Can I Trust Nutrition Advice Online?
Everyone's an expert on their own body, however not everyone is an expert in giving nutrition or health advice. Unfortunately many people are starting to undermine science-based evidence, leading to a reduction of trust in qualified professionals. If we only trust university-trained accountants to help with our finances, why do we trust unqualified influencers with our health and nutrition advice? In many cases, providing incorrect nutrition advice (especially to those with chronic illness’) can be detrimental, not only to someone’s physical, but also mental health.
Who should we listen to for nutrition advice?
Just because someone has a muscular physique or believes they should be drinking apple cider vinegar everyday, does not make them an expert in nutrition and the human body. As trained professionals Accredited Practicing Dietitians have a very deep understanding of the human body, biology, food chemistry and how these all work together. Completing a four-week nutrition course online or listening to a health and nutrition podcast lacks the level of understanding required to provide an unbiased opinion and evidenced based recommendations for another persons health and nutrition.
Unfortunately here in Australia, the term “nutritionist” is unregulated and anyone can begin blogging or posting about food and nutrition using this title. This increases confusion and crowds our feeds with nutrition nonsense. Don’t worry though, keep reading to know what to look out for in separating the nonsense from legitimate nutrition information online.
How to identify nutrition nonsense online:
Check their qualifications.
In Australia you want to look for an Accredited Practising Dietitian or a Nutritionist who has gone to university (e.g. Bachelor of Nutrition Science, Bachelor of science majoring in human nutrition). Little tip, if they haven’t posted their qualifications, it is likely they don't have any (or anything related to nutrition).
Look out for those buzz words.
More often than not, those without nutrition qualifications will promote products, transformations or miracles. Watch out for these concepts or keywords such as detox, clean eating, cure, transformation ect before taking advice from anyone.
Are they benefiting from telling you that information?
Do they even know what they are promoting or is it coming from a script? How to tell; many people list health benefits without going into any scientific detail about that product and the human body. Perhaps it is because they don’t know themselves.
Are they selling something?
Now this can be a tricky one, because many nutrition professionals promote products and brands that they truly believe in. Think about the actual product they are selling. Is it a vitamin, fat-reducing tea, or something designed to make you “lose weight fast”? Or is it a genuine food that is easily accessible, inexpensive and is used by many people, e.g. fresh fruit/vegetables and whole grains etc? You will not find many qualified professionals promoting magic pills and powders.
If you are feeling overwhelmed with the abundance of misinformation and struggling with your eating habits, get in touch and book an individual consultation today.
