Why Everything Isnt What It Seems....

In todays day and age social media plays a huge part in our ability to stay informed and connected with each other and the world outside. It is through sites such as Facebook and Twitter that information is passed on whether through someone's own words or through a link.

Whilst this freedom of speech and spread of information is great in so many aspects, it often has negative implications when It comes to science.

'Clickbaiting' is a term coined for a title that is so sensationalist that people click on it to see what is going on. Recently a link to a 'Narcotic Nutrition' blog post got my attention. The title of their blog post was


' WARNING: READ THIS BEFORE YOU HAVE ANOTHER WHEY PROTEIN SHAKE '

Instantly anyone who regularly takes whey protein is going to read this and click it, as anything with the word warning is important...surely?

However here is where the issue begins. This post (which at the time of reading had 220 thousand shares on Facebook alone) delves into the idea that whey protein is bad and doesn't give the desired effects of providing the body with extra protein.  Despite this, upon further reading I can state this post was almost 100% false

This blog post states that 'enzymes in the whey are super heated to extreme temperatures, destroying them and removing all beneficial effects of the whey powder'. Now anyone with a basic understanding of biology and chemistry knows that:

1. Enzymes are not a factor in making whey protein cause muscle gain.
2. Enzymes break down into amino acids which make up the core constitute of all 
3. Super heating these enzymes only removes the body's own need to break down these amino acids and so in turn is a benefit to the body

A diagram showing the misinformation of Whey protein, vs Hemp, as the attempt to
make more sales of its own brand Hemp protein.

However for someone who does not know this level of science, it is far easier to accept this as fact then it is to disprove and as a result it gains traction, gets shared on Facebook and in turn gets even more attention. The end result of this, is that people will get a skewed understanding and an incorrect view on the matter.

The same level of mis-information can be found even in articles by major tabloids, with the daily mail recently promoting an article claiming that:  

Autism '23% more likely in babies born by C-section'

However the article fails to cite ANY sources, and only mentions that a review was carried out on studies which made this claim previously. Hence it was impossible to avoid this conclusion if all the studies were in favour of it the first place.  Whilst research into autism is continuing and the links to autism are far and wide as previously mentioned, it is far easier for someone to believe a news article such as this, then to disprove it themselves especially if they lack the understanding.

Unfortunately it cant be expected for everyone to understand everything they read, however people need to take more control in what science they know, and know when to question the science they are given.