HAPPY NEW YEAR. I generally do not make “doctor” remarks on this blog, but this is the once per year exception I grant myself. It is time for my annual New Year’s rant. Sit back and enjoy while I try to fix the world by calling out internet health and nutrition BS, again.
Peter Finch as Howard Beale in Network (1975) “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
Special Note: This is an update to my annual New Years rant. This version started in 2014 and is updated yearly. Why am I qualified and you should listen? Around this blog I use the pseudonym of DrDan but in real life I’m a board certified pediatrician, Dan Mikesell DO, FACOP. I have earned a voice.
I started this “tradition” in 2010, the first year of the blog in response to the wacko dietary and health advice I was seeing all around me. I cracked and whipped off I Call BS, what I would call an “I’m mad as h_ll, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” post. It felt so good, and it was a great public service announcement.
This is not medical advice, just my educated outlook on the problem of false and misleading medical and health advice on the internet. See your doctor if you need medical advice.
The issue continues to worsen. The BS is everywhere. Homeopathic remedies populate the local chain drug store. Made up science and conspiracy theories abound. Add in the general disregard for the truth and science, and they think they are free to say anything.
Even the mainstream media is spewing the cr_p. There is good old Dr. Oz talking about superfoods to fight infections. Even CNN recently had one of the biggest internet “food experts” commenting on food contamination. She was almost entirely wrong. Apparently, her degree in computer science skipped biology 101.
You are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.
We now live in a culture where everyone thinks that “I’m entitled to my opinion” implies that all opinions are equal and that ignorance is just as good as scientific knowledge. No, sometimes you’re just wrong.
You can have your own opinion but not your own facts. 30 minutes of Google does not make your beliefs fact. A flat-earth, anti-vax loudmouth on the internet agreeing with your beliefs is not “fact.” You can find support for any wrong idea.
The Fools of Social Media – It is on you if you fall for the BS.
Social media is full of health and nutrition “advice,” almost 100% false. If you saw it on social media or most websites/blogs, it will almost for sure be wrong.
In previous years, I called some of them “well-meaning but clueless.” But now I believe they are either outright shysters or just too uninformed/uneducated to understand facts from fiction.
They want you to believe only they have the magic or secret knowledge. They will have compelling stories sprinkled with pseudo-scientific BS, and if you don’t know better, you might believe it.
The more sophisticated ones will have “scientific” references. DON’T TAKE THEIR WORD FOR IT. Most of the references either don’t exist, don’t say what they claim or are just packed with fake science.
Even if you read the reference, if you are not used to reading scientific articles, things like conclusions that are not supported by the details of the article or bad statistical analysis may still escape your detection.
And don’t forget that one study/article is by no means acceptable proof of anything to real doctors.
Cleansing or Cleansing Diets
Why is it that the bloggers and “experts” who are recommending cleansing activities are also the ones expounding their wacko diet information? If their recommendations are so great, why do they need cleansing?
Your liver and kidneys do this work for you. They don’t need the help of these “experts” and their made up BS. When your liver and kidneys do need help, you need a lot more than a made up “cleansing” can do.
Any blogger or other “expert” who is suggesting “cleansing” should be automatically in your “do not trust anything they say” list. More total BS.
Essential Oils
They sound so good. High cost and no sound scientific evidence or even close to believable claims. A new version of “snake oil.” Shameful. Absolute BS.
“Alternative” cancer treatments
Alternative cancer treatments seem to be the rage now. To think all you really needed was a coffee enema or a juice cleansing is just amazing to me.
These are the most shameful scam imaginable that will kill you or your family when you are at your most vulnerable.
Oncology is one of the most data-driven rapidly advancing areas of medicine. Oncology over the years has been very successful in gathering and analyzing data. And then coming up with new innovative treatments and sharing those treatments across the world for all to benefit.
I did my pediatric oncology training at St. Judes and referred many patients there over the years. St. Judes and their adult equivalents are true heroes on the front line of medicine, giving selflessly to society and their patients.
DON’T DRINK THE KOOL-AID.
Nobody can stop you. If you are on either end of the bell-shaped curve in your belief, you most likely to be WRONG. It is shameful for you to preach or impose you believe on others.
So What To Do With All This?
