Fact-Checking Popular Nutrition Advice (Part 1)
“It’s just calories in and calories out.”
“Do this juice cleanse to flush out toxins.”
“Natural sugar is better than refined sugar.”
How many of these nutrition myths have you heard? Maybe from your family, or your colleagues and friends? Just take a leisurely scroll through any social media platform, and you’ll be met with a ton of nutrition advice often touted from beauty and social media influencers with perfect skin, six pack abs, and a massive follower count.
The pictures they post are visually appealing. They look confident and radiant. All to draw you in and wonder “if I ate just like them, maybe I will look just like them”.
In today’s online world, where likes and views outweigh credentials, there are tons of videos with clickbait titles all in the hopes that you will click onto them. It’s boring to hear a registered dietitian talk about the latest vitamin C research in a PubMed article - it’s way more intriguing (and shocking) to hear someone make a shocking statement like “eating x amount of vitamin C a day will definitely prevent cancer!” (spoiler alert: it does not because it is not magic).
So how can we protect ourselves from false information? How do we filter out the irrelevant anecdotal nutrition advice, and focus on the scientific evidence? This article discusses some popular nutrition ‘advice’ that has been splashed all over the internet, and at the end, we will provide some tips on how to filter nutrition messages so you can have the tools to do so next time someone is trying to sell you this magic pill to get a flat stomach.
#1 Fact checking Joe Rogan’s carnivore diet claims
Joe Rogan has been a huge advocate for the carnivore diet. While he does not have any formal nutrition credentials, it did not stop him from making claims that the carnivore diet can treat conditions like chronic pain, fatigue, improve mental health, support weight loss etc. Though he admits a lot of these stories are “albeit anecdotal”, he still promotes that this diet can solve many health conditions.
What is the carnivore diet?
The carnivore diet meal plan only allows consumption of meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, fish, some dairy products, and water. This diet does not have room for vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, seeds and nuts - giving it the “zero carb” name. The idea is to consume only protein and fat. The body is pushed into a state of ketosis, which lowers the normal acid-base balance in the blood to make it more acidic. Its presumed goal is to force your body into using its fat stores for energy instead of glucose similar to a keto diet.
So what is it about this diet that makes people think it’s a good idea?
Well, mostly for weight loss. The carnivore diet consists of just animal foods, which means a lot of energy-rich foods like grains are eliminated from the diet. Yes, consuming grains or energy rich foods alone tend to be lower on the satiety scale in comparison to protein foods like poultry and steaks. Including protein foods in diet can make a person feel fuller faster and sustain it for longer because it is not digested as quickly as carbohydrates. This can allow a person to feel full while consuming less calories. Which means this is really just another low carbohydrate diet, and how many of these have we had in the past decades?! Low carb diets may induce short-term weight loss by temporarily triggering a calorie deficit and in the long-term actually cause more weight issues. Nothing new to see here.
Why it isn’t a good idea?
The carnivore diet is an extremely limited way of eating to only eat meat and nothing else. There is a reason humans are omnivores that need foods from all these different food groups, not just animal protein. There are nutrients you are only able to find in grains, fruits and vegetables. Hello Vitamin C? Are we re-introducing scurvy back into our lives since the 16th century? Not to mention important antioxidants that fight free radicals to help us thrive. Yes, you can consider supplements but the point is, why spend the money on supplements when you could just have the same things in food? Especially when there are also risks in over-supplementation. The carnivore diet also lacks fibre and low fibre intake may lead to all sorts of gut issues. Including fiber in diet is also very important for maintaining good heart health. Eating red meat as part of a balanced diet when the diet is also varied is perfectly fine, but the carnivore diet is so extreme that its recommendations have the markers for increasing risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as colorectal cancer. In terms of how it impacts our relationship with food, its heavy food policing aspects will reduce enjoyment and mental satisfaction with eating overtime. This means big cravings and disordered eating are likely just around the corner if people are not already impacted by malnutrition. This makes the diet difficult to sustain (why would anyone wish to sustain this in the first place beats me!?), and rebound weight effects will ensue similar to what follows to traditional low-carbohydrate diets.
#2 Fact checking Gwenyth Paltrow’s raw milk promotion
A group of wellness influencers, including Gwenyth Paltrow, has been touting the nutritional health benefits of raw milk, claiming it is safe for consumption, safe for those who are lactose intolerant, can boost gut health and support immunity, can improve skin conditions and help with weight loss. In Los Angeles, upscale Erewhon even sells raw milk smoothies for a whopping $19 per drink! Talk about the power of social media influencing. So how are we supposed to know if this is simply the influence of celebrities like Gwenyth, or is this actually rooted in robustmos evidence?
What is raw milk?
It’s milk from a dairy cow that has not undergone pasteurization, which is the process that uses heat to kill pathogens to ensure safe consumption while retaining nutritional properties of milk. Unpasteurized milk can contain many microorganisms, such as salmonella, E. Coli and Listeria. These microorganisms are often the cause of many food poisoning cases.
Wait, why would anyone want to risk getting food poisoning?
