5 Ways to Spot Health, Fitness, and Diet Scams

[Anonymous]

One of my friends recently posted on his FB page this article warning that there is only one proper way to prepare rice, and that is to let it soak overnight because if you don't, the lead in it will over time leach into your system and you'll develop lead poisoning. Huh? How many people world wide soak their rice overnight before deciding to cook it the next day? In many Asian countries, where rice is more of a staple in the diet, in many of those countries the life expectancy is much higher and I assure you, it's not because everyone soaks their rice over night.

Scams, click bait ads and articles, and just false information is spreading like wildfire these days. So many people read the 2 seconds of hype and get riled up, but don't ever bother to spend just as much time even checking to see if whatever they read or clicked on is even backed by medical science, and WORSE, these same people try to "explain" to those in the know--you know, real doctors, scientists, dieticians, and personal trainers, that they are experts because they read a 2 second article with no proof to back it up. Don't be one of those people. At best, these articles are harmless and you give them 2 grains of salt and you forget them, at worst, they can damage your health and even kill you.

So how do you spot a scam?

1. All the promises end after a trial period

Two week muscle diet! Thirty days to lose weight! Ninety day exercise plan! Two weeks to a better you! Change takes actual time and it doesn't end after a trial period. Any exercise/diet plan offering to radically change you in a short amount of time is either going to damage your health because you'll be doing way too much, too soon or eating a diet that dangerously eliminates everything for a while, but that cannot be sustained long term for quick results that don't last beyond the week, 30 days, or 90 days or there will be no possible human way to sustain the program after the 90 days of working out 6 hours a day and eating water and lettuce. A real plan never has an end date because you continue to live beyond that trial period. You do not need gimmick plans.

2. Proof = Personal Anecdotes

So your cousins friend was cured from cancer by sitting in the sun for 2 hours a day and meditating, was she? What's her name? What's her doctors number? Where is the physical proof she a) had cancer b) was actually long term cured of cancer by sitting in the sun c)her lab results proof that it was definitely because of the sun exposure and nothing else like that chemo she took. Personal stories of people being cured are not actual proof. YES, there are absolutely miraculous cases of people being cured that scientists/doctors have no explanation for, but in the rare event that is true for that one person, that doesn't mean it will work for you. We all have different genetics, different responses to medications, foods, exercise, treatments, etc. If all the proof you can find that something cures/works for someone is a personal story with not even a real name or way to contact this person to back it up, stay away. Smell the snake oil, because that's what you're going to get!

3. You need to completely get rid of X from your diet

Any diet out there that is telling you that you need to 100% get rid of gluten, sugar, salt, fat, carbs, or protein is a dangerous one or one that will fail you soon. The ONLY exception to this is if you have seen an actual doctor (not the internet or a friend that said you may be this or that) who has tested you and confirmed that you do in fact of an illness or ailment that prevents you from correctly processing these things. Outside of that, everybody needs some percentage of these things for a healthy diet. There is nothing wrong with cutting back a little here and there, but these things are coded in our genes as things we need to build muscle and maintain mental and physical health.

4. Fitness happens in 7 minutes a day and you can eat what you want

Go ahead, try that. Only exercise just 7 minutes a day and eat everything you want. I'll wait and see how long it takes you to lose those 50lbs. Some things should just be common freakin' sense to you. Just about every medical board and health and nutritional specialists recommends AT LEAST 30 minutes a day to an hour of exercise for the maintenance of your health and eating a balanced diet that doesn't mean chicken wings, pizza, and Oreo cookie ice cream every night. There are no miracle eat whatever diets. The only "diet" that exists is the one involving one largely based in whole natural healthy foods to put you at optimal health.

5. What sources?

If you go to an article and sources are listed, check them out, call them, Google them. If you track them down and they go no where or end on some hokey Buzzfeed homepage, this isn't prime fact checked health information. This is some college kid typing out click bait for views. Views, I might add, he or she is getting paid to get whether the info is top notch or not. Legit links tend to be those that end in .org or .gov. These articles tend to be those that you can track the sources of information and actually read up on the doctors/scientists/health studies if you'd like.

[Corran7]

Awesome write-up. When it comes to the body it's all about getting enough sleep, eating right, and exercise. The mind is also just as important to take care of and people often neglect their mental and emotional health.

