If there’s one thing that I’ve seen more and more of on TikTok, it’s “wellness” influencers spouting off about seed oils, cortisol levels, or “clean eating.” Notice how I put wellness in quotes. This is because what these TikTokers are spreading is not true wellness. Instead, all their content does is spread misinformation, which has serious and harmful effects on anyone who consumes such media, and avoids teaching credible, science-backed ways to actually live healthier. 

Oftentimes these creators run around grocery stores, grabbing nearly everything off the shelves to then squawk about seed oils, cortisol, blood sugar, and a plethora of other health terms on their social media accounts. According to these influencers, even fruits like apples and oranges are not safe because of their sugar levels. While yes, fruits do have sugar, that is not a reason to cut them out entirely! Then, they go on to promote their own (sponsored) healthy products, which are conveniently 300% more expensive than the other options. However, what’s possibly even worse is the subset of these influencers that create content to promote things such as carnivore or “anti-inflammatory” diets that essentially consist of five pieces of watermelon, one piece of toast and 30 different kinds of supplements. These types of videos are everywhere on the internet, reaching all demographics of viewers and gaining millions of views. 

Before getting into the negative effects of all of this, one thing is evident after watching so many videos of these influencers: many of them have little to no credibility at all, and in reality they struggle to even understand what they are talking about. For example, someone may make a video on a product that is supposedly affecting your “hormone levels.” When asked to describe the hormones they are talking about in scientific detail, they aren’t able to. Generally, none of them have degrees in nutrition or science at all, but instead they regurgitate lies, with their fearmongering escalating with each video posted. These influencers tend to contradict not only each other but themselves. In some cases, when pushing a certain narrative is no longer profitable to them (often related to undisclosed ad deals), they go back on what they have said in previous videos. While many food scientists and registered dieticians consistently make responses, pushing back against these ideas with evidence and research to back up their claims, these videos unfortunately don’t get the same kind of viewership that the lies they are disproving do. 

But why is this a problem? To start, I should make it clear that I am not against making healthy eating choices; I actually believe the opposite. Obesity and unhealthy eating are serious problems in America, and around the world, that require attention. These videos, however, are not the solution to the obesity crisis and conversely give rise to other issues, such as unhealthy and unsustainable relationships with food. The majority of users that interact with this content are teenagers, who are incredibly vulnerable and impressionable. When someone with a great physique posts a “what I eat in a day” video with zero carbs and zero fats, it’s highly probable that a teenager will try to follow that regime without the knowledge that fats and carbs are essential nutrients we need to live. In the most extreme cases, they can progress into eating disorders that have potentially life long health risks.    

In order to truly create a healthier future, these kinds of wellness videos and content creators must stop. The true answer to eating healthier is complex and nuanced, and teaching about it should fall in the hands of those that truly understand the science and psychology of the issue. Really, the end goal should be educating about how to make the best possible choices while maintaining a balanced relationship with food, and this can’t happen when there are influencers out there telling others that they have to only drink natural herbal fiber kale smoothies all day, or that seed oils are the worst possible thing you can consume. If this goal is achieved, we can be one step closer towards a more educated world with a higher standard of living.