With a pinch of salt

WhatsApp forwards and Reels keep dishing out food warnings. But most of the health advice they offer is half-baked

- By Taranna Khetpal

It used to be that people fell sick because they didn't know enough about what was making them sick. They didn't know that rats carry plague, that sunlight builds Vitamin D, that lead is probably not the best material for pipes and skincare products.

How far we've come. We now have so much information screaming at us from zealous influencers that decision-making seems like snakes and ladders on steroids. You climb up with spinach, only to slide down when Instagram says that its oxalates will cripple your joints. You throw out the Teflon pan because eww, forever chemicals. Then, WhatsApp warns you that aluminium causes Alzheimer's. Microplastics are in water, RO filtration wastes water, dead RO sounds bad. What's a person supposed to do, not eat, drink or cook?