Introduction
Over 374 million people worldwide battled diabetes in 2021. By 2045, that number may surge past 700 million. Here in America, 4 out of 10 adults are clinically obese with no signs of slowing. Yet promising solutions to reverse leading drivers of these epidemics – insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction – are being silenced. Keto and low-carb channels run by qualified medical experts boast countless stories of follower health turnarounds. Still, their videos and information are vanishing from search results and social platforms. Who or what is behind this wave of censorship, and what messages are filling the void left by sidelined science communicators?
The Disturbing Trend of Suppressed Science
Eric Berg DC, author of the bestselling book The New Keto-Friendly South Beach Diet, recently revealed alarming insights into the censorship of major keto channels on YouTube. Berg, who has published over 6000 videos as director of Dr. Berg Nutritionals, noticed curious changes to his channel’s visibility starting in 2021. Searches for his videos on subjects like “keto explained” and “intermittent fasting tutorial” began surfacing unrelated fearmongering titles like "Why Keto Will Destroy Your Body" instead.
Dr. Berg is far from alone in this experience. Dr. Jason Fung, nephrologist and fasting/diabetes expert with over 300k YouTube subscribers has expressed frustration with the continual deletion of his videos. Other medical professionals like Dr. Cywes and Dr. Berry also routinely deal with post removals and restrictions. In contrast, critics like nurse Eileen Durfee regularly trend for videos like “Why the Keto Diet Gives Me the Heebie Jeebies” where they mock low-carb diets as “crazy” without offering any countervailing data or sources.
What exactly is prompting censorship against these qualified health experts seeking to spread awareness of promising treatment options? According to Berg, “going against WHO recommendations” earns swift reprisal even for well-researched dietary advice. If true, this indicates a concerning level of ideological control over health information by institutions like WHO that still officially demonize fats and cholesterol while promoting grain consumption.
Surging Health Crisis, Declining Health Literacy
At the same time keto channels fight search suppression, rates of obesity, metabolic disorders, fatigue and inflammation continue climbing. Over 42% percent of American adults suffer obesity. For ages 12 to 19, obesity prevalence has nearly tripled since the 1970s.
Metabolic Health Statistics
- 42.4% of US adults obese (CDC)
- 72.2% of men and 64.8% of women overweight/obese
- Obesity prevalence up from 30.5% to 41.9% from 1999 to 2020
- 12 to 19 obesity rate tripled from 5% to 14% since 1970s
Yet health literacy appears low, especially among youngest generations most impacted by these accelerating epidemics. For example, only 1 in 10 Gen Z adults could correctly identify government daily grain recommendations per a 2021 survey. 70% of Gen Z respondents further reported actively avoiding grains – a complete inversion of USDA Food Pyramid guidance.
This mismatch between official advice and consumer behaviors may stem directly from the types of emerging social media “health” gurus growing in influence as credentialed experts vanish.
Enter the Influencers
Modern digital natives boast unprecedented skill navigating, digesting and disseminating new information online. Yet youth fluent in analyzing TikTok dance trends or gaming streamers proves shockingly vulnerable to basic nutritional misinformation. various surveys indicate Gen Z and young millennials instead take queues from social media “influencers” over traditionally trusted establishment sources. This renders them prime targets for predatory corporate messaging.
Take fitness blogger Alyssa Saucedo, or @happilyalyss on Instagram. Boasting over 800k young followers, she once uploaded a video entitled “Eating Candy for a Day to Prove It Won’t Ruin Progress." Over 16 minutes viewers watch Saucedo smugly consume 4000+ empty calories from bags of Sour Patch Kids, Twizzlers and M&M’s. She falsely asserts candy bears no risks for derailing health goals. Any dissenting comments, including from registered dietitians pointing out the reckless misinformation, disappear entirely or surface bombarded with ridicule from her fans.
Saucedo hardly stands alone in social media stars leveraging loyal follower bases against sound science advice. Various Pepsi and Mars company documents revealed through lawsuits detail elaborate “influencer programs” where famous vines, Instagrammers and YouTubers get paid to promote consumption of flagship soda and candy products. These arrangements seldom disclose inherent conflicts of financial incentive to downplay real dangers to public health.
Impacts on Health
Unlike prior generations, young digital natives skeptical of traditional establishment voices appear largely unable to distinguish credentialed expertise from charismatic corporate shills. This holds terrifying implications for long term population health and medical infrastructure. As Dr. Cywes of YouTube’s Beat Diabetes channel warns:
“When profit motives compromise public access to lifesaving health information, people suffer…Those with the power to combat disinformation campaigns must act swiftly and decisively before the damage becomes irreparable.”
If current trends continue, by 2030 nearly 50% of adults battle obesity with over 100 million cases of diabetes projected. Healthcare costs directly attributable to metabolic disorders could surpass $1.2 trillion.
Yet evidence shows even small 5-10% reductions in population average blood sugar and body weight can dramatically improve outcomes for coronary heart disease, fatty liver, chronic kidney disease and diabetes mortality. Keto alone reversed type 2 diabetes in 96% of volunteers in a 2018 USC clinical trial.
Summary
In summary, censorship against qualified voices providing dietary options for combating obesity and diabetes cannot be justified, especially considering the scale of suffering these epidemics inflict. No matter where one stands on keto itself, open access to the full spectrum of evidence for and against remains critical for public health literacy, patient empowerment and medical progress. Profit-seeking influencers and organizations whitewashing risks of inflammatory modern foods and bankrolled by the same companies profiting from public ill-health must face accountability. Anything less condemns millions to declining quality of life and survivability against potentially preventable conditions.