With each year comes a surge of new health and wellness trends that promise to change people’s lives. In 2018 everyone was trying to get their hands on products with “activated charcoal,” because it claimed to clear your pores, and whiten your teeth, and one of the most popular claims to “detoxify” the body. In 2019 people were obsessed with celery, not only eating it, which would have been great, but they wanted to drink it! Every day juicing copious amounts of celery to feel better, have more energy and, you guessed it, “detoxify” the body, which never happened. In 2020, people took to taking ivermectin, a veterinary antiparasitic drug as a health trend in treating Covid-19 causing severe illness and reactions for many. In 2021, the health trend was eating raw papaya seeds to cure parasites they didn’t have and in 2022, who could forget the resurgence of fad diets like Keto, intermittent fasting, and juice cleanses, all targeted at trying to “help” the hundreds of thousands of people who reported a weight gain during the more restricted Covid-19 times, only to find themselves having gained back their weight by the years’ end. Long story short, these trends need to end!
What trends should we keep or try to develop in 2023?
Normalize eating food. Yes, eating food, real food, not too much, not too little….veggies, fruit, lean meats, dairy, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, oats, grains, and all the foods that naturally occur on this planet, and talk about it. Normalize talking about eating food. Not about how little or restrictive your eating is, because that can be very triggering to people. You don’t have to hide that you eat food, we all do it, and that’s how we stay alive. If you eat something awesome, share it with someone. Post a photo, it’s ok to fuel your body well.
Get more sleep. Better yet, brag about it. People love to compare or even compete about who got the least amount of sleep. It should be a trend to see who can get the highest quality sleep. If we want to look, feel, think, and act our best, we need great sleep! Make it a new trend to talk about what a great night’s rest you get.
Join the group! There’s a reason group fitness and groups are still around – they work! We are social beings, and that means more than just seeing people work. Being a part of a community does so much for our spiritual well-being and when you mix that in with your physical or mental wellness goals, that’s a trend that can never fail. Join a group with a like-minded goal. Self-care doesn’t have to be self-isolation.
What’s the newest trend? Biohacking! According to www.healthline.com, “Biohacking can be described as a citizen or do-it-yourself biology. For many “biohackers” this consists of making small, incremental diet or lifestyle changes to make small improvements in your health and well-being. Bio hacks promise anything from quick weight loss to enhanced brain function, but the best biohacking results come from being well-informed and cautious about what works for your body.”
Seems simple enough, but if it were, wouldn’t we all be living our healthiest life? Biohacking is taking a closer look at your own unique biological needs with the use of data such as labs, screenings, self-evaluations, etc., and using data to create a self-design specific to your desired outcome. Some people will literally use implantation devices and change their diets and physical activities in ways that may seem extreme to achieve results. It’s all a rather calculated, or shall we say engineered plan! Will it be a trending success or an epic fail? It’s too early to tell.
Trends come and go, but when it comes to lasting health impacts there are only a few things that have been proven to really make a difference, and that is commitment, consistency, and support. You must dedicate yourself and often that’s a commitment of your mind, time, and energy. You must be consistent, and that consistency has no expiration date. We all need support, like it or not, most people who have been successful in anything will tell you they had support in some way, shape, or form, who may be a spouse/partner or friend, who may be a doctor or therapist, or it could even be your workout buddies or an online social support group. Trends come and go, but one trend that can never grow old or go wrong is You! Making a genuine effort to care for yourself is timeless! Make YOU your biggest trend this year, and you will succeed! You are trending!
Mary Hoadley
Director Of The Wellness Center