Top 5 Common Fear-Mongering Diet Myths on Social Media
If you spend any time on social media, you’ve probably noticed a trend: everything is supposedly bad for you. According to viral posts, everything you eat, drink, breathe, or do will lead to an early death—typically by cancer or heart attack. Even water and fruit aren’t safe from the fear-mongering.
If you’re wondering what’s actually true, you’re not alone! The reality is that while some claims have a grain of truth, most are exaggerated for shock value. We’re here to clear things up and ease your fears—spoiler alert: not everything is out to kill you.
Remember: There’s Power (and money) in Fear
Keep in mind that fear-mongering and outrageous claims drive engagement—and engagement means money on social media. Fear triggers a fight-or-flight response in the brain, and online, that response plays out in the comment section.
Social media influencers know what to say to get a reaction, invoke fear, and ultimately control and determine their followers’ belief system1. It is understandably hard to think independently when we are inundated with opinions, “facts”, and aggressive scare tactics, so we’re here to debunk the following claims:
1. Our Tap Water is Contaminated and Will Kill You
The truth is, our water system isn’t exactly a sparkling mountain spring. It comes with a side of chlorine, chloramine, and fluoride2—ingredients that, over time, might not be doing us any favors.
But here’s the good news: fixing this is about as easy as making toast. From fancy whole-house filtration systems to budget-friendly pitcher filters and purifying water bottles, there’s a solution for every wallet size.
Boom. Problem solved. No need to panic—your water isn’t out to get you.
2. Carbs – The Beginning of the End of Your Health
Oh, the endless opinions on food! If you tried to follow every piece of diet advice online, you’d probably end up surviving on air and the occasional ray of sunshine.
Now, let’s cut through the carb confusion with two absolute truths: Not all carbs are created equal, and not all people should eat them.
If you have insulin resistance or diabetes, carbs of any kind can spike your blood sugar and insulin levels, making it tricky to manage—or reverse—your condition. But if that’s not you, some carbs are fair game.
That said, not all carbs are your friends. Ultra-processed carbs (looking at you, store-bought bread, pasta, granola, and sugary treats) are best enjoyed in limited quantities or not at all. But whole-food carbs? If your carbs once had roots, grew on a stalk, or could reasonably be recognized by your great-grandma—then bon appétit!
3. Eating Fat Will Make You Fat
Surprise, surprise—more diet advice! But here’s some good news: eating fat doesn’t automatically make you fat.
Think back to the last time you indulged in a gloriously greasy, high-fat meal. What typically comes next? That’s right—a long, soul-searching session on the porcelain throne, where you contemplate every life choice that led you there. That’s because when you eat more fat than your body can absorb (especially liquid fats), it takes the express route out.
Now, here’s where fat can make you fat: fat + carbs + couch potato mode = weight gain. When you eat fat with carbs—like in cheeseburgers, fries, and pizza—your body burns the carbs for energy first3 and tucks the fat away for later. If “later” never comes (i.e., you’re not burning through those fat stores), well… hello, extra padding.
Bottom line? Fat (and protein) on their own = nutritious and good. Fat + carbs + Netflix marathons = your jeans mysteriously shrinking.
4. Salt will Send You to the ER Clutching Your Heart
Ah yes, the “salt is bad for you” mantra—the nutritional myth that just won’t die.
Did you know that going without salt for too long can stress your heart4 and kidneys, eventually leading to shock, coma, and death? So if no salt is deadly, and some salt is supposedly deadly… well, that’s quite the pickle. Are we all just doomed no matter what?
Not quite. The truth is, salt is essential to life. Elephants literally trek to salt caves to lick the walls, livestock get salt blocks5, quality pet food has added salt, and humans? We need salt, too.
So where did the fear of salt come from? Mostly one study from the 1960s. A researcher named Lewis Dahl6 fed rats the human equivalent of 150 times the normal daily sodium intake. Surprise, surprise—they developed high blood pressure. But this tells us nothing about what happens when humans consume reasonable amounts of salt.
Here’s the real deal: salting your whole foods to taste is perfectly fine. The real issue isn’t salt itself—it’s excess sodium from ultra-processed junk foods combined with the inflammation caused by artificial ingredients.
