When social media influencers and wellness gurus say “jump,” the world tends to say “how high?” but when it comes to your health, professionals warn that we should start being far more cynical.
According to a new report from the ABC, “social media darlings” are putting people’s lives at risk by promoting superfoods, wellness advice and alternative medicine on Instagram.
“They are not health. They are not even close to being indicators of what health is,” heart surgeon Dr. Nikki Stamp told ABC. “We look at the number of people joining gyms, wearing sneakers or even buying diet books and say, ‘we have to be getting healthier.’”
“Except of course, these statistics are all an illusion.”
In her new book Pretty Unhealthy, Dr. Stamp “sifts through the science and the sales pitches to work out why we equate beauty with health, why social media can hurt and help our mental and physical health and what we can do about it.”
Dr. Stamp was inspired the write the book by her own discussions with patients who associated looks with health. “Instagram is such a thing around this issue, isn’t it? It is actually not great for us to be motivated by appearance concerns,” she said. “It does tend to lead to health behaviours which aren’t actually healthy.”
Just look at all the Kardashians. The reality TV family continues to spruik various skinny teas and weight loss supplements via their social media pages despite these kinds of posts being labelled “irresponsible and unsafe” by the NHS.
Apparently, panaceas being touted on Instagram are even causing patients to forgo lifesaving cancer treatments. “In some cases, popular bloggers have risked lives by stating that they can cure cancer, leading to growing numbers of people completely shunning conventional, proven treatment,” Dr. Stamp told the ABC.
Have we learned nothing from the Belle Gibson saga of 2015?
ICYMI, Belle Gibson was a famous wellness guru and author of The Whole Pantry who falsely claimed to have cured a variety of her personal cancers through dietary changes, natural remedies and alternative medicine.
Through The Whole Pantry and various social media posts, Gibson promoted controversial and potentially dangerous alternative medical practices including Gerson therapy, anti-vaccination and unpasteurised raw milk.
In 2015, it came out that not only did Gibson fabricate her stories of cancer, but had lied about her age, personal life and history. She also claimed to have donated the proceeds from sales of The Whole Pantry app to various charities, but the organisation she listed never saw a dime.
Belle Gibson’s behaviour was described by “particularly predatory,” and it’s frightening to think she could be the tip of a much larger iceberg of dodgy and extremely harmful social media influencing.
“We all need to be a bit more cynical with what we read and how much faith we put in that,” Dr. Stamp told the ABC. It’s advice we can all agree with if it means protecting our health and wellbeing.