Arguments from authority have their place, but you better be super sure that the person is who you think, that their credentials are what they say, and that their expertise is in the field they are discussing. Otherwise: show your sources.

Let’s start a movement: #NoSourceNoShare #CiteItOrBiteIt

But if you see “me” making “scientific” claims without a high-quality citation?

Block and report.

I’ve garnered ~800k followers. I hope every single one of them knows NOT to trust my face…except as an occasional shortcut to trust the sources that accompany it.

Why is this important?

Because these days, anyone can use my face. The training data is freely available from my public posts.

I don’t think I’ve ever stated a fact about [non-basic] science where I didn’t provide an accompanying citation from a peer-reviewed source–generally picked as a representative sample or meta-analysis after a thorough literature review on the topic.

I’ve spent the last 4 years making hundreds of videos–sometimes debunking misinformation, sometimes sharing new and exciting scientific research (usually with practical applications in the health space).

What critiques would you add here?
For fully detailed critiques of specific posts/videos, as well as overviews of genuinely good studies, check out my free newsletter:
distilledscience.xyz/newsletter
(It’s about to get a revamp!)

6. What were the p values and confidence intervals?
300% gains = relative metric on a differential. What were the expected gains and based what source(s)?

5. 300% YOUR TESTOSTERONE GAINS!”
Measured how?
Measured how long after the workout?
How was the baseline measured before the workout?
How many measurements were taken before and after?
Did the boost persist beyond a single short time frame?

4. “Hard leg workouts”
Resistance training vs running?
High weight vs high volume?
% of 1 rep max?
Training to failure vs stopping X sets before?

3. “Right before”
5 minutes before starting a workout?
30 minutes?
1 hour?
Before each set?

2. “Eating cocoa”?
How much? (Give me mg/kg bodyweight)
What type? (Cocoa powder? Butter? Chocolate? What type of each)
On an empty / full stomach?
Combined with fat or other compounds vs standalone?

1. The biggest problem: no study link, title, or DOI was provided. It could just be made up, or a gross misreading of another social post about a news article about a press release about a study in mice.