Everyone wants to feel better and do better. That’s why we’re so quick to jump onto wellness trends — only some just aren’t worth post-obit. Sometimes, these “peachy” ideas are absolutely useless or, even worse, harmful.
In the midst of all of the keen wellness tips, productivity tricks and life hacks that accept sprung up, at that place are some that stand out for all the wrong reasons. Despite the huge followings these 30 ideas have, at that place’s absolutely no scientific basis to propose they work.
Dopamine Fasting
Dopamine is tied to pleasure and motivation. Cameron Sepah, a psychiatrist, says that people are getting too much dopamine from constant contact with applied science. This leads to technology addiction and a lack of motivation to do other things.
People ran with that thought, claiming that by advisedly limiting the amount of dopamine they receive, they tin can trick their brains into being more productive. Ane Silicon Valley worker limited the time he talked to coworkers because of dopamine fasting. Keeping yourself from pleasure hasn’t been proven to increment motivation — but staying off your cell phone
can
increase productivity.
The business world is total of people whose careers depend on coming up with cut-edge ideas on a about-constant footing. Some have started taking small doses of LSD in an attempt to get more creative and productive. The people who do it swear by information technology, but the scientific community doesn’t agree.
Dr. James Fadiman is a psychologist who’s a proponent of microdosing, and he has admitted that there’s no scientific prove to bear witness the proposed positive effects of it. 1 thing is for sure: Microdosing at work is a great way to go fired or arrested.
Pink Himalayan Salt Lamps
Pink Himalayan salt lamps are all the rage. These lamps supposedly reduce the number of negative ions in the air, only studies on whether these ions are actually bad are largely inconclusive. Proponents of the lamps say they can clean the air and fight low. Science says the jury is still out.
The lamps take dehumidification backdrop, but that’southward a far cry from purifying the air. The warm glow could possibly assistance someone who has seasonal melancholia disorder (getting severely depressed due to a lack of exposure to sunlight), but information technology hasn’t been proven to cure depression.
Extreme Fasting
Silicon Valley CEOs like Jack Dorsey and Phil Libin are taking intermittent fasting to the next level. Rather than eating fewer calories on fasting days, they’re not eating at all for upwards to 8 days. Believers claim these extreme fasts better focus and that hunger dissipates a few days in.
Tech leaders use engineering to track their blood sugar and ketone levels to ensure they’re using stored body fatty for energy and not starving. Doctors warn that this can atomic number 82 to severe malnutrition and damage organs, which rely on nutrients and more than but fat for energy.
Healthy Men Taking Estrogen Blockers
There’south a relatively new trend of men who don’t have wellness problems taking estrogen blockers to increase testosterone, supposedly increasing libido, vitality and overall health in the process. For men who don’t have enough testosterone, taking estrogen blockers can sometimes exist safer than taking testosterone supplements.
A salubrious man who takes estrogen blockers as a supplement could get sick. Men and women both have estrogen and testosterone, and estrogen helps joints, the brain and sperm production in men. A man who doesn’t have enough estrogen may feel health bug. It’southward not a good idea to take these strong supplements if they’re not medically necessary.
Plasma Transfusions From Immature People
Blood transfusions are usually reserved for emergencies, but billionaires like Peter Thiel are getting them by selection. They’re being transfused with the plasma of immature people, believing it has anti-aging backdrop. The supposed benefits come from i study, and the FDA says there isn’t enough prove to prove the efficacy of plasma transfusion from young people.
There’s nigh no research on constituent plasma transfusions. They also carry the gamble of spreading disease and allergies and could have unintended side effects. Considering many companies purchase the plasma from blood banks, this also uses up the limited claret supply.
Cryotherapy
Cryotherapy treatment centers are popping up all over the land, just the benefits of exposing the body to subzero temperatures haven’t been proven. Many professional sports teams are proponents of cryotherapy considering it’s said to improve muscle recovery and get rid of soreness.
Ice does aid ease the hurting of agonized muscles, and so it only makes sense that someone with sore muscles would feel better after a cryotherapy session. Yet, the results of this therapy have never been tested or proven clinically. Some cryotherapy centers fifty-fifty become across muscle soreness and say that this treatment can cure diverse ailments.
