A clinical nutritionist explains why going to TikTok for health advice can be so dangerous
By Chantelle Bozicevic|
TikTok can be great for advice every now and then.
When you're wondering what pants to pair your new shoes with, or if you're trying to figure out if there's a secret hack to help you score tickets to an upcoming concert, TikTok can have some great answers.
But one thing the social media platform can't always help us with is our health, and clinical nutritionist Sally O'Neill says she's seen a number of worrying trends arise from the platform.
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O'Neill tells 9honey Coach that trends such as Oatzempic – what she describes as basically a blended drink of oats, water, cinnamon and lemon or lime juice – can actually be quite harmful in the long run.
"The goal is to reduce your caloric intake for the rest of the day... there's just so much fibre in oats, you're so satiated that you actually can't continue to eat a lot of food," O'Neill explains.
She says that from a professional standpoint, the issue is that even though all the ingredients do have health benefits, it's not a balanced meal replacement.
"There's no fats and there's not enough protein," she says. "So if we're using that as a meal replacement over a longer period of time, we're looking at things like, obviously, nutritional deficiencies."
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According to new data from MyFitnessPal, a whopping 79 per cent of young Aussies are turning to TikTok for health advice.
O'Neill says she sees people using it as a form of search engine, whether it be how to clear acne or how to lose weight.
And while some trends may simply not work, she says that there are some we should steer clear of because of the dangerous effects they pose when it comes to our health.
"Anything that claims to be super healthy that's based purely on liquid, I would run in the other direction," she says. "So you can throw like detox teas, juice cleanses and everything in there."
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She says that sticking to any kind of liquid diet or cleanse doesn't only pose the risk of nutritional deficiencies, but it can also "totally mix up your relationship with food as well."
And while O'Neill realises that a professional nutritionist isn't in everybody's price range, she says that there are better alternatives to TikTok.
"I think people need to equip themselves with knowledge rather than just follow a trend," she says.
"So apps like MyFitnessPal, you can have a free nutritionist in your pocket that helps you build a balanced, good quality diet without having to turn to an expensive nutritionist or getting completely unqualified advice from TikTok."
Her other recommendation is a website called examine.com, a crowd-funded project that doesn't rely on any sponsorships or outside backing.
"It's all clinicians that review all the data and it's checked regularly, it will give you scientific evidence for certain supplements," she says.
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"So if, for example, the claim is that ashwagandha reduces stress. You can type in ashwagandha and it will bring up all these studies and then the summary of those studies... what the key data points are, and it's laid out in a really simple format," O'Neill continues.
"I know nobody wants to sit and read scientific papers in the lunchtime," she adds. "It's basically a really nice, simple, [unbiased] way of looking at the scientific data and not having to read yourself.
"It's a free and accessible resource that's really helpful for most people."
Always consult a physician prior to beginning any exercise or diet program.
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