Here are some helpful clues to look for when evaluating these things.
Keywords/phrases that should make you run the other way
- Cure – you know nobody can guarantee a cure. If they do, it is a lie.
- Boost, support, or promotes the immune system or something else. – Don’t fall for these BS phrases which mean they have no proof it really does anything. Show me a proper study. They just want your money.
- Emerging studies or emerging science reveals. The snake oil is smelling strong.
- Leading experts – you can be sure they aren’t – I call BS ever time.
- Colon health – again show me the studies and define your terms.
- “Detoxifying” or “cleansing,” Please see above.
- Non-GMO – I boycott any food that says that. Fear-mongering is not nice. Companies that exploit fear for profit over science need to be boycotted.
- “Natural” – almost always used to mislead you to believe something is safe and effective. Almost for sure not effective or minimal effect. Also may not be safe.
- pH- if they talk about changing the pH of your blood, it is wrong or if true very very dangerous (but it is not true).
- Clean eating or “real food”- totally wrong. See this article.
- Other bothersome phrases: wellness, organic, poison, toxin, toxic, amazing, trick, hack, secret, alternative are all keywords that should automatically raise flags of concern.
Where the information comes from is another clue:
- Social Media – WRONG with few exceptions.
- Friend or relatives – Almost always wrong.
- Your mother – usually better than you think
- Your doctor is usually good but not always. MD or DO only, please.
- Infomercial – BAD… really bad…. always
- Doctor or Dietitian (R.D.) from your hospital system – Almost always good.
- There are many nutrition “degrees” people are getting now. I only trust R.D.s.
- An advertised product is almost always bad.
- Advertised drugs. You probably don’t need the expensive prescription drug with side-effects that include death for a “disease” which you didn’t know existed.
- “Expert” on morning TV – frequently bad so watch for the keywords above.
So who do you believe?
- Most doctors are good resources for you. But a few have gone to “the dark side.”
- Your local nonprofit hospital system will usually have your best health in mind.
- Major websites like WebMD, the CDC, and your local hospital system will all have helpful information. Most medical practices have websites with trusted links. Mine did.
- Even your insurance company wants you healthy, and many provide excellent resources. Even if your insurance company is a blood-sucking leech on society, a healthy you is still cheaper than a sick you. Let them help you.
- DO NOT go to Google. I love Google, but they do not verify information in their searches (not their job), and you are very likely to get very bad information. Google is not your doctor and not a health professional.
- If they tell you the AMA or doctors don’t want you to know a secret, hold on tight to your wallet and run hard in the other direction.
Final thoughts:
- NEVER make a significant change in your diet or exercise program without consulting your doctor.
- Anti-vax is a hoax and has killed many children. Vaccines have never caused autism, but the deadly diseases the vaccines prevent do kill. I have seen it.
- Alternative cancer treatments are killers. These are the most shameful scam imaginable that will kill you or your family when you are at your most vulnerable. Get to a board-certified oncologist you trust.
- Your 1 hour on the internet “researching” does not equal your doctors years of training. You are entitled to your opinion but not your own facts.
- If it sounds stupid or too good to be true, it probably is stupid and too good to be true.
“Hey, Let’s be careful out there.” Michael Conrad as Sergeant Phil Esterhaus in Hill Street Blues
Now I feel so much better.
So if you believe the liars and shysters shame on you.
DrDan
Special note: I will be approving all comments before publishing. If you want to disagree, start your own blog and say whatever you want. My blog is not your public platform. I will publish comments that I consider scientifically sound, but ranting or pseudo-scientific BS will not be published so don’t waste your typing. If I don’t like it, I will delete it.
Laurie
Dr. Dan, Just found your blog today, searching for carnitas recipe. Your New Year’s rant is wonderful!!! As if you took thoughts straight out of my mind! I am a psychiatric social worker and cannot tell you how much of my time is spent dissuading clients from believing false claims re health things…and this is when they are taking their psych meds! Everyone wants the miracle fix, but that doesn’t exist! Trust the science! Especially important with the crazy political scene currently!
Thanks for your straightforward comments. Appreciated!
DrDan
Hi Laurie,
Welcome to the blog.
I do love doing this post every year and save notes for it through out the year if something I want to cover comes up.
