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Irreversible Damage (Health & fitness knowledge base)
rybo
Posts: 5,424 Member
In this age of vast amounts of information and the ability to also spread misinformation just as quickly, will there always be a battle to overcome the false statements and half truths in the health & fitness industry that have come to be taken as truth? Will other misinformation creep into the arena and complicate things?
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In this age of vast amounts of information and the ability to also spread misinformation just as quickly, will there always be a battle to overcome the false statements and half truths in the health & fitness industry that have come to be taken as truth? Will other misinformation creep into the arena and complicate things?
Of course. Where there's money to be made, there will never be a shortage of the creativity needed to "sell" a new idea.
imo it always comes down to the individual buyer. I tried a lot of snake oils in my time, and as a result had to research and modify, then research more and modify (my behaviors) even more. I'm still doing that today, and will likely continue to do so.
That said, I personally know quite a few folks who are willing to take any polished sales pitch as the gospel truth and, when it doesn't work, or isn't sustainable, they are willing to take full responsibility for the failure, as opposed to questioning the product.
See, peeps like me need peeps like mfp'ers but I had to come looking for you. Not everyone will look for their sources of truth.5 -
Absolutely.
It has always amazed me how massive amounts of people will discard scientific evidence as being part of the pharmaceutical industry, but then trust the information in a supplement company video and immediately purchase a free trial of Vitamix Ten Thousand Ultra Mega Max! It cures cancer! Not taking this supplement causes cancer! Here's a guy in a lab coat - listen to him!4 -
The longing by humans to believe in health hucksterism is seemingly limitless--and has been so for thousands of years. And there will always be an endless supply of hucksters to fill out hat need.3
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The longing by humans to believe in health hucksterism is seemingly limitless--and has been so for thousands of years. And there will always be an endless supply of hucksters to fill out hat need.
Yep. There were people 200 years ago making a killing by selling snake oil out of the back of their horse drawn carriage. And tabloids printing crazy unproven health stories to sell papers. It's just easier and spreads faster now.1 -
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The other side of this is the crap about food itself. I shouldn't eat baby carrots because of Chlorine (and, apparently now they are washed in formaldehyde)? I mean, who comes up with this *kitten* and why? There isn't a buck to be made by spreading garbage about aspartame. But the stupidity of some of the stories, internet rumours is freaking mind boggling.
I swear the hardest thing about weight loss is slogging your way through the garbage in the media to get to reality, even when the garbage isn't a money maker.3 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »The other side of this is the crap about food itself. I shouldn't eat baby carrots because of Chlorine (and, apparently now they are washed in formaldehyde)? I mean, who comes up with this *kitten* and why? There isn't a buck to be made by spreading garbage about aspartame. But the stupidity of some of the stories, internet rumours is freaking mind boggling.
I swear the hardest thing about weight loss is slogging your way through the garbage in the media to get to reality, even when the garbage isn't a money maker.
So true.2 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »The other side of this is the crap about food itself. I shouldn't eat baby carrots because of Chlorine (and, apparently now they are washed in formaldehyde)? I mean, who comes up with this *kitten* and why? There isn't a buck to be made by spreading garbage about aspartame. But the stupidity of some of the stories, internet rumours is freaking mind boggling.
I swear the hardest thing about weight loss is slogging your way through the garbage in the media to get to reality, even when the garbage isn't a money maker.
This is a lot of what I was meaning as much as supplements & gimmicks. You've got bro science and cherry picked studies saying anything you want them too and taking things out of context. Some things are taken as gospel when the science was wrong from the start (eggs & animal fats being bad for you while margarine was healthy)0 -
Tacklewasher wrote: »The other side of this is the crap about food itself. I shouldn't eat baby carrots because of Chlorine (and, apparently now they are washed in formaldehyde)? I mean, who comes up with this *kitten* and why? There isn't a buck to be made by spreading garbage about aspartame. But the stupidity of some of the stories, internet rumours is freaking mind boggling.
I swear the hardest thing about weight loss is slogging your way through the garbage in the media to get to reality, even when the garbage isn't a money maker.
So freaking true. I think we could have a healthy debate on THE WORST diet myth that is continually repeated:).1 -
Sadly, "this age" has been going on forever. It's just natural for people to latch onto something that makes sense to them or falls into their general belief sets or fears. It will never change. It's just a bit worse nowadays with the Internet.1
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Tacklewasher wrote: »The other side of this is the crap about food itself. I shouldn't eat baby carrots because of Chlorine (and, apparently now they are washed in formaldehyde)? I mean, who comes up with this *kitten* and why? There isn't a buck to be made by spreading garbage about aspartame. But the stupidity of some of the stories, internet rumours is freaking mind boggling.
I swear the hardest thing about weight loss is slogging your way through the garbage in the media to get to reality, even when the garbage isn't a money maker.
While there isn't money to be made directly by discrediting aspartame, there is money in setting yourself up as an expert who knows all the secrets that the "establishment" doesn't want you to know. People like Mercola and the Food Babe sell a ton of consumer items and membership sites, and people buy from them because they believe they are getting all this up-and-coming info that will save them from all the scary crap that the AMA and the FDA have conspired to kill us with. They build trust with the crazy stories. You have a health concern you can't understand or don't want to take responsibility for? Don't worry! It's GMOs, artificial sweeteners, radiation from your microwave, Big Pharma's greed, preservatives in processed food, HFCS, microwave popcorn, conspiracy! People love a boogie man, and they love to have a way to feel superior.
And yeah, separating fact from fiction, and then arguing it with people who don't bother to, is a pain in the *kitten*5 -
I watch marketing reports and "fat-blasting" is going to be the massive marketing push in 2017.
Be afraid folks....be very afraid.0 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »Tacklewasher wrote: »The other side of this is the crap about food itself. I shouldn't eat baby carrots because of Chlorine (and, apparently now they are washed in formaldehyde)? I mean, who comes up with this *kitten* and why? There isn't a buck to be made by spreading garbage about aspartame. But the stupidity of some of the stories, internet rumours is freaking mind boggling.
I swear the hardest thing about weight loss is slogging your way through the garbage in the media to get to reality, even when the garbage isn't a money maker.
So freaking true. I think we could have a healthy debate on THE WORST diet myth that is continually repeated:).
Starvation mode. Simply the worst myth there is. But I'm game to open that thread for *kitten* and giggles.0
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