Remember when Walter Cronkite told you the news and you just…believed him? Well, those days are long gone. Rally breaks down how today’s health headlines get written, why even the legit-looking ones can lead you astray, and what to do before you change your diet, try a new supplement, or share that alarming article with everyone you know.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Rally:
Hey there beautiful people, Rally Preston here, coming at you with The Silver Beast Podcast. Hope you’re doing well!
So let me just say this right up front: Where is Walter Cronkite when you need him?
Remember back in the 60s and 70s…Uncle Walt was the most trusted man in America. When he read the news, we believed him.
Now, we have to figure it out for ourselves…especially when it comes to all the health information out there today. How in the heck are we supposed to know what to believe?
Sometimes it’s really hard to tell which health advice could help us, hurt us, or just an advertiser wanting to take our money and run.
Well, with Walter permanently signed off from the CBS Evening News…looks like it’s up to us to sort through all the confusion.
And hey, let me give you just one personal example here…
So I’ve been taking a melatonin supplement to help me sleep for years …because way back when I read our bodies’ natural production of melatonin, you know, the hormone, decreases as we age. Ok.
So then, just a few weeks ago, I read a large study where long-term use of a melatonin supplement might be linked to heart failure. And just so you know, the researchers didn’t find a direct cause and effect there…but still, that was enough for me to stop taking melatonin.
And that’s just one confusing example. There must be a zillion other conflicting claims out there: …like red wine…chocolate…heck the debate about whether eggs are good or bad for you has been going on for decades, right?
So today, we’re gonna look at how to tell what’s likely garbage and what might be gold — we’re going to find out how to spot the bad – or at least questionable – health information. This should be good.
So I did some research…and here’s what you should know about health headlines…
They’re usually not written by the scientists who did the research. Nope. They’re written by journalists who are trying to get your attention.
And the truth is, medical journalists often get things wrong.
Probably not on purpose, but they can exaggerate findings, misinterpret stuff, leave out important details, and publish stories about findings that haven’t been peer reviewed yet.
So how do we sort through what’s true and what’s not…?
Well, I’ve come up with some pretty good red flags to watch out for…so we can at least start to separate the wheat from the chaff.
OK, here’s Red Flag Number One: If the health advice sounds too good to be true, it probably is…
What do you think about these kind of headlines: “One Tablespoon Of This And Your Kids Will Finally Return Your Phone Calls!” Or here’s another: “This One Weird Trick Stops All Your Joints from Popping Instantly!” <chuckles> Alright, I made those up…but you get the idea.
Yeah, we’re talking the clickbait stuff here. It’s pretty easy to recognize these, right?
Not a lot of real science going on here…maybe not any at all.
But, you know, advertisers put a ton of money behind them…because they’re so hard to resist…and people keep clicking on them.
But hopefully not us savvy Silver Beasties.
Alright, here’s Red Flag Number Two: Watch out for the emotion-packed health headlines…
“Are You KILLING Yourself By Eating This Common Food?!”
“The SHOCKING Truth About Your Morning Routine!”
You’ll see some words in all-caps. Lots of exclamation points. All designed to make you scared or excited or outraged…to get you worked up somehow.
Again, this isn’t real journalism. Just good, old-fashioned manipulation. They just want to try to stir you up somehow, or drive you into some sort of panic.
So just trust your gut. If the information feels off, if it doesn’t jive with what you already know from decades of experience…it should probably get a hard pass.
Alright, Red Flag Number Three: Check the sample size.
Now with scientific studies that look a lot more legit, it gets a little trickier to tell what’s real or not.
So let’s say you see a headline like this: “New Study Shows Pomegranate Juice Cures Arthritis!”
Sounds great, right? But then you wade into it a little deeper… and you find out the “study” involved exactly four people. Four! That’s not a study, that’s, more like a dinner party.
Solid research studies should include what scientists call a large sample size. At least hundreds of people, if not thousands. With just a small number of participants, the results you’re seeing are a long way from verifiable.
