Fitness coach debunks popular diet and workout myths on TikTok: 'It can actually have a negative effect'
In January, at the height of New Year’s resolutions, fitness coach Hannah Barry decided to share a behind-the-scenes look at her former life as a “really toxic fitness influencer.” Because it was the beginning of the year, she knew people were searching for “miracle” weight loss routines and diets, and she wanted to nip the misinformation she knew they’d find in the bud.
But the problem is, the misinformation and search volume for diets and workouts does not stop in January. It’s a continual issue that’s particularly prevalent on platforms like TikTok, where millions of young users are exposed to it every day.
Ben Carpenter has been doing something similar to Barry for his 660,000 followers. He has been a personal trainer for 17 years and started to increase his social media presence in 2009 after clients came to him rife with misinformation about dieting and weight loss. There is seemingly no cure-all or cleanse he hasn’t heard about before — especially with the rise of fitness influencers.
In a recent clip, he responded to another creator, named Mariya, who was talking about food cravings.
“If you are craving baked goods or gluten,” Mariya said, “usually what you’re craving is the energy of your father.”
In response, Carpenter closed his eyes, reacted with “What?” and then got out of his chair.
While his commenters laughed at the video and made jokes comparing their dads to various baked goods, Mariya actually has a sizable following on TikTok. She bills herself as an “intuitive” eater and “energy alchemist,” and her original TikTok about food cravings has over 947,000 views and was saved by over 7,000 users.
Mariya has a 12-minute YouTube video expanding on the idea that gluten cravings are linked to your dad. Unlike the comments on Carpenter’s response video, her fans wrote that they found the video “spot on” and thought it “makes a lot of sense.” One commenter specifically requested a chart to “show what cravings go with what emotions.”
In reality, when it comes to craving carbs or gluten, it’s because consuming those foods releases serotonin in the brain. This can contribute to some people not being able to control how many carbs or sugary foods they eat in one sitting because eating carbs can make you want more. This also explains why people experiencing stress, anxiety or depression can resort to these things as “comfort food.” There is no scientific proof that it has anything to do with your dad.
Diet misinformation is rampant on TikTok — that’s not new. Recently, experts have tried to intervene in the growing misconception that the supplement berberine is “nature’s Ozempic.” Dr. Idrees Mughal, who goes by Dr. Idz on social, is, like Carpenter, trying to use his platform to help educate and combat misinformation from so-called wellness gurus.
Dr. Idz made an interesting point to In The Know during a conversation in November 2022: Diet, exercise and wellness are the only area in science where this sort of misinformation repeatedly occurs and is spread by unlicensed creators.
“This is actually only applicable to the wellness industry, and that is because you won’t find it in any other subject matter — whether it’s science, geography or whatever, you won’t find it,” he said. “You’re not going to find someone who isn’t an engineer make a video about, oh, this is the best way to build a skyscraper.”
In another video, Carpenter addressed treadmill fads that have become popular on TikTok, especially the “Hot Girl Walk” trend. In the original video, a creator says that “walking on the treadmill at 12-15 incline 3.2 speed keeps muscle & burns fat faster than jogging or running.”
“This is a myth,” Carpenter said. “There is no secret treadmill formula that works significantly better for fat loss and muscle growth.”
Carpenter pointed out that this is a recurring trend on TikTok — people filming themselves walking on treadmills, selecting a random incline and speed and then pairing it to a trending TikTok sound so it goes viral. A few examples he showed have accumulated 20 million views.
He also went into the debate between exercising at high versus low intensities. A study he sourced that compared those intensities found that for fat loss and muscle growth, “the difference it makes was barely a smidge above f*** all” (that quote being Carpenter’s, not the study’s).
One video that caught a lot of attention from fans was of Carpenter explaining why he no longer posts shirtless selfies. After years of aspiring to be a fitness model and almost two decades of working as a personal trainer, he admitted he initially used his own body as a “business card.”
“Whilst that kind of ‘fitspiration’ content is motivational to a subset of people, to many of you it can actually have a negative effect on your mental health,” he said. “The problem? Most fitness influencers know that showing a bit of skin is great for clicks — I could get a lot more video views if I made every video with my top off — but I f***ing hate the idea that this content could be harmful to some of you.”
Studies have proved that there is a correlation between “fitspiration” or “thinspiration” trends online and poor mental health. Body checking — the act of posting images of your body in hopes that someone will comment on it — has been on the rise on TikTok especially.
“My gut instinct is that the fitness industry would be a healthier place for you if there was more emphasis on just trying to improve your physical and mental well-being and less of an obsession with how fitness influencers look with their top off,” Carpenter concluded.
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