Googling ≠ Research. And It Might Be Costing You Your Health

I’m continually amazed by how often my wife and I will casually discuss an obscure topic only to have our phones serve an eerily targeted ad about it the next day. With the rise of AI, our devices and the information they deliver are becoming increasingly tailored to us (and our biases). Think of yourself as an algorithmic avatar being fed a constant stream of information curated to match what the data predicts you want to know, learn, or, more importantly, confirm.

I love it when patients ask me questions about health topics. What needs to be addressed today is when people follow it up with, “I researched it,” and then cite Google, a random internet article, or—my personal favorite—a TikTok video.

Don’t get me wrong—I understand. We’re all influenced, myself included. But let’s be clear: what’s being influenced isn’t our intellect—it’s our emotions. To guard myself against these traps, I run all “health information” through my B.S. meter, rooted in my understanding of basic biochemistry, physiology, and biology, plus 25 years of working with patients. I recognize that not every topic has a double-blind clinical trial behind it, but I always follow up with a search on PubMed or Google Scholar to evaluate the evidence. I strongly encourage all of you to do the same.

Proper research requires accurate sources, not write-ups designed to elicit an emotional response then to purchase a product.

Yet, how do you also navigate the bias built into individual studies? For those unfamiliar, a meta-analysis is a research method that combines data from multiple individual studies on the same topic. By pooling results, researchers can draw more decisive, more comprehensive conclusions than any single study could provide. It’s essentially "a study of studies” that offers a more transparent, more robust picture of the evidence by analyzing aggregated data.

For a quick example, I am often asked if adding a statin would be a good idea for lowering cholesterol and reducing heart disease. If you ask a traditional physician this question, there is a good chance they will respond that statins lower LDL (ApoB), can help lower your risk of heart disease, and may review some potential side effects. Yet, diving into the research, you can find trials that support and dismiss this notion. It can quickly cause your head to spin. This is where doing a Google Scholar search on a meta-analysis of statins and heart disease will help consolidate the information in a way that will help you make a truly informed decision as the CEO of You. No individual study will ever elucidate a one-size-fits-all treatment plan that includes everyone, but a meta-analysis does a better job.

In this hyper-information age, now skewed by AI-driven algorithms and spyware, it’s more important to stay vigilant about how our emotional strings are getting tugged.

Let’s strive to be educated—not influenced.

Grateful to be your physician guide.
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Kevin Hoffarth MD, IFMCP
Author: Functional Medicine: The New Standard
Owner: BioFIT Medicine, Austin TX