So go ahead, sprinkle that sea salt on your steak. Your heart will be just fine—as long as you’re not washing it down with a bucket of processed nacho cheese sauce.
5. Only consume organic, farm-raised, grass-fed and finished, locally grown, regenerative farmed meat and produce from a small business
Wow. That was a long title. And wow, there are a lot of fancy labels to keep track of—grass-fed, organic, pasture-raised, free-range, wild-caught, heirloom, biodynamic, unicorn-blessed… No wonder grocery shopping feels like a high-stakes mission.
But here’s the deal: buy what you can afford. If your budget gives a big thumbs-up to the 10lb tube of bulk ground beef and the non-organic bananas, that’s okay. Whole foods—no matter their label—are always a better choice than ultra-processed alternatives.
Bottom line? Feeding your family real food beats chasing influencer-approved perfection. Now go forth, buy your affordable meat and produce, and shop stress-free knowing you are feeding yourself and your family nutritious whole foods.
Always Do Independent Research
This is one of the most powerful ways to take back control from the social media madness: fact-check everything. When you hear a claim that sounds more like a wild conspiracy theory than solid advice, don’t just take their word for it—look it up.
Here’s your game plan: type the claim into Google, followed by “scientific article.” This little trick helps you cut through the noise and get straight to the actual research. And pro tip: the good stuff is usually at the bottom of the study—that’s where they summarize the findings so you don’t have to wade through pages of science-speak.
Most importantly, don’t let yourself be blindly led by influencers who likely haven’t done even half the research they should before making their bold claims. If you can’t find a scientific study on the topic, don’t panic—just dig a little deeper.
When reading a non-scientific article, scroll straight to the bottom first. If it cites actual scientific studies in the reference section, it’s got a better shot at being credible. If the only sources are “personal experience” and “trust me, bro,” well… you know what to do. Stay sharp, stay skeptical, and always, always fact-check.
Take Back Control from Fear-Mongering
Empower yourself with common sense and science-backed facts. If you take a step back and think independently, you might just realize—the world isn’t as terrifying or extreme as the internet wants you to believe.
Most things in life don’t require extreme measures. Tap water? Probably not out to get you. Carbs? Not inherently evil. Eating fat? Won’t magically make you fat. Salting your whole foods? Highly unlikely to land you in the ER. And no, you don’t need to remortgage your house just to afford the trendiest, influencer-approved food labels.
And if you really want to escape the fear-mongering circus, the solution is laughably simple: close the app, put down your phone, and go outside. Breathe in the fresh air, soak in a little reality, and enjoy the blissful silence of not caring what some random internet guru is preaching today.
So here’s the real takeaway: Eat your salty whole foods (no matter the label), drink your water, do your best, do your research, and for the love of sanity—just live.
Supporting Research
- McCorkindale, T., & DiStaso, M. W. (2017, December 11). The science of influence: How social media affects decision making in the healthcare, travel, retail and Financial Industries | Institute for Public Relations. The Science of Influence: How Social Media Affects Decision Making in the Healthcare, Travel, Retail and Financial Industries. https://instituteforpr.org/science-influence-social-media-affects-decision-making-healthcare-travel-retail-financial-industries/ ↩︎
- Drinking water contaminants. EPA.GOV. (n.d.). https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-10/documents/ace3_drinking_water.pdf ↩︎
- Metabolism physiology (human energy consumption): Myvmc. Healthengine Blog. (2019, March 21). https://healthinfo.healthengine.com.au/metabolism-and-energetics ↩︎
- Human Health Co. (2025a, January 4). Heart disease: Revealing the truth about coffee and blood pressure. https://humanhealthco.com/heart-disease-revealing-the-truth-about-coffee-and-blood-pressure/ ↩︎
- Exploring our Fluid Earth. Weird Science: Salt is Essential to Life | manoa.hawaii.edu/ExploringOurFluidEarth. (n.d.). https://manoa.hawaii.edu/exploringourfluidearth/chemical/chemistry-and-seawater/salty-sea/weird-science-salt-essential-life ↩︎
- Bashyam H. Lewis Dahl and the genetics of salt-induced hypertension. J Exp Med. 2007 Jul 9;204(7):1507. doi: 10.1084/jem.2047fta. PMID: 17650543; PMCID: PMC2118645. ↩︎
