Eating a carnivore diet, taking cold plunge baths, putting tape over your mouth as you sleep, drinking apple cider vinegar — these are just a few of the many health trends that have gained traction on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, each promising to change people’s health for the better.
But how can you know whether these trends are actually beneficial to your health? And even more importantly, how can you figure out if trending health advice may be potentially harmful to yourself and others?
Becoming a savvy social media consumer can be difficult, which is why we asked two health care professionals in the University of Colorado Department of Medicine — Mohammad Bilal, MD, and Ryan Candee, PA-C — for their top tips on how to identify harmful and helpful health trends. Here is their advice: