Summer 2026/2027 is here, and the effortlessly stylish Kaia Gerber graces the cover of Slim Magazine as our stunning cover star of the season! Inside, discover the latest celebrity fashion trends, delicious summer recipes, handcrafted cocktails, exclusive paparazzi snapshots, stylish home inspiration, health and wellness tips, weight-loss advice, and exciting prizes to be won. Step into summer with style, health and inspiration, only in Slim Magazine!
WHO CAN YOU TRUST? NAVIGATING WOMEN’S HEALTH IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA
FROM HORMONES AND GUT HEALTH TO WEIGHT-LOSS, SUPPLEMENTS AND ANTI-AGEING, WOMEN HAVE NEVER HAD GREATER ACCESS TO HEALTH INFORMATION. BUT QUEENSLAND PHARMACISTS MIRANDA CHAN AND COURTNEY OAR, BELIEVE THE CONSTANT STREAM OF ONLINE ADVICE MAY BE LEAVING WOMEN MORE CONFUSED, RATHER THAN BETTER INFORMED. THEY HAVE CREATED PRETTY PROVEN, A PLATFORM THAT PROVIDES RESOURCES AND SOLUTIONS FOR WOMEN NAVIGATING HEALTH INFORMATION ONLINE.
Scroll through social media for just a few minutes and chances are you’ll encounter someone telling you how to improve your health. There are supplements promising better sleep, diets designed to balance hormones, medicated weight-loss journeys, anti-ageing routines and endless advice on achieving greater health and longevity.
The problem is not necessarily a lack of information. It’s knowing which information to trust. Queensland pharmacists, and identical twins, Miranda Chan and Courtney Oar, believe this has become one of the greatest challenges facing women trying to make informed decisions about their health.
“As women and social media users ourselves, we’ve been shocked by the sheer volume of content focused on medicated weight loss, anti-ageing and longevity that targets women,” Miranda says.
Of particular concern is the blurred line between genuine health education, personal experience and marketing. A persuasive video may look authoritative, yet the person delivering the advice may have no recognised medical qualifications, and the product being recommended may come with an affiliate code or paid partnership.
For consumers, distinguishing evidence from endorsement isn’t always easy. It was this increasingly complicated health landscape that inspired Miranda and Courtney to establish Pretty Proven, an evidence-based women’s health education platform covering subjects including hormones, nutrition, gut and skin health, fertility, supplements and preventative healthcare.
“Women deserve health information that is evidence-based, understandable and genuinely useful. No hidden agenda,” Courtney says.
Importantly, they stress that accessible health education should complement rather than replace a relationship with a GP or other qualified healthcare professional. Instead, greater health literacy can help women arrive at appointments better informed, more confident about discussing their concerns and equipped to ask meaningful questions.
“Our role is to bridge the gap between complex medical research and everyday conversations so women can feel empowered to ask better questions and make informed decisions,” Courtney explains.
That ability to question what we see online is becoming increasingly important. Before accepting a health claim, consider who is making it. What are their qualifications? Is credible evidence provided? Are they selling or receiving a benefit from the product they recommend? And perhaps most importantly, does the advice sound suspiciously simple for a complicated health issue?
Personal stories can be powerful and reassuring, but one person’s experience is not necessarily evidence that the same approach is appropriate, or safe, for everyone.
“There is so much information available today, but more information doesn’t always mean better information,” Miranda says.
For women navigating different stages of life, from fertility and pregnancy to perimenopause, menopause and healthy ageing, reliable information can be empowering. But that empowerment comes not from knowing everything; it comes from knowing how to identify trustworthy sources and when to seek professional advice.
In a digital world overflowing with wellness advice, perhaps the healthiest habit we can develop is also one of the simplest: pause before we like, share … or believe. prettyproven.com
48 SLIM-MAGAZINE SUMMER 2026/27