Disinformation is nothing new, but we live in an age where if you have a ring light, a camera phone, and a social media profile, you can film and promote information to the masses that can range from being partially true to pure lies. For an audience that considers an hour of scrolling through Instagram Reels “scientific observation,” it’s easy for influencers to take control of your intelligence and make you believe in their snake oil, all in seconds.

Although social media has some fantastic educators who relentlessly fight the spread of misinformation, sometimes our emotional connection to a particular myth can prevent us from hearing and believing counterarguments. We are too emotionally invested in what we believe to be true to hear the truth.

Today, I am fighting two battles for those who are willing to listen. The first is that adding weight loss foods to your diet can help you lose weight, and the second is that detoxes are necessary and integral as part of a weight loss or wellness plan. Before you dive in, it’s worth checking and asking yourself: what do you think is true about these myths, and what evidence do you have to go on?

The narrative of foods to lose weight

Every day, nutrition companies release new products in their weight loss ranges, spanning multiple snack categories including protein-rich “weight loss” bars, cookies, biscuits, and “slim teas.” Do you need them if you’re trying to lose a few pounds?

Weight gain works like this: If you regularly eat more calories than your body uses during the day, your body will store the excess calories as fat over time. As humans, we do this quite well, and we currently live in a global obesity epidemic, with recent 2016 figures reported by the WHO as 1.9 billion people worldwide living with tremendous excess weight on their shoulders. bodies.

The simple answer (too simple, if you ask me) is to encourage people to “eat less and move more,” which is great advice in theory. However, most people don’t know how to reduce their usual snacks or portion sizes, and often feel powerless over food. Enter name-brand foods that tell you you can eat “guilt-free.” The size of the global weight loss foods market is around $192.2 billion, and is projected to reach $295 billion by 2027, according to 2019 figures from Allied Market Research. Interestingly, this industry is expected to grow in China and India due to the improved revenue and growth of the fitness industries in both countries.

Now, having extra weight on your body is not always a problem for your health, but it can lead to illness, decrease mobility, increase aches and pains, or affect your body vision and affect your confidence. Food marketers know this, sometimes creating dramatic or unrealistic claims that support the aspiration to lose weight. In the age of social media, these companies turn to influencers to advertise their products. This feels more realistic than watching a celebrity endorse a brand on TV, as we’ve developed enough media literacy over the decades to understand that a celebrity has been paid to say nice things about the product.

The dangerous thing about social media influencers is that they are portrayed as “regular people” and are more likely to be trusted than traditional advertising. A 2022 YouGov UK report found that 62% of social media users trust influencers more than celebrities.

As a consumer, it’s your job to filter through this deluge of information while keeping an open mind. Certain things stand out: a false weight loss promise promises that consuming your product will help you lose weight without dieting or exercising, that weight loss is permanent, that your product works for everyone, or that you can lose “30 pounds in 30 days “.

Unfortunately, you need to understand that no product, pill, powder or food listed as a weight loss food can help you lose weight; if weight loss occurs, it will not be permanent. Why that? Imagine replacing “weight loss food” with “broccoli”. Eating more broccoli won’t make you lose weight if you’re still consuming all the other highly processed, high-calorie foods littering your pantry. And if broccoli can’t do that, foods marketed for their weight-loss properties won’t either.

Dr. John Berardi, founder of Precision Nutrition, advises, “Don’t mow the lawn when your house is on fire,” which means don’t worry about things like weight-loss foods or fat-burning foods if your overall diet it does not lead to positive health results or weight loss. Instead, worry about whether you’re consuming adequate amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables, lean cuts of meat, complex carbohydrates, and heart-healthy essential fats.

Do I need to detox?

Detoxing is another area of ​​wellness that has been aggressively mythologized on social media. Clients who detox have told me they do it to feel lighter, have more energy and lose weight, all of which sound great, but the results are short-lived. Many companies sell detox products, and people indulge in detox juices, cleanses, enemas, and the like, without stepping back to ask some fundamental questions.

What are you detoxing for, exactly? What are the toxins in your body that need to get out? Is there evidence-based, science-backed research showing that your chosen form of detox actually rids you of these toxins? How long does the effect last, what is the prescribed dose/frequency of the detox, and do you have any follow-up tests or procedures to see if you have been successful (these are just some of the questions I have).

In truth, we have a liver and kidneys that do our detoxification for us; however, if your reason for detoxing is to “give them a break” from processed food, junk food, or alcohol, you need to ask yourself what you are doing the other 360 days of the year (remember: don’t mow the lawn when your house is on fire). .)

The only real detoxes that are clinically proven are medically supervised ones for drug and alcohol addictions, not nacho bingeing on a Saturday night. As Dr. Carola Collins, MD, a family medicine doctor in Toronto, Canada, says: “Detoxes and cleanses don’t make any physiological sense at all. Those who sell these products do so at financial gain for themselves and with potentially serious health consequences for those who fall victim to their claims. The organs of the body do not “need a rest.” If they ‘take a break,’ it’s called organ failure and that’s life-threatening.”