Chris Hemsworth's chef slams TikTok 'health' trend: 'Need to be wary'

With the silly season well and truly underway and Christmas fast approaching, it's a common time of year to be inundated with health tips but sometimes sifting through information on the internet can be overwhelming.

Social media serves us all kinds of health and diet information, some good, some bad: log onto TikTok and you may have a viral nutritionist tell you to stop drinking oat milk IMMEDIATELY... just as you are about to take a sip of your double shot iced oat latte to get you through the day.

Procrastinate on Reddit, and you may accidentally find yourself in a thread about how an extreme diet like paleo or keto eradicated someone's health problems and now their skin is always glowing, not in an Edward Cullen way, but in a Snapchat filter kind of way.

With so much information at our fingertips, we decided to hit up one of Australia's most renowned celebrity chefs: Dan Churchill.

Making a name for himself initially on MasterChef, Dan is now a regular on the Drew Barrymore Show as well as Chris Hemsworth's very own chef and culinary director of Chris Hemsworth's health app Centr.

RELATED:

• Chris Hemsworth reveals huge life changes after Alzheimer's test result

• Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky shut down rumours of split with family holiday

• Chris Hemsworth unrecognisable in hilarious ad for health app

So if TikTok is confusing you or you need a nudge in the right direction, we asked Dan some very important questions so we can all start 2024 with the right health goals in mind.

Is oat milk bad for you?

If you're a non-dairy milk consumer, you may have noticed recently oat milk is getting a pretty bad reputation.

"Not all oat milk is bad for you – it often gets a bad rap due to the prevalence of seed oils and sugar it contains," Dan told Yahoo Lifestyle.

"You can make your own oat milk at home to completely control what goes into it, or look for ones that are seed-oil-free, like the OMG (Oat Milk Goodness) brand, which is the only one on the market that seed-oil-free."

Stop adding artificial flavours to water

We all want to be hydrated, especially during this time of year in Australia. But Dan said one TikTok trend he'd love to see the back of is people concocting strange drink combinations.

"Hydrating is super important, and I’m all for getting creative, but we need to be wary of adding lots of empty sugars (e.g. syrups and artificial flavours) which have no benefit in the long run. Fresh herbs and fruit are a great alternative," Dan told us.

Forget "calories in/calories out"

When asked what exercise trend he'd really like to debunk, Dan had this to say.

"I definitely would debunk the 'calories in, calories out' mindset – there's just more to it, so when people hang their hat on this concept it can cause fixation around numbers to get to your goal, which isn't always healthy," he said.

"While calories are important for exerting the amount of energy you're burning, you also need vitamins, minerals, and fibre which doesn't always get counted toward the final caloric number."

Don't stress about being extreme

So what about people online who credit paleo or keto as solving all their life problems? Dan says a more balanced approach is normally the ideal way to go.

"Ultimately, you want a sustainable, balanced approach to food that gives you the fuel to perform at your best. The issue with more extreme diets is that if they’re too restrictive or full of rules, they can be unrealistic for your day-to-day," he explained.

"Instead, meals that are easy to make, delicious and nutrient-dense are the best way to go. That’s what I set out to do when creating recipes for Centr. On the platform we incorporate food plans which complement the workouts on the app so you eat for performance."

Find out more about Centr here.

Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyle’s daily newsletter.

Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@yahooinc.com.