There’s this notion going on in the diet wellness space that calls for consuming more “processed foods vs unprocessed foods”. It is important to realize these terms - along with “ultra-processed foods” - is language rooted deep in diet culture. Processed foods are not inherently less nutrient dense than whole foods. Sure, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables (or whole foods) is great in a balanced diet, but it does not mean we are trapped in a black and white mentality when it comes to whole foods vs processed foods. Most of the time, foods need to be processed before they can reach your grocery store in order to maintain food safety, nutrient availability and preservation. As 2007 World Food Prize Laureate Philip E Nelson once said, “if you teach a person how to process food, you can feed a village”. Not everyone owns farmland that grows their own crops, and without processing of foods, those crops will spoil before you even have a chance to see them in your local store. Without food processing, we wouldn’t be able to extend food shelf life, ensure safety of food, or be able to provide food to feed the whole world, especially in parts of our communities where people are not able to access fresh foods.
Raw milk is milk that has not gone from food processing, because people are claiming processed foods are “bad” and therefore should be limited. However, milk pasteurization is necessary to make sure animal milks are safe for human consumption. Moreover, the price of raw milk can be triple the price of regular standard grocery store packaged milks, unless you live next to a farm that produces raw milk and you can get it directly from them. Milk contains so many nutrients that our bodies thrive on (like calcium!).
So…should I drink raw milk?
You are totally allowed to if you can find it, afford it, like the taste of it, and are willing to accept the risks associated with consuming unpasteurized milk like food poisoning! No one can tell you what you can’t and can’t do here, so long as you are aware of all the risks and benefits of consuming a certain food. Just remember that raw milk is not better or superior than pasteurized milk, and drinking it should depend on your own personal preferences and not because a celebrity told you it is good for you! A big issue with raw milk promotion is that it fuels diet culture in terms of unchecked and harmful privilege. For a group of people to say it is only acceptable to drink expensive unpasteurized milk otherwise it’s not “healthy” anymore, that is a guilt trip no one needs.
#3 Fact checking Dr. Oz’s claim that green coffee extract is “magic weight loss cure”
He’s Donald Trump’s pick to lead Medicare and Medicaid in the United States. He’s also the host of daytime talk show “The Dr. Oz Show”. And he is known for making claims like “garcinia cambogia is the simple solution you’ve been looking for to bust your body fat for good” and “human chorionic gonadotropin, a hormone produced during pregnancy, could result in weight loss when combined with a diet restricted to 500 calories a day”.
Dr Oz does have medical credentials, but how much nutritional credentials does/should be given? Reality check: there is no such thing as a miracle food. Dr Oz has been known to endorse many supplement brands, claiming they are miracle solutions for weight loss, even when there is a lack of scientific evidence to support the claims. He also often has financial stakes in these companies, which begs the question, is his advice truly well-intentioned or is it for personal gain?
What is green coffee extract?
It’s a supplement made from unroasted (aka raw) coffee beans. Raw coffee beans contain chlorogenic acids, which are compounds usually destroyed in the process of roasting. The reason why raw coffee beans gained traction in the health and wellness space is because this chlorogenic acid is said to be a “natural antioxidant to help tame inflammation in the body…and may also help lower blood pressure. Some research says it could help with blood sugar because it decreases the amount of carbohydrates absorbed in the GI tract.” This is where people began to correlate green coffee extract with weight loss. Dr Oz heavily promoted this supplement, until around 2015, when people realized they were being deceived and began to file lawsuits.
Is taking this supplement risky?
Green coffee extract is still available as a dietary supplement on the market, despite the legal scrutiny. A quick search on Amazon will show brands like Lovita and Carlyle offering these capsules that contain anywhere between 400 mg to 8000 mg per capsule. So before deciding whether or not to take this supplement, keep in mind green coffee extract is still what the name suggests… coffee, and it contains caffeine. If you are someone sensitive to caffeine, this might cause you more distress and anxiety due to side effects of excessive caffeine that includes panic attacks, increased anxiety symptoms and restlessness. In addition, a study has shown excessive daily intake of caffeine of more than 400 mg might significantly raise heart rate and blood pressure in healthy adults, leading to increased cardiovascular risk.
So is it good for weight loss then?
The chlorogenic acids in green coffee extract claim to slow carbohydrates absorption in the gut, improve glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity, and reduce fat accumulation in the liver. These “experts” naturally came to the assumption it can cause weight loss. The fact is there are not a whole lot of studies done on chlorogenic acids, and even the studies mentioned here indicate limited sample size, short term study length, and long term search of safety of chlorogenic acids require more clinical trials. Caffeine is not an essential nutrient in our bodies, and it can cause different reactions in different people depending on their tolerance to the substances. The goal is to recognize food marketing for what it is and make choices accordingly.
Head over to Part-2 where we discuss how to filter nutrition advice step-by-step.
Disclaimer: the information provided is not intended as medical advice or to diagnose or treat a medical disease. It is strictly for informational purposes. Consult with your medical provider such as a dietitian before implementing any dietary changes, the information provided does not replace medical advice provided by your healthcare provider.
Written by Elaine Chan and review and edited by Abby Hsiao, RD
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Work cited
https://www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/what-is-the-carnivore-diet
https://www.carilionclinic.org/health-and-wellness/article/foods-vs-supplements?
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/milk-infant-formula/raw-or-unpasteurized-milk.html
https://uppcsmagazine.com/food-processing-a-key-driver-of-economic-growth-and-sustainability/
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/03/14/nx-s1-5325301/dr-oz-medicare-medicaid-cms-trump
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/green-coffee-bean-extract?
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1270246/full?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002934321005659
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0002934321005659
