Dr Google is becoming more and more popular which is good and bad. It’s good that you are involved in your care and searching for answers but it can be bad when there is only partial information given or things really don’t apply to you (even though you think they do). I recently had a patient who had a very good question but instead of just asking my opinion, she proceeded to read me a long version of an AI’s search and response. I was excited she was searching for answers but the AI recommendations for this particular person were not accurate due to some other health things going on and if we had followed that recommendation, it would have negatively impacted her!
I am seeing this more and more. I love when my patients are involved in their care and are searching for answers BUT let’s set up some guidelines to help keep you safe. READ ON for 6 tips when viewing social media recommendations….
- Be a skeptic. Just because you saw some miraculous result for something on social media doesn’t mean it will be a miraculous result for you. Take the hair loss products showing rapid growth in a few weeks. Hair doesn’t grow fast and it will take months to really see significant improvement so be on alert when you see that rapid turn around. There are many other products claiming “overnight” success. You didn’t get into the state you are in overnight so why would you think you can get out of it overnight… unless you believe some random person on the internet.
- It is really going to help you? For example, more and more people are wanting their cortisol levels checked in blood work. A true and more accurate way to test cortisol is a salivary test which insurance rarely covers. You can measure the cortisol but at least understand the limitations and what this means. I can tell when someone’s cortisol will be high simply by listening to their lifestyle. If you are blowing and going and not sleeping and have a little tire around your middle then you have a high cortisol. Make the changes that are needed to lower it – stress reduction being key, sleeping, good exercise that is calming and a proper diet. THEN, you can add on supplements. The supplements cannot work as well or for long term if you don’t do the other work. If you are the type of person that needs to see a lab that puts it in your face then measure it but let’s do it the right way.
- What is the science? Ok, this one has literally been thrown out the window in so many instances. I get asked about microdosing GLP-1’s every single day regarding inflammation from people who don’t have inflammation. Yes, I use microdosing for inflammation with very specific parameters. It is NOT for everyone and you have to truly understand the risks/benefits. I would not advise hoping on a medication that could be potentially for the rest of your life if you don’t need it. All the research on the GLP-1’s are primarily in diabetics or people with sleep apnea. We do not have long standing research on people doing it for prevention and what the risks for that subset of people are and yes, there are risks (check out the recent vision loss lawsuits for GLP-1s). And then let’s talk about the other peptides, all the “stacks” of bpc, kpv, etc, etc…. I do think there is a short term, limited use that could be beneficial for certain goals but so many of these are growth hormone precursors and when you look at actual studies on growth hormone overuse the results are not good. Most of these peptides do not have ANY human studies. Imagine taking insulin (which is a peptide) made from a research facility and dosed by some random person with zero qualifications to dose medications. This is what I’m talking about.
- Do you have a fear factor? I have had patients come in on over 25 separate supplements and one was on literally 57! I had to make a spreadsheet of all the ingredients to prove to them they were taking toxic amounts of certain nutrients. There will be so much overlap on core nutrients in multiple supplements you have to be really careful that you aren’t overdosing yourself. When my patients explain why they are taking that many there are always good preventative reasons but the underlying one seems to be fear of not doing something right to help yourself. “Well, I heard this was good for my….” My approach has always been:
- Determine where you are deficient by measuring the labs
- Know your family history so you know what your potential risk is and pull in a select few items for those issues
- Select the core supplements you need and if possible, remeasure the labs to determine if they are working
- Always pay attention to the basics, which I will say over and over: eat, sleep, exercise and reduce stress!!
- Know your source of information. It is so easy to be swayed by that very convincing person on social media that has zero credentials because you identify with them. “Yes, I have that too!” I get it. Let that person raise the awareness of looking at different labs, different supplements, a different approach and then do your own research. Talk to your physicians if this is right for you. I recently had a friend that was recommended by a non-medical person to get on 7 different peptides for “gut healing” but she has had several cancers and majority of the ones that were recommended are contraindicated for someone who has had cancer! We have so much conflicting information within the actual medical studies that it is hard enough as it is. For example, take hormones or don’t take hormones. This is a discussion with your physician who knows YOUR medical situation, not an influencer.
- Do your homework on the manufacturer of a supplement. I get questions all the time about supplements seen on the internet. Here is my standard answer. While the core ingredients look good, I do not know anything about the company manufacturing it regarding purity of the product. Do they test their product test the products for purity/contamination and safety prior to production and for verifying actual levels after production of core ingredients? I had a patient years ago jump on a product that I had never heard of for joint pain and it was working miracles. This was the first warning because while supplements can help in this area, we had tried enough other things that a miracle was simply not going to occur with a supplement alone. Fast forward a year later, news came out that this supplement actually had a prescription drug in it which was why it was working so well for pain. Yes, the supplement company had to shut down the manufacturing process as a result.
Don’t get lured by every magic supplement because at the end of the day the most important things you can do for your body are eat well, sleep well, exercise regularly and work on ways to handle your stress (see, I said it again). If you do these core things you are already ahead of the game!
Keep the communication open with your physician, I welcome the questions as you know your body the best and it is important to address your concerns. If you have a long list of questions then schedule the appropriate amount of time to review those questions with your physician. Keep the questions direct… I read about this new supplement would this good for me? I googled whether or not to start hormones, do you think they would be beneficial for me? This is what “personalized” medicine is all about!
Ask the questions, learn and apply your new found knowledge to your own health journey.
To your health,
Laura
