Online doctors and nutrition programs- bust

The fruit juice diet, cutting carbs, only meat. These are a few of the tidbits of advice swarming around the internet for weight loss and diet plans. I was thrilled to finally the media finally raising an eyebrow about it.

The UK based Daily Mail covered the issues behind trendy online nutrition sites. They go as far as to critique several sites (although all UK based, they all sound familiar to US counterparts). Can you really expect to get a health reading without going to the doctor?

My firm belief (as is the view the Daily Mail article expresses) is NO. Even the most detailed sites that ask you to fill out hundreds of questions about family medical history and take into account your physical activity level can miss the mark completely. The only thing I do value from sites like these (detailed ones, at least) is that they ask for family history; which hopefully either brings past family illnesses to the front of your mind or involves you in conversation to discover potential dangers.

Last winter I finally gathered the guts to have an on going digestion issue looked at by a doctor. I had done a mild amount of studying up online, but in the end I realized no Google search was going to pop my CD drive out with a trial period of medication that I needed. What shocked me even more was the changes in Google search I witnessed.

Try typing in any medical condition, from headaches, to bladder control, a new feature pops up. Near the top of your search, Google categorizes information based on treatments, symptoms, cures, diagnosis, causes and more. All the sudden with one key phrase, Dr. Google can point you're naive mind in a potentially dangerous direction.

If you're looking for a diagnosis for illness, what may be lacking from your current lifestyle, or any type of medial assistance, SEE A DOCTOR. The interaction alone cannot be matched by a general online survey which will be immediately scored by a computer system and shot back to you. The human body is not a square peg that always fits into the same square hole.