Netflix just released a new series called Apple Cider Vinegar on the work of social media health & wellness influencers. Yahoo News had this to say:
Netflix’s new series “Apple Cider Vinegar” certainly takes aim at wellness influencers, but the Western medical system isn’t safe from criticism either.
The show is a dramatization of the story of Belle Gibson, a convicted Australian scammer who claimed she had terminal brain cancer who is played by Kaitlyn Dever, and the impact she had by selling books and an app that claimed clean eating made her well again.
Also featured is a fictionalized representation of one of the people Gibson impacted named Lucy. In the show, her character stops her cancer treatments in hopes that Gibson’s method will cure her in a more compassionate way than the hospital system.
Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University told Yahoo News:
“It’s entirely understandable that people are starving … for information around healthy eating,” Mozaffarian said.
Is information on healthy eating really that hard to come by? I think not. Most people know a lot more about healthy eating than they actually follow. Maybe it’s that most people don’t like what they find. Or they would rather use weight-loss drugs. Late last year I wrote about TikTok and YouTube influencers touting weight-loss drugs without the legal disclosures required for commercials advertising prescription drugs, saying:
Social media influencers are increasingly another way to advertise products. YouTube is now the most popular streaming service. In terms of hours viewed, it beats out Netflix and Disney+ (and all others). YouTube is also dominated by numerous content creators, as they’re called, who are not necessarily picky about how they earn advertising revenue.
Content creators on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram can tout health information without having a medical degree or credentials of any kind. Some promote false, misleading and even harmful health information.
As I wrote more than 20 years ago. Americans go online in search of health information about100 million times a year. Google reports there are roughly 70,000 health related searches every minute. Those two figures seem hard to reconcile so I will not bother. The point is that people use the Internet to search for health information a lot. Is the rise of social media influencers because access to care is difficult? Or is it due to Americans’ fascination with homegrown YouTube content creators? I would argue both are true. I suspect people sometimes follow charlatans with no formal training because they want to believe an easier method to wellness is being hidden from them.
There has never been more free expert health information available to those willing to search for it. Millions of Americans follow physicians on YouTube and TikTok, who are content creators. Their advice is free but to act on what you have learned you will have to see your own doctor if the advice involves drugs. One problem is that not everyone who dishes out health information is a physician. Some are charlatans.
Here is the thing: if you really want quality information on medicine, health & wellness, it is easy to seek out people who have the credentials to back up what they preach. Random people with no discernable qualifications other than being charismatic, attractive, and pleasant to look at are not the experts people assume. Anyone can post videos on YouTube, but not everyone can claim to be a physician unless they go through a verification process. Furthermore, not everyone who touts a diet and exercise routine is actually following their own advice. It is very common for influencers to misrepresent reality to boost their following.
There have always been flimflam men, charlatans, snake oil salesmen and frauds. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was partly formed to combat the bogus, often deadly concoctions being sole as patent drugs. The Internet made it easier for so-called influencers to gain a following. Americans should heed the advice of health & wellness influences with a heavy dose of caution. Look for verifiable credentials, not their number of followers. There are hundreds of physicians willing to provide more information for free than your doctor would ever have time to discuss with you. Just steer clear of those peddling contrarian, unsubstantiated health information.