Finding health advice on social media is easier than knowing which
claims to trust
[March 24, 2025]
By HALELUYA HADERO
In the corners of social media dominated by wellness content,
influencers recommend an assortment of treatments and products to
support weight loss, fight exhaustion or promote other desired health
outcomes.
Some of the endorsed approaches may be helpful. Many play into fads with
scant evidence to back up enthusiasts' claims, medical experts say.
Some influencers encourage their followers to avoid specific food items,
such as seed oils, while others advocate going all in on certain foods,
such as the meat-heavy carnivore diet. There are video pitches for
berberine, a chemical compound that’s been touted online as “nature’s
Ozempic,” and for non-medical IV vitamin therapy, which businesses
popularly known as drip bars market as cures for hangovers or fatigue.
To be sure, alternative health practices and cures that lacked the
medical establishment's backing were a part of popular culture long
before the internet age. But the plethora of advice shared online has
both prompted calls for safeguards and found a measure of mainstream
acceptance.
The new U.S. health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., had his Instagram
account suspended in 2021 for posting misinformation about vaccine
safety and COVID-19, but many of the ideas he champions have a
widespread following. Critics of Dr. Mehmet Oz accused him of sometimes
making misleading assertions on the talk show he used to host; Oz now is
President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Centers for Medicaid and
Medicare Services.
A Netflix series released last month explored the story of Belle Gibson,
a popular Australian wellness influencer who amassed a following talking
about curing her terminal brain cancer with a healthy lifestyle and
alternative medicine. In 2015, Gibson admitted to lying about having a
cancer diagnosis. Australia’s federal court later fined her for failing
to donate money she said would go to charity through sales of her
cookbook and app.
With personal wellness remaining a hot topic, here are some tips health
experts have for evaluating the material you see online:
Be cautious when an influencer promotes products
Most influencers have or want business relationships with companies that
allow them to earn income by promoting products. The arrangements don't
necessarily mean content creators don’t believe in what they’re
marketing, but they do have a vested interest in publicizing products
that may or may not work.
Creators can get paid for pictures or videos that hype up a product and
also earn commissions on sales through features such as affiliate links.
Experts note it's therefore better to proceed with caution when someone
inspires you to hit the “buy” button, whether it's for natural
supplements, teas with purported weight loss benefits or any other
wellness products that show up in your social media feed.
Research published last month in the Journal of the American Medical
Association showed a sizable amount of Instagram and TikTok posts that
discussed five popular medical tests mostly came from account holders
with “some form of financial interest” in promoting the screenings.
After analyzing roughly 980 posts on the two platforms, researchers said
most of the posts they found were misleading and failed to “mention
important harms, including overdiagnosis” resulting from health people
having full-body MRIs or tests to detect early signs of cancer, evaluate
microorganisms in the gut or measure hormone levels.
Promoting dietary supplements has been a particularly lucrative exercise
for many influencers, said Timothy Caulfield, a health policy and law
professor at the University of Alberta. He views the supplements
industry as “the backbone” of health misinformation aimed at consumers
and designed to fuel billions of dollars in revenue.
“It’s gotten to the point where if someone is selling a supplement, it’s
a red flag,” he said. "I don’t think it was always like that, but it
certainly is now.”
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Walkers and joggers are silhouetted on a jetty as the sun rises over
the Atlantic Ocean, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020, in Bal Harbour, Fla.
(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
 Check for expertise
In general, consumers should take all bold claims with a degree of
skepticism, said Cedric Bryant, chief executive officer at the
nonprofit American Council on Exercise. The goal of creators is to
increase engagement with their content, and some influencers may be
tempted to make unproven assertions to draw in more viewers.
“If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” Bryant said.
Some health and wellness influencers have medical training, but many
do not. Before taking health tips from someone on social media, it’s
a good idea to make sure they have the proper expertise or at least
able to share the data that led them to recommend certain products
or lifestyle choices.
In the fitness area, Bryant recommends checking to see if a creator
holds certification from an accreditation organization and then
confirming the information through the U.S. Registry of Exercise
Professionals database.
The American Medical Association and The American Board of Medical
Specialties maintain searchable databases for medical doctors, which
may help verify the qualifications of creators who share their legal
names and general locations. States also operate databases that
allow users to check if someone is licensed to practice medicine or
has been disciplined for misconduct.
If an influencer holding the appropriate credentials pushes certain
products, consumers still may want to consider if a brand
partnership or other factors are shaping their recommendations.
Federal Trade Commission guidelines that reflected the agency's
interpretation of federal law directed influencers featuring
specific products or services to prominently disclose any
endorsements. Yet sponsorships and potential conflicts of interest
are not always revealed.
In 2023, the year the guidelines were issued, the FTC issued
warnings to a dozen online influencers for failing to adequately
disclose paid social media posts that promoted “sugar-containing
products” and aspartame, a sweetener found in diet soda, ice cream
and other foods. Some of the influencers were registered dieticians.
Compare to the prevailing medical consensus
If a creator cites studies to support health and diet claims, it’s
best to check and see if what they’re saying aligns with the latest
evidence-based medical consensus.
“Just because somebody has an ‘M.D.’ after their name doesn’t make
them entirely trustworthy,” said Elias Aboujaoude, a psychiatrist
and Stanford University professor who studies the intersection of
psychology and technology.
Aboujaoude suggests double-checking health claims with traditionally
reputable sources, such as major academic institutions or government
health agencies. He also advised looking at studies cited by
creators and assessing whether they’ve been published in reputable
journals and subjected to peer review.
In some cases, it might be too soon to know if promising results
should be trusted or not, said Katherine Zeratsky, a registered
dietitian with the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. For example, a study
might show the benefits of a specific type of herb. But that doesn’t
necessarily mean the findings have been replicated in other
research, a requirement for treatment methods to be considered
proven effective, she said.
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