In support of HU and why it works.

Hello everyone,

I am very grateful for the HU forums as we can reach out to other people in a way that is effective for us.

I have a keen interest in an LCHF diet but thats all so have never posted on here before even though some of my friends from other forums do.

HU collate information and anonymously and we the members get their great forums, mostly its health issues so the information is very useful to health institutes and the NHS in particular. And what they do is very interesting as these guys write programs that filter out relevant info it is very impressive. Thats the core of it then they have support teams to support us the members and their health partners.

So why not just appreciate the forums and the HU staff as they are real people with real families so let's all be respectful of one another. They must have over 1million members all around the world which keeps them very busy as I know how many spammers I deal with on other groups sometimes.

Finally lets look at what would we have if we didn't have HU or their great forums .................................And I know which I prefer.

So a big thank you to HU from me for their fantastic social media platforms.

I felt that I had to post this to put another perspective on things.

Jerry. 😊

[Activity2004]

I second that one and, yes the entire HU site and team is a big help to me, personally. Without the site, I would never have met the members/friends I have in my life for the last 4 years.😀👍

Thank you, Hidden for the posting!😀

[Cooper27]

It's a fantastic resource! It's great to have somewhere that so many charities can use to allow us to share experiences and advice with one another as well

Someone said to me the other day, if something is free, then you are the product and the company is making money from you. It sounds like that's what's happening with HU! It's no worse than the likes of facebook though

[Cosmo501]

Very well said! Thank you for putting it so eloquently 😊

[cheritorrox]

You're right to point out that they provide this free platform for so many groups ... and that's obviously great for us ... my only "negative" thought is "what's in it for them?" Do you know what they collate? (and what do they do with the data?)

[Cooper27 in reply to cheritorrox]

I imagine it's to do with what conditions people are signing up for in which areas, key words from the posts, possibly using cookie data to see what shopping sites people with certain conditions visit. I'm sure there's some good information for the pharmaceuticals too!

[cheritorrox in reply to Cooper27]

Yeah doesn't stop it being a great platform but it would be nice to know how it's funded - esp as not a charity

(And whoever said it above is probably right - any replies that get to the bottom of it will be deleted - sorry for being cynical Hidden !)

[Hidden in reply to cheritorrox]

Hi cheritorrox here's what they do its on their home page:

about.healthunlocked.com

Jerry.

[cheritorrox in reply to Hidden]

Hey I agree it's a great resource .... but it's also a company not a charity so they're making money somewhere. Not knocking that as such but agree with previous comments that it would be nice to know HOW!

[Hidden in reply to cheritorrox]

I understand your question now cheritorrox , HU collate information and anonymously and that is obviously worth money as it is a valuable commodity.

So there is nothing sinister going on yes they are a company and a company with a great idea and ethos.

[cheritorrox in reply to Hidden]

Just hope they dont get taken over by google (like the rest of the world!). Seriously though, thanks for the info ... I'd still love to know who they sell the data to but as Cooper27 says it's no worse than FB - and if it helps policy makers to get some of the informed opinions we get on here then it might even be a good thing!

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to cheritorrox]

Since HU is hyperlinked from the NHS healthy eating site, it's probably a safe bet they receive payments from the NHS apart from whatever data they're selling. Since the NHS is publicly-funded, I guess they'd have to disclose this. I'll see if I can find out.

[cheritorrox in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Duh don't understand ... HU came first? Hey do we really care that much - just accept they're selling data but in the meantime can't argue with Hidden that it IS a great platform for charities ..... we would never go on internet if were that bothered!

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to cheritorrox]

I don't care very much - if they can make money from the rubbish we post here, good on them - but if they're taking funding from the NHS then they would have to adjust their business policy to accommodate NHS policy. Which would explain why contentious posts tend to disappear. It would simply be interesting to know who they're being funded by, and what sort of sums are involved. Selling raw data is not particularly profitable.

[Rhinegold]

So are you connected to the company in any way?

[Hidden in reply to Rhinegold]

Hello Rhinegold in a word no, I have been a member of HU forums since the beginning of 2011 and am admin on 3 forums with around 100K members and I have a good working relationship with HU support staff, who are friendly and caring people.

We have freedom of speech so it must be upsetting for hard working decent people to be vilified because an unfortunate post that broke HU guidelines was quite rightly deleted.

Maggie De Block is a very popular politician and well liked but is also being vilified for being made the health minister as she is obese and one of her biggest critics is the Trump administration who are saying look at her as it makes the US health care system stand head and shoulders above healthcare in the EU...so I think that we have too be very careful who we align ourselves with.

None of us are perfect so why have we got the right to mock others?

Respect and respect of each other is what sets HU forums apart from other social media platforms, so yes I will openly defend HU and their staff.

Jerry.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

Jerry, you completely missed the point of the deleted post. Of course mocking people simply for being fat is unkind and unnecessary. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. However, Maggie de Block is not being mocked for her appearance, but for what her appearance suggests about her knowledge of diet. Metabolic Syndrome is the biggest health problem in Europe. If you don't even know how to fix yourself, it's a safe bet you don't know enough to be Health Minister. In other words, being fat doesn't give you a free pass to be incompetent, especially when your role in life is to ensure that ordinary people don't get fat.

Presumably whoever deleted the post also missed the point.

