How To Detect and Sort Through Misinformation

Over the past few years, social media has become less of a fun place to see people’s family vacations, babies and dogs and more of a place to have the living daylights scared right out of you. For me, almost every scroll through Instagram feels like the scene with the gym teacher in Mean Girls:

Don’t work under artificial light or you will die.

Don’t drink plain water or you will die. 

And my new favorite,

Don’t eat vegetables or you will die. 

Yes, there are actually people – lots of people – on the Internet telling other people not to eat vegetables. How did we get here? That’s a really, really long roundtable conversation. Instead of attempting to answer that for you, how about I help you learn how to detect and sort through misinformation. 

Here are the most common signs that someone is feeding you misinformation: 

The aim is to ignite fear instead of understanding

In order to make people make a panic purchase, you’ve got to make them panic. What makes people panic? Hearing that the everyday things they do and interact with are making them sick.  By the end of the advertisement, you’re left feeling anxious, scared, and overwhelmed. 

Let’s use cardio as an example. Someone who wants to ignite fear will tell you that cardio is raising your cortisol levels so much that you are likely to get cancer from doing cardio. They will likely avoid any lengthy explanation about cortisol production and its correlation to illness. They’ll simply throw short, startling statements at you to make you feel scared.

Typically, people who actually want to help you don’t want you to feel like that.

Someone who actually wants to help you will explain: What is cortisol? How much cortisol production is average? What level of cortisol is a concern? What causes it to rise? On average, how long do elevated cortisol levels take to have a lasting impact on the body? 

Once all of those questions are answered, you start to calm down. You feel like you have a better understanding of the topic. People who make you feel educated and empowered to make your own decisions are often people you can trust. 

The aim is to diagnose the entire population with the same problem

Unfortunately, there are people – in particular, podcasters – who may make you feel more educated and empowered by presenting misinformation through interviewing “experts.” To continue on with our example, a podcaster might bring on a doctor who thoroughly explains how cardio is harmful because it increases your cortisol levels. They might even reference a study that was done to prove their case. 

In these cases, the referenced studies are usually done once or twice on a small group of people for a short period of time. Without long-term, repeatable studies done on large populations that all show similar results, these studies are far from an addition to widely accepted, evidence-based science – which is why these doctors are talking on a random celebrity’s podcast instead of CNN. 

And still, the podcast will gain traction because of its fear-based headline about how we are all being harmed. But what’s actually harmful is a doctor prescribing medical advice to an entire population that he or she doesn’t even know. 

As a personal trainer, people are constantly asking me how much cardio they should be doing. My answer is always, “It depends.” 

And that should be the answer given by anyone who is trying to help you. A true expert will want to learn more about you, your background, your health history, and your lifestyle before answering any of your questions. A true expert knows that a workout plan that helps one person could be dangerous for someone else; that a diet that helps one person feel more energized could leave someone else feeling depleted. A true expert will not prescribe anything to the entire population. 

Which leads to the last and in my opinion, biggest detector of misinformation…

The aim is to sell a product 

This is where it really all comes together. If someone begins a video, an ad, a podcast, etc. by scaring you with startling statements, then explains everyone is suffering because of these startling statements, and finally, tells you that their product will put an end to your suffering without ever knowing you, there is a strong chance they are trying to sell you crap. 

It has been happening in the diet and exercise industry since the beginning of time. The market is saturated with meal replacement bars, meal plans, energy drinks, and exercise programs that all promise to solve all of your problems. They think your problem is that you can’t lose weight, and that might be true. But it’s also true that they don’t know how to help you lose weight because the latest weight-loss research shows that 95% of diet plans fail. 

Why do they fail? Because the people making them aren’t personally asking you important questions about your background, health history, current habits, and lifestyle. Because most people’s true problem when it comes to weight loss isn’t simply that they can’t lose the weight, but because they don’t know how to properly meet the unique needs of their body. And no expert can meet the unique needs of your body without knowing you. 

Of course, even trusted experts have bills to pay, and not everyone selling something is trying to take advantage of you. Your best bet is to look for those who are trying to sell you customized education and guidance versus people selling a one-size-fits-all, miracle product. 

In a world full of misinformation, your best defense is to be an informed consumer. Reading this is a step in the right direction! Keep following along with my newsletters, blogs, and Instagram content to continue to learn, and click here if you’re curious about what customized education and guidance is all about. 

Be safe out there, and cheers to feeling more educated and empowered.