Want to eat healthily but confused by all the information? Welcome to the club.
Want to eat better but don’t know where to even BEGIN? Perplexed by paleo? Confused by carbs? Baffled by how to even pronouce quinoa, let alone eat it?
Join the queue. Because a study has found Australians are confused as shit when it comes to overhauling our diets.
The problem? Social media. Wellness warriors who Instagram their food, sign you up to their rejuvenation wellness programs, pen manifestos on the dangers of some food, or get around eating 30 bananas a day. They’re everywhere. You can’t vaccinate against them because they don’t believe in vaccinations. And their messages are confusing us mere mortals to the point where WE’VE FORGOTTEN WHAT TO EAT TO BE HEALTHY.
A new study into Australians’ health and well being has found many of us want to eat better but feel like we are constantly being misled, and are not sure what should be in a healthy diet; that healthy eating is out of our control.
The Medibank survey of 1500 Australians found that while 41 per cent agreed they should change their diet to be healthier, 19 per cent said they were unsure what to do.
Associate Professor in Nutrition at Deakin University Tim Crowe said the reason we’re all confused is because the “rise of social media and some very loud voices in that space”. That the sheer amount of nutritional informational available is muddying the (coconut) waters.
“The findings of this survey are not surprising at all,” he says. “It’s something I talk to people on a daily basis about. Misinformation, personal blogs, social media pages, they are prevalent. And it all adds to the confusion about nutrition and healthy diets.”