There is a frightening amount of conflicting health information on the internet.
When you scroll through your Instagram feed, it doesn’t take long to find the wild and sometimes dangerous opinions of non-experts among common quote posts about embracing imperfections and pictures from your best friend’s Caribbean vacation.
What will you read today? Are oats bad for you? Or do you think the best way to start your day is with a glass of warm lemon water?
We’ve become so used to turning to the internet for health advice that data from the Statista Research Department shows that 60 per cent of people in the UK use the internet for this very reason; figuring out what is real and true (and what isn’t). It has become incredibly difficult.
This is where Dr Idrees Mughal (aka Dr Idz) comes into play. Dr. has 8 million followers on TikTok and another 295,000 followers on Instagram. Idz is a medical doctor trained in the United Kingdom with an additional master’s degree in Nutrition Research. We’re on a mission to correct medical misinformation on social media by providing medically sound, evidence-based advice.
We caught up with Dr Idz ahead of the publication of his first book. Saturated Factsto find out his motivation behind becoming a ‘social media doctor’ and how he plans to debunk the common health claims we see floating around the internet time and time again.
speaking here When It’s about the desire to debunk myth, inform and educate, and help the public make more informed nutrition decisions.
WH: Why do you think many of us find it so difficult to find nutrition and diet advice?
Dr. There is a wealth of nutritional information available from a variety of sources including the internet, social media, books and ‘experts’. This information often contains conflicting advice; One source may promote a particular diet or food as beneficial, while another source may find it harmful. Additionally, dietary recommendations are often generalized; Individual differences in metabolism, genetics, health status, activity levels and personal preferences are not taken into account. This can make it difficult for people to find advice that is personally relevant to them. Scientific studies that are now easily accessible to most people can be complex and their findings often subtle. These findings can be oversimplified or misinterpreted when reported on social media or in headlines, leading to misleading advice.
Nutrition is a complex field that involves understanding how various nutrients and dietary patterns affect body functions. It can be difficult to translate this complexity into easily digestible advice without losing nuance, but it’s something I try hard to achieve in my book. Saturated Facts.
WH: Why did you decide to use social media to challenge health myths?
Dr. In the middle of the Covid lockdown in the UK in January 2021, my doctor colleagues told me about this new platform called TikTok. Since I couldn’t continue to offer nutrition and exercise advice to clients in person, they said why not go to TikTok and offer that advice there. Within a day of downloading TikTok and surfing the internet, I became acutely aware of how much garbage health advice there is out there online. The first viral video I came across was ‘HOW TO LOSE 10 POUNDS IN 2 WEEKS!’ was. It was a woman dressed in her latest gym clothes, displaying cucumber, mint and lemon juice. The scary thing was that the video was watched 10 million times and thousands of comments said they would try it… This was the turning point. That’s when I realized I had to do something.
WH: What’s the most common diet myth that you constantly debunk?
Dr. There are a few diet myths that I find myself constantly debunking. The idea that ‘seed and vegetable oils are poisonous for you’ or ‘artificial sweeteners are bad for you’. There is a worrying increase in people advocating a purely carnivorous diet and the idea that ‘spikes in blood sugar cause type 2 diabetes and inflammation’. I provide a detailed refutation of all of these and more Saturated Facts.
The common misconception shared by the perpetrators of all these myths is the idea that “What is natural is good, everything artificial is bad for you.” This logic can be easily refuted with a few short examples. Arsenic is naturally found in many foods such as seafood, rice, mushrooms and poultry. Is this a good thing for you? What about heavy metals? They are also natural. Just because something is ‘natural’ doesn’t make it healthy, and just because something isn’t found in nature doesn’t make it harmful or bad. To evaluate whether something promotes health, we need to look at the evidence objectively. For example, whey protein powders, iodized salt and vitamin D tablets are things you cannot find in nature, but they are definitely beneficial for you.
WH: What’s the one thing you want everyone to know about the connection between our diet and inflammation?
Dr. ‘This ONE food causes inflammation!’ You’ll find 100,000s of videos saying things like. or ‘Avoid these three foods because they are responsible for your chronic inflammatory disease!’ The one thing people need to understand is that your diet’s impact on inflammation needs to be viewed through the lens of the entire dietary pattern. That is, the amount, total and proportions of all the foods you consume. This is how you can evaluate whether your diet increases bodily inflammation. A person who consumes a minimally processed diet with plenty of whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables will not have the increased inflammatory markers that come from a meal of fried chicken and soda. The tool we used in the study to assess how diet affects inflammation is called the Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII), which I will go into detail here. Saturated Facts on what constitutes an anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory diet.
WH: What’s your best strategy for losing (and keeping off) body fat?
Dr. Losing weight or losing body fat is a complex and often difficult process. That’s why I devote an entire chapter to this in my book, but one useful strategy that I think is underutilized is the idea of self-monitoring. Having some metrics you can hold yourself accountable to in the early stages of your weight loss journey. Whether this is keeping a food diary, taking body measurements (e.g. waist circumference or limb measurements), using calorie tracking apps, or taking daily body weight measurements. For example, keeping a food diary can make it easier to identify which areas you need to improve. Do you consume too many sugary drinks? Not eating enough low-calorie fruits and vegetables? Are you consuming too much oil or sauce? Taking note of your current habits can be extremely insightful and helpful when starting any weight loss journey.
Who: How important is meal time?
Dr. This is a complicated topic, but I will say that meal timing is more important than we think. The field of chrono-nutrition is fascinating, and we are slowly beginning to understand both the direct and indirect effects of timing your meals. For example, evidence shows that consuming the majority of your calories early in the day can benefit blood sugar regulation, sleep quality, overall daily movement, energy levels, concentration and productivity, weight loss efforts, and more. This is especially important in today’s healthcare environment, as the majority of people consume their largest meals in the evening.
Who: What advice do you have about questioning what we see and read on social media?
Dr. With the rise of social media, countless ‘health influencers’ have taken to online platforms to promote unscientific products and promise magical solutions to all kinds of health problems. That’s why I love it when my audience develops their ‘nonsense radar’. These include several quick-to-apply filters that will help you detect 95% of litter health advice online.
4 ways to spot health misinformation online
1) They blame a single food or habit for the increase in chronic diseases we see today, often citing ingredients like seed oils or sugar
This shows that they lack nuance and do not understand that chronic diseases are caused by multiple biological, environmental and psychological factors. No single food or habit can be responsible for a chronic disease.
2) They use absolutes when making statements (e.g.: ‘These are the worst foods for your gut’)
While it largely depends on the individual, there is no such thing as a ‘worst food’ for everyone. There are no absolutes in health and nutrition science. Peanuts may be the ‘worst food’ to consume for someone with a peanut allergy, but for someone else they can be extremely beneficial to their health. It’s typically a red flag when someone makes absolutist statements like this.
3) They imply that their information is based on research without specifying the research in question
We need to get more comfortable asking creators for evidence. ‘What is asserted without evidence can be rejected without evidence’. If they can’t provide evidence, you can ignore it. This will save you a lot of time and stress trying to figure out whether a recommendation is legitimate or not.
4) They force you to distrust modern medicine by selling you a range of unregulated and untested nutritional supplements
Finally, people who are against Western medicine but have no problem selling you untested supplements are outright charlatans. The truth is, without modern medicine, many of these fear mongers would not be alive today. I’m all for promoting positive lifestyle and dietary change as primary intervention, but implying that modern medical interventions are not helpful or designed to ‘keep you sick’ immediately tells you they have no idea what they’re talking about. about.
Dr Idrees Mughal (Dr Idz) Saturated Facts Published by Penguin on March 14, 2024.
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