22 January 2024

Misinformation is big business. With the advent of social and electronic media, there is a compulsion by media organizations and content creators to get the maximum number of clicks (for advertising $).  We also now have medical professionals with decades of experience on a level playing field with “influencers” possessing little expertise in the area they influence. Actually, it's not even a level playing field (from the consumer viewpoint), because who do you think has more time to spend creating and promoting content?

See the comparison of the Daily Mail's headline and the actual research:

Here's my friendly reminder: if you see a flashy headline always check the original source (and don't forget to look at conflicts of interest)!  If you're looking for more details, here's the study they were talking about: Dietary protein intake in midlife in relation to healthy aging – results from the prospective Nurses’ Health Study cohort

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't

If someone's claiming something shocking, new, the opposite of everything you thought you knew, or telling you a secret “they don't want you to know"…be skeptical. Wait for converging evidence!

A recent article in USA Today talks more about why we are facing this misinformation crisis and what you can do about it. Yes, I know, they take advertising dollars too (so many ads!), but the sources seem sound and they are certainly not making any definitive pronouncements. You can scroll to How to Innoculate Yourself [from misinformation].

Like my beliefs about spirituality, I feel that if there is a convergence of ideas or data, that's a good sign that it's legit!