>> so I think that we have too be very careful who we align ourselves with.

You're dead right there. There's a storm coming, and those who have aligned themselves with groups peddling BS and lies are going to find themselves dealing with lawyers, IMO. HU should value this group for what it is: their get-out clause from a sticky situation.

[Hidden in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Hi TheAwfulToad no you are missing the point it isn't what was said it was how it was said.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

Then let me ask you this: what would have been the HU-approved way of pointing out that the Dutch Health Minister, from appearances, would appear to know little or nothing about healthy eating?

[Cooper27 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

To look at her policies on diet, and not judge her by her appearance, to put it simply.

Being overweight doesn't mean you don't know how to be healthy, it just means you either don't or can't follow the advice (for whatever reason), or that perhaps there is an underlying issue (for me that was thyroid issues).

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to Cooper27]

>> it just means you either don't or can't follow the advice (for whatever reason)

Then that would make her a hypocrite, as opposed to an ignoramus.

I really don't buy this argument, though. If one knows how to be healthy - and it really isn't difficult, as many of the members here can attest - then why on earth would you choose to be unhealthy? And if you're the Health Minister, why on earth would you want to advertise the fact that you don't even care about your own health?

Sorry, but I think personal failures are as relevant to a Minister's ability to do his/her job as failures of intellect. But I'll agree with you that we should see what policy changes she makes, if any. Dutch people are not particularly unhealthy, as a nation, but things could certainly be better.

[Cooper27 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Reasons people can't follow diet advice include mental health issues, eating disorders, undiagnosed health conditions (incl. vitamin deficiencies), food addictions.

I think you won't appreciate it unless you've been through it though.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to Cooper27]

Most of those conditions are caused by bad diet, or by following mainstream health advice. Or at least exacerbated by bad diet. My observations of the NHS thread indicates that eating disorders and "food addiction" are invariably related to following calorie-controlled, low-fat diets. Vitamin deficiency is also common on low-fat diets because several vitamins are fat-soluble.

If the Minister has "mental health issues" so serious that she cannot feed herself properly, then I suspect those issues would seriously interfere with her duties.

You're making assumptions about the Minister based on your own experiences, but the reality is that - statistically speaking - obesity is overwhelmingly an issue of bad diet, not medical factors outside of the individual's control. I'm not denying that such factors don't exist, but I think you need a bit more evidence here that the Minister is anything other than a normal human being who is just following (her own) bad advice.

In fact I might just send off a letter and ask whether she has any medical issues she'd like to disclose. I doubt I'll get a reply, but it's worth asking.

[Cooper27 in reply to TheAwfulToad]

I can agree with you on your first paragraph.

While I may be making assumptions of the health minister based in my own experiences, I can say the same in return. The fact is we don't know what the story is here, but it is wrong to shame someone until we do know all the facts.

I would say that most people who overeat despite knowing it's harming them, probably do suffer from disordered eating though.

[Hidden in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Well said Cooper27 and TheAwfulToad do you really need me to tell you how to make a post without mocking the other person or their appearance?

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

Yes. Spell it out please. While I agree Mike could have been a bit more ... diplomatic, I believe his basic point was valid even if you dislike the way he made it, and we could have continued the debate on that basis. Indeed I attempted to do that before the thread was deleted.

Politicians, by the nature of their job, expose themselves to mockery. It comes with the territory. I would actually agree with ... flo, I think it was ... who suggested that political discussions don't belong on a diet site, but diet has become intensely political. People make bad dietary choices because of government-policy choices. It needs airing out.

[Activity2004 in reply to Hidden]

You said it perfectly, Hidden . No one should be mocking anyone for health or anything else, either. If someone can’t say anything nice, then they shouldn’t say it.😀👍

[Hidden]

Your husband had 5 HU user accounts and was banned by HU staff.

[Hidden]

Any complaints about me or your husband please contact:

HealthUnlocked Support [e-mail]

Jerry.

[Hidden]

Same from me, it's brilliant and so are the people on it.

It's my first port of call for information regarding any condition I may have or be worried about. Got to say, it's possibly overtaken, or at least gone hand-in-hand the doctor in many respects.

[Nico101]

Well, I must say I had no idea this was a company-owned site. This worries me quite a lot, as we put a lot of personal info on here. Does this mean that the core people on the site are paid to be here?

That said, the info is invaluable and has helped me a great deal. I suppose that's the payoff.

I would like to know in detail about funding/links with the NHS, though, as was mentioned above. If HU has direct links/sponsorship/funding, etc. in relation to the NHS, then it will make it much harder for GPs and endos to dismiss advice given on here, as my GP tried to do recently.

[Hidden in reply to Nico101]

Hi Nico101 , please do not worry its much more complicated collating information than we realise, it is collated anonymously and is of interest to the medical profession and pharmaceuticals so surely it's a win win situation as its only consumer feedback on one level but very relevant to the health industry, so it is in our best interests I'm sure.

Now here's something to think about do you have a store card? Because store cards let the supermarkets know exactly what we bought and when and then they can target us with tailor-made special offers which aren't anonymous...

So again this is what makes HU such a great social media platform that works for us.

Jerry 😊

[Activity2004]

HU has a policy for all users. No one is allowed to have more than the 2 accounts. This breeches the rules if a user does this. Same as if they try to change names more than twice/name.