Dr Layne Norton: If you lie about nutrition I will come for you
How often do you read or hear something on social media that you know – categorically – is untrue? Once a day?
What about a statement or view that unashamedly bends or stretches the truth to fit a particular narrative or agenda? Even more often?
Most experts believe that it’s best to ignore, mute and block anyone you see doing this. Life’s too short, they’ll say, so better curate your feed so you no longer encounter people lying, cheating and exaggerating to push their own point of view, often for financial gain.
But Dr Layne Norton is not like most experts. He first made a name for himself in the global health, fitness and nutrition industry by advocating a purely research-backed approach to information and advice, sticking to the science and never wavering from what we know works.
He then found even greater fame with his relentless approach of calling out charlatans, scammers and pseudo-scientists who pray upon the desperation, naivety and innocence of millions of people, offering too-good-to-be-true solutions to the most-common health problems for financial gain.
Constantly calling out the grifters is exhausting work, because as soon as you’ve crushed the claims of one so-called expert, two more have appeared somewhere else in the depths of Instagram to make their fortune.
But as Dr Norton explains in our exclusive Unfiltered interview, he’s never going to stop his hunt for the social media charlatans. Why? Because when the stakes are this high, and the potential impact of inaction could lead desperate individuals down the wrong path that may make their physical and mental health worse, rather than better, keeping his mouth shout just isn’t an option.