It’s the Wild West out there in the Instagram wellness space and the trends and recommendations I continue to see influencers promote is alarming as a Registered Dietitian.
I’m a big fan of seeing people promote getting adequate protein, eating more plant based (aka adding in more fiber into their diets), being mindful of diet and gut health, etc. However, there is a lot of nutrition advice out there that’s not accurate and some that is even dangerous.
These are the top 6 trends I’ve been seeing in 2024 that will unfortunately most likely continue into the new year, but I wish they wouldn’t.
AVOID SEED OILS
You must be living under a rock if you haven’t heard that seed oils are toxic and will kill you. While I do prefer cooking with olive and avocado oil, having a small amount of seed oils in my food doesn’t keep me up at night.
Seed oils are any vegetable oil extracted from a plant’s seed which include soy, canola, sunflower, cottonseed, grapeseed, rice bran, safflower, and corn oils. Seed oils contain omega 6 fatty acids (mostly linoleic acid), monounsaturated fat, saturated fat, and small amounts of omega 3 fatty acids. The biggest health claim against seed oils is that they are inflammatory. I’ll keep it simple here: human data does not support the theory that these omega-6 rich oils are inflammatory and consumed in small doses is perfectly fine.
MINIMIZE: frying (high temps) with vegetable oils; esp. out when eating out at restaurants and don’t re use cooking oils. We all know fried foods, which uses vegetable oil and eating out isn’t something we should be doing on a regular basis.
AVOID: partially hydrogenated vegetable oils which result in the production of trans fats. Trans fats intake is a well known risk factor for heart disease. Most have been removed in packaged goods, but always check the label.
FASTING
Nothing irks me more than someone posting a picture of their food saying they are breaking their fast with “xyz”. NO ONE CARES!
I get that some people swear by intermittent fasting and truly believe in the health benefits, but it’s really not for most people. While I don’t think it’s ideal to be grazing from sun up to sun down, I don’t think it’s ideal for most women to go >12 hours without eating. Many will lose weight doing IF because it gives you more structure and cuts out time periods of overeating in the evening. Fasting protocols can also be dangerous for people with a history disordered eating as this can lead to a binge restrict cycle.
RAW MILK
I just can’t with the raw milk trend. Some people claim raw milk (unpasteurized milk) has more nutrients than pasteurized milk. This is completely false and dangerous. There is no evidence that shows a nutritional benefit from raw milk. On the contrary, raw milk can carry harmful germs, such as campylobacter, cryptosporidium, E coli, listeria, and salmonella. No thanks!
CLEANSES
I thought we got over this trend, but I continue to see people selling cleanses. Parasite cleanses, liver and colon detoxes, and juice cleanses are still very popular. There is no evidence to show that these work long term and can be dangerous. Once again, you may lose weight due to calorie restriction, but once the cleanse if over and you go back to your old eating habits what have you really accomplished? I wrote a blog post on ways to increase detoxification without going on a cleanse 😉
WHAT I EAT IN A DAY
I’m guilty of posting these when we first started the blog. I would also add the disclaimer that this wasn’t meant to be a diet and just a glimpse into my days worth of eats for meal inspo. I stopped posting them a long time ago because I think it can be dangerous to compare. Even if I eat the same exact thing as someone else we will still look and feel different. The idea that “if you eat like me, you can look like me,” influencers are promoting is dangerous.
I see people posting their “What I Eat In A Day” and they are showing low-calorie content, an overly restrictive diet, an unhealthy emphasis on calories, macro-counting, etc. I do still like to share favorite recipes and food products, but I think sharing food diaries just continues to fuel diet culture and I wish we could move away from that narrative.
ENERGY DRINKS
There has been a big surge in functional energy drinks like Bloom and Celsius. I’ve tried both and they both made me feel AWFUL! I love coffee and have a pretty good tolerance for caffeine and both of these drinks made me feel like I was going to have a heart attack.
I’m seeing them all over the internet being market as health drinks because they have no sugar, added vitamins, nootropics, etc. Their ingredients also tend to include stronger-than-caffeine guarana seed extract and caffeinated green tea extract. I’d prefer to just have a cup of coffee or a pre-work out snack like a banana and peanut butter to give me a boost of energy 😉
xx, A