[myTake Owner]

I couldn't agree more. Too many people are looking for quick fixes and some pill that's supposed to cure everything or lose the weight for them, but those things are very dangerous, waste a lot of time, and a lot of money, and in the end, they end up right back at square one if not worse than before they began. What you've described above is "the magic pill." It's what human beings have known for centuries.

[Tripple]

eat clean and exercise.. you don't need a multi billion company to tell you something you already know. save your money

[myTake Owner]

Exactly this. Eat whole natural foods. Exercise 30mins-1 hour a day. That's it. There are no tricks and gimmicks about it. This is the lifelong health plan.

[Kuraj]

3 - This isn't a good advice. There are plenty of things you can remove from your diet because they either provide nothing of value to you or provide little value which can however be found elsewhere WITHOUT the accompanying negatives.

Sugars and grains are a very good example of this, they can be eliminated completely in favor of starchy carbohydrates that you can find in legumes or vegetables for example.

[myTake Owner]

Three is great advice if you actually read what was said. Rather than try to re-explain, re-read it and actually listen to what I listed as things that these so called diets ask to be 100% eliminated. Substituting one with another is not elimination especially considering many of those food still contain sugars and starches which is what human beings still need in their diet.

[Kuraj]

I read what you said.
And I'm saying there is plenty of things of which you mentioned that you can eliminate.
There is no reason for ANY gluten or sugar to go into your system, none.

[myTake Owner]

Sugar is energy the body needs. Carbs are broken down by the body into sugar. You cannot be so careless as to say someone does not need it to survive. That would be a life threatening situation for many people to attempt its total elimination. Sugar comes in many forms beyond just table sugar so it's important not to confuse it with a run of the mill candy bar or table sugar as being the only source.

Now, I've already established those with actual medical conditions, aka, Celiac's disease, can and should be gluten free in mytake, but we're talking about those with no actual medical conditions. There are hundreds of studies that have shown that fiber often associated with whole grain products helps us fight things like heart disease, some cancers, type II diabetes and acts as helpful pre-biotics in the gut that maintain gut health. Many people who claim to be gluten free are often eating gluten products that they are unaware actually contain gluten.

[myTake Owner]

They are also ditching many foods that contain vital vitamins, minerals, and fiber. There is literally no reason to give it up or should you unless you have Celiac disease. These are fad/gimmick diets that seek to make a lot of money off the uninformed and those who's fear they can pray on rather than are actually based in real tangible medical and health science. Notice how every year, it's a new thing. Gluten this year, Fat Free last year, Carb free the year before that. There is no substitute for a natural healthy whole foods diet that contains these things like fat, salt, sugar, gluten, etc. in moderation.

[Kuraj]

No, CARBs is the energy the body needs.
Sugars are all simple carbs, which digest very quickly and spike your blood sugar levels - which is bad both long and short term.
This is what leads to developing diabetes (because spiked blood sugar lowers your insulin resistance over time) kidney damage, heart complications and strokes.

Fructose (the sugar in fruits and most kinds of added sugar) in particular is one of the worst nutrients you could possibly eat, we have no biological need for it WHATSOEVER, and we can't even metabolize it properly. (it taxes your liver which can eventually lead into kidney diseases and kidney failure)

On the other hand, fiber and starchy carbohydrates provide you with the same molecules you need for glucose without all these health risks.
There are plenty of foods which contain carbohydrates but NO sugars, or trace amounts of sugars which are metabolically insignificant.
These include many legumes, vegetables like kale and spinach, quinoa and some mushrooms.

[Kuraj]

Also, saying that you "need" carbs is factually incorrect.
Carbs are in fact the only non-essential macronutrient, eating exactly ZERO carbs will never have any ill effects on you, they are just a rich source of energy but that's that. (and for that reason they are also the biggest culprit behind obesity)

[Unit1]

I knew we can't live optimally without salt and sugar despite what everyone would have said about these.

I found those fake articles to be suspicious as soon as I found articles mentioning, that vodka, whiskey, beer, nicotine and coffee on long term are beneficial to the health. Seemed legit.

Make your own experiment, listen to your body and avoid being misinformed. Same goes for porn.