I fought the immunization battles for years. Keep up the good fight.
Thank for the note.
Dan
nancy
Hello, Dr. Dan….I just read this post and just love it! I’m a retired RN, worked 42 years mostly in Cardiology, but also in Pediatrics, General Trauma Surgery, and ER….Also spent some years working in Administration/QA back in the days when getting accreditation from the Joint Commission was most important. Thankfully, I am now retired and can relax and enjoy cooking, one of my favorite things to do. Being a single widow since ’82, I have found it a challenge to find recipes that “fit” one or two people….Thankfully, I found your blog several years ago and use so many of your recipes now. Being 75 yrs. old and having grown up on a farm, I cook plain old real food…always have. Just had my 6 month checkup a month ago…all was good…all labs normal….I walk when the weather permits (I live in Illinois and right now, no walking in big snows)…..I have an afternoon cocktail most every day…I sleep when I feel like it. I basically just live life in moderation and feel very thankful for each day I get to have in good health. Thank you so much for writing this blog…I love and use many of your recipes because they fit my life of eating plain, real food.
DrDan
Hi Nancy,
Welcome to the blog.
So glad you enjoyed my rant. I rewrite it every year and it makes me happy to get it out of my system.
Hope you are enjoying retirement as much as I am. This blog was a hobby for my last 6 years of practice but it took off just as I retired. I still treat it like a hobby but it is much bigger now.
My cooking is kind of old rural Iowa… just like Illinois I suspect. So probably the style you would like with a little science and medicine added in.
Hope you continue to enjoy retirement.
Dan
Patricia E
Bravo, Dr Dan
DrDan
Hi Patricia,
Welcome to the blog.
This post always makes me smile as I rewrite it every year.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Jacquie Gariano
Thank you, Dr. Dan,
I’m a retired RN and always tell family and friends, Talk to your MD, ask questions, listen to what they are saying and if you still have questions, ask for a 2nd opinion. Also do not to confuse your MD’s degree with a Google search. People can be so stupid in their health care and it can and will kill them.
DrDan
Hi Jacquie,
Welcome to the blog.
Patients do seem stupid to us medical people but most of them are just don’t know any better. Even though we told them.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Marcia
Thanks for the rant Dr Dan. I wish you would rant more often! Your pups are beautiful! Love Love your recipes & your approach to cooking. I am cooking my way through your website. PLEASE keep the recipes coming.
DrDan
Hi Marcia,
Welcome to the blog.
I do love to rant but once a year is enough.
Glad you like the recipes too.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Mattie
I’m new to your blog but loving it. This was so funny and informative. Keep up the great work, advice and recipes, they are a breath of fresh air in this internet run world.
DrDan
Hi Mattie,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you enjoyed my rant. It will be back and updated in one year.
Hope the recipes work well for you.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Adrian
Thank you! I appreciate your candor and honesty.
I am new to this blog…have been searching for healthy recipes for one or two people.
I look forward to trying some of your recipes!
DrDan
Hi Adrian,
Welcome to the blog.
I enjoy doing this post once per year. It makes my inner doctor smile.
Hope you find recipes that work for you.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Ryda
You missed one that I have deleted, redeleted (is that a word? My computer doesn’t agree with me). But hey lose 91 pounds in 10 days?!? Keto, Keto! Keto!! Where is the truth in advertising? The only way I know of that being possible is if you are gutted in surgery. Sorry I carry a small box with me in case I need to stand on and wave my arms. Keep up that fine rant (you can rant more than once, I don’t mind).
DrDan
Hi Ryda,
Welcome to the blog.
Your right that 91 pounds in 10 days is one of those “too good to be true” things. A pound of fat tissue is about 3600 calories. So you would need to lose about 32,000 calories per day. Most people eat about 2000 calories per day so you need to exercise 30,000 calories worth per day with no caloric intake. Most runners burn about 100 calories per mile. Hummmm, not possible.
There is value in a ketogenic diet for seizure control and I have had success controlling uncontrollable appetite in impaired children. But, as a general diet, it is still not recommended and probably never will be. I did not dive into the fad diets. That would be a book, not a thousand-word blog post.
Thanks for the note and have a Happy New Years.
