One of the ways I've tried to stay sane the last few years was watching anti-MLM videos on Youtube. There's a whole genre of people warning people about these particular kinds of scams

Albertina is not real, but she has a very human face.



It's one thing for the government to jump on an erroneous theory -- which EVERYONE was accepting back when -- and take a wrong turn into metabolic disease. But now we are plagued with health scammers, all automated and there's nothing real in it.

But what makes me angry is how easily so many people fall for it.

The article is Who in the world is Albertina Geller? who has a Linked In profile and other internet artifacts of actual people. Yet, it's all about selling a variety of supplements, often in Multi Level Marketing schemes, which change constantly.

And yet so many will believe a fake face on the internet and give it money. We need a better grade of critical thinking out there.

It really is life or death. Especially for the people who are so confused with competing messages, but also refuse those who explain the actual science.

I'm thankful for a strong science and nutrition background. A good base to work from.

Over the years my level of " show me the proof' has increased, to the point even the science is questioned......I was introduced to the critiquing of papers while attending brown bag lunches at a BIG lab facility. PhDs and grad students presented their preliminary papers and the audience of PhDs and grad students questioned the procedures and phrasing in the paper, and offered suggestions. Always cordial as everyone had an opportunity to be under scrutiny.

That scrutiny is critical as some papers are better than others. And unfortunately too many are trash. Remember the researcher at Harvard that was disgraced for making up findings and let go??

Learn learn learn. To better evaluate what is spewed as facts. And if a person or source is selling something new doubly skeptic.

I absorb a lot of information but with a filter and room to alter my opinion.

I think we underestimate many people's devotion to certainty, and being close-minded as a result.

I had to open my mind to possibilities. Or I would have never wound up where I am now!

Which is a good thing. I think we might have started to open minds about nutrients. And now the science of bio-availability has better answers about what food we should concentrate on.

Found this amusing; although, I couldn't access the article without a subscription commitment. What people who frequent social media must know for their own good is that many of the "people" they believe they're interacting with aren't people at all. There are many crafted, artificial people out there (bots) who function in many ways to stir up political issues, to sell things, to influence opinions, the list is endless. It's a captive audience, and these bots are so well designed that most think they're communicating with a regular person, friend, neighbor or anyone who has an account on that social media outlet. The social media providers like this, as these bots generate more traffic and make their sites relevant, but also very fake. In the past, you could spot these bots, as the writing and language was usually a bit rough and not always on topic. However, like anything, this technology has gotten better and better. Hey, what better way to form opinion, promote snake oil or positions on health matters like vaccines, and influence political views. It's now big tech business.