Collagen Powder
People are stirring powdered collagen into nutrient and beverages to meliorate the advent of their skin and help muscles repair themselves. Some even claim that consuming powdered collagen tin can cure the pain of arthritis. Some doctors are fans of powdered collagen, just there’southward very little show for its efficacy.
There have been promising studies, simply all of those studies have been way as well modest to determine a footing for regularly consuming powdered collagen. The powder is made from ground-up animal peel and hooves, and heavy metal contamination, as well as the potential to transmit bovine spongiform encephalopathy (a.k.a. mad cow disease), are potential concerns.
Short Naps
Nosotros’ve all wanted to nap at work, and now, companies are finally jumping on the bandwagon. Some of the trendiest companies fifty-fifty have rooms or infinite-agey pods dedicated to taking naps during the twenty-four hour period.
Despite all the rave reviews, scientific discipline has long said that the very concept of a powernap is sketchy. Although a nap may feel refreshing, sleep happens in cycles that usually last for 90 minutes. When a cycle is interrupted, a person will typically feel very tired. Unless y’all’re napping for xc minutes, taking a nap during the day will probably just make you sleepier.
NAD+ Supplements
NAD+ is a supplement at the intersection of 2 of Silicon Valley’s biggest wellness desires: people who want to alive longer, and people who are interested in intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting has been found to increment NAD+ levels in the torso, which is why some merits information technology increases longevity.
Science has linked NAD+ to longevity, merely the body has a hard time utilizing this compound. Other supplements that contain NAD+ take to be taken to get the effect, but the efficacy of these supplements is unproven. These supplements are usually very expensive, and they may not be worth the money.
Coffee Enemas
Java enemas are exactly what you recall they are. Without getting too explicit, they involve saturating the colon with coffee via the rectal route. These enemas are said to boost free energy, get rid of intestinal parasites and toxins and assist the immune system.
Coffee has plenty of proven health benefits…which are diminished when coffee is introduced to the torso rectally. In a study comparison people who drank a cup of coffee to people who used a java enema, the people who drank the java had more caffeine and antioxidants in their bloodstreams. Java enemas can crusade dehydration and internal burns.
Colonics
Colonics take enemas to the next level. More than a dozen gallons of warm water, sometimes containing herbs, are flushed into the colon via the rectum. This practice can only be done in a facility, and many people believe that information technology detoxifies the body.
Colonics have just been proven to cause bowel movements. There’due south no evidence for whatever detoxification of the body, and these procedures bear risks of dehydration. Although colonics cannot exist done at domicile, these procedures are rarely performed in medical offices, and then there’s business involving the sterility of the equipment and any added ingredients in the water.
B12 Injections for Healthy People
Most people desire to avoid shots, but one wellness trend has people getting elective vitamin B12 injections. Vitamin B12 is a natural wonderdrug. Information technology improves mood and retention, helps with claret cell production and makes the basic stronger.
Vitamin B12 deficiency is common, merely there’due south no scientific evidence that these injections are useful to otherwise healthy people. The human body has plenty of mechanisms to regulate itself naturally. When it has too much of something, it gets rid of that substance as waste. If you’ve already got enough B12, injections just requite your torso something else to go rid of.
Adrenal Fatigue
Adrenal fatigue is a very popular concept on wellness blogs. The adrenal glands release cortisol when a person is stressed. Some people believe that the adrenal glands can become overworked from releasing cortisol when a person is stressed for a long time. This causes the glands to stop producing cortisol, and the person becomes fatigued.
While that sounds logical, numerous medical studies take proven that there’s no link between cortisol and fatigue, and adrenal fatigue is not an official medical diagnosis. In that location are plenty of reasons a person could experience drawn, but cortisol has zip to do with it.
Goat Milk Detoxes
Gwyneth Paltrow’s Broth brand once endorsed a goat milk detox regimen. If people drank herb-infused raw goat milk for several days, the blog asserted, intestinal parasites would be drawn to the milk and released as waste. Does this actually work?