But you get up to a thousand people or more? Now you could be seeing real patterns, hard data.
So if an article doesn’t mention how many people were in the study, that’s suspicious. And if it’s a tiny number? Well, maybe don’t toss your arthritis medicine just yet.
Red Flag Number Four: Where’s it coming from?
Take a hard look at who is telling you this information. Is it a reputable medical journal? A university study? The CDC? National Institutes of Health? Or is it “Doctor DoLittle’s Miracle Wellness Blog.”
The source matters. A lot.
Real scientific research gets published in peer-reviewed journals. That means other scientists looked at it, have checked the math, and tried to poke holes in it.
But some of these sources – particularly the low-rent health websites? Chances are they’re just making a lot of stuff up. And, they’re trying to sell you something.
Oh, and that brings us to…
Red Flag Number Five: Are they trying to sell you something?
This one’s pretty straightforward. If an article tells you about some health problem and then — surprise! — they just happen to have the perfect product for that…
Yeah. That’s not health journalism. That’s an infomercial.
Real online medical information doesn’t come with a shopping cart button attached to it.
Now, here’s something else I found pretty interesting… Studies show that us older adults — especially those of us over 70 — we tend to follow what researchers call the “better safe than sorry” philosophy with health news.
Meaning, we’d rather believe something and be proven wrong later – rather than ignoring it now and possibly missing out on important health information.
Hey we’re human, it happens. We’re more likely to believe the scary headlines, the miracle cures, the urgent warnings. Because… what if they’re true? What if we ignore them, and then something bad happens?
So we end up sharing stuff on Facebook that, uh probably shouldn’t be shared. We tell our friends about treatments that are never going to work. We change our whole diet based on one questionable article…just because it might be true.
And look, I get it. We want to stay healthy. We want to do the right things for our bodies and minds. That’s smart.
But we have to be just as smart about where we get our information from.
So what should you actually do when you see a health headline?
First thing — and this is important — read beyond the headline.
Many health headlines – even the ones that don’t scream “clickbait” are still clickbait. They’re just dressed up in more sophisticated clothes. You read on, and the article might tell a completely different story.
Also, be on the lookout for words like “might,” “could,” “suggests,” or “is associated with.” That kind of wording means the research isn’t definitive. It’s preliminary. Might be interesting, but it’s not the final word on it.
And take a hard look at headlines that say “causes,” or “prevents,” or “cures.” Those are bold claims. So they better have some hard evidence to back those up.
Now if other reputable sources are covering the same story. Like NBC, the New York Times, and the Mayo Clinic are all reporting on something, it’s more likely to be legit.
And one more tip for you about health information — and this is may be the most important one — talk to your doctor. The one who knows your medical history.
Because even if the health advice is technically accurate, it might not apply to you specifically.
Maybe you’re on medications that interact with something. Maybe you have conditions that don’t exactly line up.
Your doctor can help you figure out what’s real, what might work, and what’s just background noise.
Look, we’re living in an age where we have more information available than ever before in human history. We have access to millions of medical studies on our smartphones. That’s amazing! But also confusing.
And I know how easy it is to get caught up in all these amazing so-called health breakthroughs. We’ve all been sucked into them. But one of the best things we can do is step back, take a deep breath, and be very skeptical – you know, in a healthy way.
We gotta take a hard look at all this health information and ask questions. Look for hard evidence…real proof.
For our generation… I think we can remember when news sources at least pretended to be objective. Now? Well any Joe Schmoe with a laptop can be a health expert.
So here’s the bottom line Silver Beasties…
When you run across health information in articles, ads, by influencers, podcasters, whatever – always dig a little deeper. Check the source. Look at the sample size. See what other sources you trust are saying about it. And if it looks too good to be true… you’re probably better off scrolling right past it.
You know, I think that’s what Walter Cronkite would want us to do.
Alright, that’s it for today’s episode of The Silver Beast Podcast.
Remember Boomer Babies — stay curious, stay skeptical, and most importantly, stay healthy.
I’ll catch you next time! Take care!