Dan
Stephanie
Thanks for sharing your honest, concise information (said as I sheepishly delete an essential oil roll-on that promotes relaxation and a feeling of well-being from a shopping cart I started earlier today, saving me $9.) I enjoy your recipes and the thought you put into making them easy for the kitchen-challenged to follow. Happy 2019!
DrDan
Hi Stephanie,
Welcome to the blog.
That $9 can go to an ok bottle of wine that will really relax you and do the “well-being” thing.
Glad you enjoy the blog. Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Jane
Thank you Dr Dan!
Good advice, straight from the hip!
Love your recipes.
Happy New Year to you and your family, the ones with two legs, and with four legs.
DrDan
Hi Jane,
Welcome to the blog.
It makes the old doctor in me smile.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Kathleen
Great post. My daughter is a pediatrician in an affluent area. The parents there are always fighting her over vaccines, among other things. She just has to hang tight. I wish they could read this article.
DrDan
Hi Kathleen,
Welcome to the blog.
I doubt they are my demographic. They are the kale people. I have no kale recipes.
Tell her stiff upper lip and hang in there. She is fighting the good fight. I had it easier since most of my kids in recent years were kids or grandkids of my previous patients. They did what I wanted.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Sandra
Great post. I enjoy it every time. I think you and I went to the same school of common sense. I can’t believe what I hear sometimes, it beggars belief. My daughter has recently bought into the “Manuko” honey craze. It will , to quote my dear old mother, cure a wooden leg if you read the the ads. Keep up the great blog.
DrDan
Hi Sandra,
It wouldn’t feel like New Years if I don’t do my post. It makes me smile.
And yep, a lot of lack of any common sense out there.
That is a new saying for me. I think I will use it some.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Stephanie
This time of year can be stressful as we all contemplate ways to be more healthy. Thank you for the practical words I can use to avoid the shysters and crazy cures that bombard us. Also, thanks for the humorous delivery!
DrDan
Hi Stephanie,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you found it useful.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Nick, MD, FAPA retired
I agree with everything you say about the quackery. Unfortunately, everything you say about infomercials may apply to many direct to patient medication ads. The monoclonal antibody drugs seem to promise miracles, but a close look at the disclaimers shows a lot of backpedaling. A surgical subspecialist referred my wife to an internal medicine subspecialists, and there were video screens urging her to “ask about” services provided such as vitamin infusions. Wouldn’t it make more sense to just suggest this to the individual whom you have determined to need the service? Mainstream “science based” medicine often isn’t.
DrDan
Hi Nick,
Welcome to the blog.
I had added a section of advertised drugs and “ask about” but it was long, boring and incomplete. I do mention it a bit in the lists. Hopefully, they see your comment. I promise to work on it for next year.
My response to “ask about” was to offer to sell them the drawbridge 10 miles away and they could make a fortune trying to collect tolls. And I always loved the initials they use for diseases to make it seem so common. Even if I know what the initials were for (sometimes I didn’t), I would make them tell me what it stood for. Also, I wouldn’t talk to the drug reps of companies that did that and told them why.
You are right that some of our fellow physicians need to be more evidence-based. That term started about the time I went into practice 40 years ago. It describe my beliefs exactly.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Sue
Bravo! It’s a good deed when you use your public voice on this issue. I sometimes despair that people are no longer being taught to think critically and it is an important life skill.
DrDan
Hi Sue,
Welcome to the blog.
I think the schools or parents have let us down somewhere in the critical thinking area.
Thanks for the note and Happy New Years.
Dan
Eileen Rice
Rant more often. I’m librarian and researcher. Because it’s on the net is meaningless. Check your sources and use Snope.
But seems to make no difference. People WANT to believe this crap.
I am also Dr Mom – years of experience. But I always know when it’s out of my field of expertise- check with an expert. And often more than one.
Nowadays though, talking to tu hand!
Love the recipes and dogs!!
Thanks again and for letting me rant- need more of us!!!
DrDan
Hi Eileen,
I’m surrounded by librarians in my family so we so understand.
On knowing what you don’t know. This is the most important lesson I tried to be sure I grounded into the heads of my 3rd-year medical students. Nobody knows everything. Every good doctor knows how to say “I don’t know”.
Glad you liked the recipes and Molly and Lilly say thanks.
Happy New Years.
Dan