Earlier this week, I shared a response video in which I discussed Gary Brecka's hyperbolic claims pertaining to the power of ice baths compared to exercise. One of the comments we
received read as follows:
"He must know that’s not true, how can he say that into a microphone with a camera on him?"
This comment touches on an important point. Sometimes, it's hard to believe that health & fitness gurus deliver
such absurd claims with sincerity. My assessment of this situation is that there are a few things going on.
1.) The guru is genuinely so uneducated and deluded as to believe what he says.
2.) The guru wishes to shroud his claims in excessive
confidence as a means to encourage behaviour change with an intervention he genuinely believes to be very helpful.
3.) The guru simply wishes to stand out from the crowd, go against the grain, and make more money, accumulate more followers, or gain more status (and doesn't really believe what he is saying).
In reality, it is probably a combination of these factors in many cases, but I am cynical on this matter and think that most gurus willingly pull the wool over people's eyes, knowing that what they are saying is not true.
On social media, it is quite easy to culminate a following with
against-the-grain content, and there is certainly no shortage of people who want to believe that such content is true. After all, who wants it to be true that it really is just about consistent adherence to the basics and there are few, if any, secret shortcuts?!
While it is a sad reality, it's one that you have to be mindful of. The title of Dr is not enough for
trust. Results are not enough for trust. Articulate speech is not enough for trust. There will be gurus who show you all three, yet wilfully present you with claims and practices that have no basis in evidence, while exhibiting utmost confidence in their delivery.
Here are some recent pieces of content that we have produced to try to shed some light on these
matters:
Eddie Abbew & The Future of Nutritional Populism
Modern Truth-Seeking is Broken: Podcast Problems?!
The Hydra of Nutribullshit: How to Seek Truth
Nutrition Confusion & Complication with Paul Saladino
All Carbs Are Sugar?! The Lie of Reductionism
One of the overarching
goals that we have at Triage is to facilitate health & fitness literacy. As hard as it can be, we want you to be able to see through the nonsense, and we will continue to be here to support you long into the future (there will never be a shortage of BS-vendors!).
