Six new and sometimes radical principles of online nutrition science communication.

A thread.

1. Information does not exist by itself but must be conveyed with rhetoric or art to make maximum impact.

Constantly and painstakingly evaluate how you are communicating and whether it is effective.

Do not go against human nature.

2. Tribalism undermines flexibility of thought.

Escape your tribe and associate with those who think differently from you. Don't be afraid to go against the grain.

3. Status jockeying, ego, virtue signaling, outrage culture, etc. can undermine the integrity of ideas and do just that more often than not.

Keep a clear long-term vision of what you want to achieve and ignore "clicks", "being on the right side", and unnecessary conflict.

4. The problem of bad nutrition science information is systemic and related to the history of media. The pay-per-click model is bad for integrity; the subscription model is better.

Emphasize reform to media models; denouncing pseudoscience and promoting science is not enough.

5. A 100K follower "platform" is paltry compared to the media juggernaut that promotes pseudoscience. Attacking quacks is a waste of time (See #2 and #3).

Make friends with enemies. Until systemic change occurs, use your opponents' networks to spread good science. Go on Dr. Oz.

6. Diets are not an effective vehicle for addressing the obesity epidemic. A change in diet is critical, but obesity is a political/cultural problem.

Learn what changes are needed to address the obesity epidemic; for every diet fact, talk about a social determinant of obesity.

That's it. I might write a longer post, article, or book chapter on this someday. But that's a start.

Thank you for reading.