don’t eat and drink from plastic, don’t smoke and reduce alcohol consumption.
3. EMFs are bad for health.
The health effects of electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have been a subject of ongoing research and debate, but there is limited evidence to conclusively support that EMFs are detrimental for human health. EMFs in a household primarily come from electrical appliances, wiring, electronic devices, and wireless technologies like Wi-Fi routers and cell phones. Some studies have suggested possible links between EMF exposure and:
Childhood leukemia (for extremely low frequency EMFs)
Cognitive effects similar to Alzheimer's disease (in animal studies)
Symptoms like headaches, sleep disturbances, and fatigue
However, many of these findings are inconclusive or require further research to confirm. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that current scientific evidence does not confirm the existence of any health consequences from exposure to low-level electromagnetic fields.
4. Cortisol gives you a “puffy face”.
High cortisol levels are associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome. However, it’s not cortisol itself that directly causes weight gain, but rather the stress-induced consumption of high-fat and high-sugar foods that leads to a caloric surplus. Elevated cortisol can increase appetite, raise blood sugar and insulin levels, and slow down metabolism. When it comes to fat distribution, chronically elevated cortisol is linked to increased abdominal and visceral fat accumulation, rather than facial changes. One of the few instances where cortisol and facial swelling are interconnected is in Cushing syndrome. Unless you suffer from Cushing, a puffy face is more likely related to water retention from processed foods or alcohol, lack of sleep, allergies, or thyroid problems.
5. Seed oils are bad for health.
Currently, there is limited scientific evidence to support claims that seed oils are inherently bad for health. A randomized controlled trial found no significant differences in cardiovascular health markers between groups consuming rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, or a control diet over 12 weeks. High consumption of omega-6 fatty acids may contribute to inflammation and oxidative stress, but moderate intake of seed oils appears to be safe and potentially beneficial when balanced with omega-3 fatty acids. However, many health concerns associated with seed oils are likely due to their presence in processed foods, which have other unhealthy components. If you want to minimize consumption of “unhealthy oils”, avoid deep-fryers in restaurants where the oil isn’t changed often, and processed foods which are high in refined carbohydrates, sugar and sodium, along with seed oils.
6. Hormonal birth control is carcinogenic.
In recent years, I’ve noticed a trend encouraging women to avoid hormonal birth control (oral contraceptives) for various reasons, often aligned with the “non-toxic” lifestyle movement described above. While I strongly advocate for women to be fully informed and make empowered decisions about their bodies, it’s important to clarify the link between hormonal birth control and cancer risks. As of 2024, The National Cancer Institute clearly states that “nearly all the research on the link between oral contraceptives and cancer risk comes from observational studies which cannot definitively establish that an exposure—in this case, oral contraceptives—causes (or prevents) cancer.”
Some studies show a slight increased risk (20-30%) of breast cancer with COC use, particularly for current or recent users. This increased risk appears to be temporary and declines after stopping use. The absolute increase in breast cancer risk is very small, especially for younger women.
There is a slightly increased risk of cervical cancer with COC use, especially with long-term use (over 5 years). This risk declines after stopping use and returns to normal within 10 years.
When it comes to ovarian, endometrial and colorectal cancer, COC use is associated with a significant reduction in risk for these types of cancers. This protective effect can last for decades after stopping use. The risk reduction is estimated to be about 50% for ovarian cancer, 30% for endometrial cancer, and 15-20% and for colorectal cancer.
In conclusion, while hormonal contraceptives may slightly increase the risk of certain cancers (breast, cervical), they also provide significant protective effects against others (ovarian, endometrial). The overall cancer risk does not appear to be significantly altered. The decision to use hormonal contraceptives should be made on an individual basis, considering personal and family health history.
7. Women need more sleep than men.
Throughout their lives, women face a higher risk of developing insomnia. Hormonal factors, including menstrual cycles, pregnancy, and menopause, can significantly impact women's sleep. Women also show a more pronounced response to sleep deprivation, with divergent consequences for multiple physiological systems compared to men. But even though women’s sleep architecture differs, at a biological level, there is no evidence to show that women need more sleep than men.
8. All plants have amino acids.
This claim is often made by people who eat a plant-based diet and want to prove that you don’t need to consume animal protein in order to get the necessary amino acids for healthy nutrition. While it is true that all plants contain amino acids, not all plant proteins are considered "complete proteins." Some plant sources like quinoa, soy, and buckwheat are complete proteins, however, the main difference between plant and animal proteins is often the balance or proportion of amino acids, not their presence or absence. For example, you would need to eat three cups of quinoa to get the same amount of protein and amino acids as three ounces of chicken (about 30 grams of protein). But the three cups of quinoa also come with over 100 grams of carbs and 650 calories, versus 0 carbs and 140 calories from chicken.
9. HIIT is bad because it raises cortisol.
As with many of the previous claims, this one also tends to hurt women the most. If we look at the scientific literature, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) has, in fact, shown many positive effects for women's health. Studies indicate that HIIT can significantly improve cardiorespiratory fitness in women across different age groups, effectively reduce body weight, total fat mass, and abdominal fat mass in both pre- and postmenopausal women. In overweight young women, HIIT has demonstrated superior results compared to moderate-intensity continuous training in improving body composition, cardiac function, and aerobic capacity. Women naturally have more oxidative (Type 1) muscle fibers, greater fatigue-resistant muscles, and a higher reliance on fat metabolism compared to men, which make them perfect candidates for HIIT workouts.
Acute stress is a short-term response to immediate challenges or threats, while chronic stress is a prolonged state of stress that persists over an extended period due to ongoing pressures or unresolved issues. HIIT does increase cortisol acutely, but regular exercise leads to reduced baseline cortisol levels and improved stress resilience which means everybody - women and men alike will see numerous health and longevity benefits from high intensity training.
10. The carnivore diet is good for hormone health.
I’ve come across social media accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers claiming that a carnivore diet has helped with “hormone balance” and irregular periods. First, the term “hormone balance” is often thrown around, but it’s a vague concept that can mean different things to different people at various stages of their lives. There are two main ways in which a carnivore diet might support healthy hormonal function: it’s high in fat, which is an essential building block for hormone production. If someone hasn’t been consuming enough fats, it can negatively impact multiple endocrine functions. The other mechanism is the reduction in carbohydrate intake. Lower carb consumption can reduce insulin levels, which may help with conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) by lowering both insulin and testosterone levels.
However, these benefits can also be achieved by simply consuming an appropriate amount of healthy fats and reducing carbohydrate intake—without the need for a carnivore diet. The danger of this diet lies in the complete removal of fiber, which can have a detrimental effect on the gut microbiome and, consequently, on hormone health. The estrogen-gut microbiome axis has implications for multiple aspects of women's health, including obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive function.
Tools to help you verify health information
As promised at the start, I’d like to offer a few simple ways to help you navigate the health and wellness misinformation you’re likely to encounter. First, always check an expert’s credentials and methodology. A large following doesn’t equate to being qualified to offer advice, and if their guidance is based solely on opinions or personal anecdotes, it’s wise to question it. Second, for any claim that an intervention—whether it’s related to nutrition, exercise, supplements, or something else—affects health, you can consult the scientific literature to see if there’s evidence supporting it.
I understand that spending hours reading research papers isn’t most people’s idea of fun, which is where tools like Elicit and Consensus come in handy. These AI-powered search engines draw from hundreds of millions of academic research papers across all disciplines, making it incredibly easy to find research-backed answers to your questions while also highlighting the underlying scientific knowledge and sources. Personally, I’m so excited to be living in a time when technology makes complex information more accessible and easier to understand.