"This superb book is an essential guide to the wild world of internet health." -Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People When did we start trusting influencers over doctors? You used to see a doctor. Now you go online. Want to track your blood sugar? Your heart rate? Your sleep? You can. Need to focus? Want to lose weight fast? Everything is a click away. But who is regulating this? As hospital wait times grow ever longer and some patients are priced out of medical care altogether, influencers have filled the gap. From doctors promoting new therapies, to entrepreneurs selling solutions, these self-styled experts glow with good health and guarantee results. But they are not familiar with our medical history. They don't owe us a duty of care. And they're rarely either qualified or impartial. So why do we trust them? "This superb book is an essential guide to the wild world of internet health-a series of cautionary tales, brilliantly told, about the perils of health influencers and the messages they peddle." "This book tackles one of the most important health issues of our time. It is brilliant, thorough and vital. Empowering for anyone who has ever come across health information, stories, or advice online-which is pretty much all of us." "Bad Influence arrives at a moment when fascination with health, longevity, and 'optimized living' has never been greater…With a reporter's eye and a scientist's precision, Deborah dissects the interventionist claims of the wellness industry and exposes the shaky evidence underpinning it. Her diagnosis is uncomfortable but urgent: that those selling us control over our health may, in fact, be the ones making us sick. Bad Influence is a must-read for anyone who has ever turned to the internet in search of better health-and a timely warning about the seductive power of bad influencers."
