“Everyone who has ever eaten seems to be granted an equally authoritative opinion about nutrition.” David Katz
This might sound like another rant given that I am sharing my raw and personal thoughts on here but this is somehow, a S.E.N.S.I.T.I.V.E topic that I have come across day in and day out. 
Starting this blog 5 years ago came with an aim of fighting misinformation that everyone seemed to gobble down on a daily basis. Apple cider this, activate that, the devil in the carbs yara yara, I was simply (still am) sick and tired of the amount of poorly researched, well marketed advice that is bestowed upon us. Everyone, including my grandmother, is a full-fledged nutrition expert.
Now, what sparked my anger is the following: With the massive boom of fashion bloggers (literally, everyone), I started to note a trend of delving into health and nutrition advice despite an obvious lack of qualification. Why? I put aside some time one afternoon to research the information provided on some “popular” fashion blogs and was utterly shocked. From “healthy meal plans” , “..secrets to weight loss..” to “the anti-ageing diet” or “safe detoxing”, I was appalled. Obviously, another good way to market yourself is to reach a wider group but hold on, what makes you the expert? How is it OK to give advice when your content is purely based on googled, “he say, she say” research?
One of my favourite columns addressing this issue is by Dr. David Katz, where he marvellously explains how unqualified individuals with an opinion on nutrition are spreading dangerous non-sense. You can read more here but this basically sums up my thoughts:
“We don’t care what people not trained to do neurosurgery think about neurosurgical technique. They are not qualified to opine. When it comes to building airplanes or suspension bridges, we want to hear from the right kinds of highly-trained engineers, not some character who happened to ride in a plane once, or drive across a bridge. When it comes to flying those planes, we want things in the hands of trained pilots — not some guy with a lot of frequent-flyer miles and strong convictions. And I’m confident we want special military operations delegated to our elite troops, and not someone who saw Zero Dark Thirty and came out convinced he could have done a better job.
For now, anyone who shares opinions about nutrition or weight loudly and often enough — or cleverly enough — is embraced as an authority, with no one generally even asking what if any training they’ve had…”
My message is this, leave it to the experts. If your passion is writing and reporting on the latest trends, then keep it to that! Sharing your own personal experiences with your food choices, healthy habits and exercise sessions are absolutely great and inspiring but there’s a fine line between inspiration and communicating as an expert in the field.
I do admit I love my dose of trends and hipster chic wonders. I have a whole bucket of fashion bloggers that I follow, whom I respect and are a source of wardrobe inspiration and simply, keep at that. So, bloggers, blog away at what you’re best at and regardless of what you preach, make sure you have the qualifications to back it up. My darling readers, be critical, question the source and don’t just trust everything you read, see and hear.
Dolphin Solutions
Well said!! You couldn’t have explained it better
People think they can google a topic, write about it and suddenly be experts.
I think it is a very good point, there is a lot of misinformation on the Internet that we have to be careful. I am very careful when I write about nutrition, it is usually very basic tips like ‘switch chocolate for carrot sticks’, with clear disclaimers ‘I am not an expert, just saying it works for me’
Thank you for your feedback James!
Putting clear disclaimers are great and I also think quoting experts in the field or even having them as guest writers is a good idea too! And just like you said, there is so much nonsense out there so it’s important to question and be critical of the source.
Have a good one 🙂