Sponsored: Checking Up On Your Health Information

Ask Leah! The Ingles Dietitian

Sponsored: Checking Up On Your Health Information

These days there’s so much information about our health easily available to us. We can click on our smart phones or type searches into our browser and find articles and information in seconds. But we can also get overloaded and overwhelmed by information and not know what sites or resources to trust.

Here are some tips to make sure you get your health information from reliable sources.

Check the URL (the website) If it ends in (.org) it’s a non-profit organization. If the address ends in (.gov) it’s a government sponsored page. If it ends in (.com) it’s a for-profit organization. For health information, start with sites that you know - your local hospital or health department, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration), CDC (Centers for Disease Control), and the NIH (National Institutes of Health).
What are they selling? Sites with advertising “pop-ups” that try and sell you supplements, detox or cleanses are annoying and less likely to be credible. Sites with a “shop” that try and sell you supplements, vitamins, minerals, etc. may also be questionable.
Evidence-based Does the site promote evidence-based medicine and tests? Do they quote or feature educated and trained physicians and practitioners? Do they practice science-based medicine, or do they promote practices that are more questionable and that don’t have research or evidence?

Be a smart shopper and don’t follow hype when it comes to your health!

Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN