As a 32-year-old journalist with a Masters Degree in Nutrition, it’s pretty clear to me that at least 90% of the nutrition tips on TikTok are total rubbish. It is teeming with young, slim influencers who come up with their (usually low-calorie) daily meals to “inspire” others to eat the way they do.
HuffPost and many other branches have reported why these types of videos can be bad for mental health and triggering for people with eating disorders. Still, that kind of terrible “healthy eating” inspiration is as popular as ever.
All you have to do is search for the #healthyrecipes tag to see that TikTok is littered with not-so-healthy ideas. We asked two registered dietitians who both use TikTok to weigh some of these “healthy” recipes.
1. Dipped cucumber in stevia instead of watermelon
The dietary guidelines for Americans recommend that most adults eat at least two servings of fruit a day, and they repeatedly cite fruit as a key component of a healthy diet. Unfortunately, TikTok might lead you to believe otherwise. Recently, Keto-TikToker Janelle Rohner recommended replacing watermelons with cucumber slices dipped in the sugar substitute stevia, which apparently taste the same.
“This is next-level TikTok witchcraft where audiences have been led to believe that there is somehow beneficial in replacing a nutritious fruit like watermelon with a vegetable (pretty on the side) and dipping it in a sweetener,” said Cara Harbsteet, a nutritionist who owns Street Smart Nutrition. “This is driven by a cultural fear of carbohydrates and the foods that contain them, including fruit, despite known nutritional benefits from consuming them.”
Watermelon is full of nutrients and there is no reason not to eat it. If you feel like eating fruit, just eat the fruit!
2. Detox drinks for weight loss
There’s nothing wrong with the juice. But mixing pineapple, cucumber, lemon, ginger and water and calling it a “detox” drink that leads to weight loss? That is completely inaccurate and harmful.
“When influencers (with no medical background) create videos that say something is ‘healthy’, they are not only non-factual, but also harmful,” says Sam Previte, nutritionist and owner of Find freedom to eat.
There is nothing naturally detoxifying about this drink – because “detox” and “cleanses” don’t really work. Also, if you drink this for breakfast, you are missing out on fat and protein, two important macronutrients.
3. Low-carb Cool Whip ice cream
“Ice cream is plain and simple ice,” said Harbstreet, pointing out that there is even one US Department of Agriculture definition what counts as ice and what is not. TikTok’s suggestion of mixing sugar-free Cool Whip with a packet of Jell-O Instant Pudding and freezing it over ice is likely not suitable.
“Although this could be a snack that satisfies cravings for sweet taste and creamy texture, its positioning as a substitute for real ice cream suggests that ice cream should only be consumed if it is a low-calorie, low-fat, and low-sugar drink standard”, said Harbsteet.
In other words, this is just another low calorie ice cream substitute that demonizes real ice cream, which is far more satisfying.
4.Cucumber ‘all bagel’
Just scrape out the kernels of the cucumber, says TikTok, and fill the cuke with some cream cheese, which is topped with all the bagel spice. Voila! A low carb bagel!
Unless, of course, a cucumber won’t satisfy your bagel cravings.
“This speaks to both the cultural demonization of carbohydrates and the misunderstanding of what a nutritionally balanced, medically supervised ketogenic diet is,” said Harbstreet.
She references the fact that people with certain medical conditions could benefit from a true ketogenic diet, but not from the random #ketorecipe suggestions on TikTok.
“Framing a vegetable as a substitute for something like a bagel makes you very scared of eating carbohydrates or eating ‘too much’ bread,” said Harbstreet.
5. Old cheese ‘Keto’ popcorn
A popular TikTok video explains that cheese cubes are left at room temperature for at least 48 hours until stale and then baked until crispy and plump to make them taste like popcorn. The question is, why would you do this?
This “appeals to a lot of people struggling with eating disorders,” Previte said. “Sixty-five percent of women aged 25-45” Fight with eating disorders and a additional 9% have clinically diagnosed eating disorders. ”
No wonder that the young, impressionable TikTok audience falls for such food trends, as many are ready to go to great lengths to lose weight or to be “healthy”. As this list shows, there’s a lot of needless fear of carbohydrates, and this crazy stale cheese trend is just another misinformed attempt to eat fewer carbs.
“As a registered nutritionist and intuitive eating advisor, I want to make it very clear that you don’t have to eat stale cheese,” said Previte. “You can eat popcorn whenever you want and still be healthy.”
6. Bell pepper sandwiches
Whole grain bread has tons of nutrients, but TikTok suggests skipping it and building your sandwich in a bell pepper instead! Dietitians say this is completely unnecessary.
“There is nothing wrong with using bread on a sandwich,” said Previte. The brain needs at least 130 grams of carbohydrates a day to function properly, which is about eight slices of bread.
“Of course you can get carbohydrates from other food sources, but carbohydrates are not the enemy,” said Previte.
When you think a pepper sandwich sounds delicious? Go ahead and have one! But you don’t have to go without bread.
Harbstreet expressed another concern. “This trend also leads to subtle or overt elitism,” she said. A bell pepper, especially an organic bell pepper, as recommended by many TikTokers, is significantly more expensive than two slices of bread.
7. Salad water as a sleep aid
There’s a new trend whole no joke – pulling whole lettuce leaves into your tea. Supposedly, it helps you fall asleep.
“There is no scientific evidence that this sleep aid works in humans,” said Harbstreet.
The idea probably comes from the fact that animal studies have shown certain molecules found in romaine lettuce to promote sleep, but that’s hardly any reason to believe that a few leaves in your tea will do the same thing.
“Videos like this testify to TikTok influencers’ efforts to gain influence through trends popping up. You will find that many of the videos exaggerate the supposed results by claiming that they ‘fell asleep and forgot to finish the video’ which suggests it is working better than it claims. “
The final result? Don’t confuse TikTok trends with legitimate nutrition tips.
“As a nutritionist, I see many of these trends as expressions of the deeply disordered relationship our culture has with diet and health,” said Harbstreet. “The majority of them have the best orthorexic tendencies, with some important warning signs of eating disorders in the worst case.” Essentially, they are about food Fewer – fewer calories, fewer carbohydrates, less sugar and sometimes as little food as possible.
In addition, many of these trends stand out not because the recipe itself looks good, but because the influencer in the video fits the wrong cultural idea of what “healthy” looks like – young, white, strong and very thin.
“I have growing concerns about the damage this does not only to our perception of what ‘healthy’ food looks like, but who we look to when we think about how to be ‘healthy’,” said Harbstreet.
If you want to improve your health, seek advice from a recognized doctor. Don’t contact TikTok.