People who have harmful parasites in their intestines exhibit undeniable symptoms. If yous’re not sick, you don’t have parasites. In that location’s no scientific evidence to prove that parasites are especially attracted to any kind of milk or herbs. Parasites are attracted to anything they tin can feed on, and milk isn’t different than any other food.
Natural Deodorant
Millions of people are making the switch to natural deodorants. While they’re certainly easier on the pare, there are lots of erroneous ideas floating around the cyberspace about traditional deodorants and antiperspirants. These products oft contain heavy metals, and some say toxins become trapped in the lymph nodes when perspiration is stopped.
The kidneys naturally turn toxins into urine. According to the Susan Thousand. Komen Foundation, there is no scientific bear witness for the belief that breast cancer, or any cancer for that matter, is acquired by deodorant. Natural deodorant won’t hurt anybody, only regular deodorant does non crusade cancer.
Modafinil for People Who Don’t Have Sleep Disorders
Modafinil is prescribed to people who have narcolepsy and other sleep disorders. In the professional person world, non-prescribed black market versions of this drug are being used to make people smarter and able to perform efficiently with very footling slumber.
Studies prove that modafinil actually slows cognition, and then it doesn’t make anyone smarter. When people without sleep disorders take it, they experience hyperactivity that’south almost manic, so they experience like they’re getting more accomplished. All the same, many report that misuse of this medicine comes with a serious crash, causing some to sleep for 12 hours or longer.
Bulletproof Coffee
Bulletproof java is regular coffee spiked with grass-fed butter and/or coconut oil, and people oft drinkable information technology in place of breakfast. It tin aid with ketosis, which is said to cause weight loss, and this foreign coffee reportedly also improves mental clarity.
There have been no studies to prove that long-term consumption of this coffee is beneficial. Scientists and doctors emphatically hold that a diet with besides many saturated fats and calories can lead to a variety of health problems, and bulletproof coffee is loaded with both. The biggest business organization with this trend is raising levels of bad cholesterol in the bloodstream.
Goat Yoga
Goat yoga is becoming extremely popular. During caprine animal yoga, a regular yoga class is held, but goats roam freely around the room or field. Undoubtedly, earlier and afterward grade students pet and cuddle the ambrosial goats. Every bit cute equally this sounds, goat yoga may not be great for the body.
The do is mode besides new for any scientific studies on goat yoga specifically to have taken place, but in that location accept been studies to show that there are some mental benefits to mindfulness. All of those benefits go flight out the window when goats come into the picture because they brand concentration extremely difficult.
Sweat Beds
Selena Gomez once mentioned that lying in a “sweat bed” for 45 minutes is part of her fitness regimen. A sweat bed looks like a sleeping bag; you get wrapped up in thick, insulating fabric, and it makes you sweat a lot.
The process is supposed to effortlessly burn calories, brand the pare look better, get rid of toxins and serve as a mood booster. In that location’south no scientific evidence to back up any of these claims. Sweating a lot can cause a person to lose a little water weight, but this won’t produce whatsoever dramatic long-term weight loss.
Weight-loss and Detox Teas
Instagram is rife with beautiful influencers claiming that drinking tea helped them lose weight. The before-and-after pictures that the sellers of these various teas promote can seem pretty convincing, but the medical community is giving all these teas some serious side-eye.
There’due south no magic pill when information technology comes to weight loss, and the body does not hold on to toxins. Herbs and secret ingredients won’t do a improve job than permanent diet and lifestyle changes. Reverse to popular belief, toxins can’t but linger in the body without a person becoming seriously ill.
Celery Juice
Celery juice is another health trend popularized by bloggers and Instagram stars. Celery is a vegetable, and it’south true that drinking vegetable juice isn’t harmful. Still, there are lots of completely unfounded claims fabricated about celery juice.
Some say that it can cure mental, gastrointestinal and dermatological disorders. Celery has vitamin C and antioxidants, so the juice may heave allowed health. For the rest of the claims, there’south absolutely no evidence that celery juice cures anything. Every bit long as you’re non using it every bit a repast replacement, celery juice won’t hurt you lot, just information technology’s probably not going to aid you that much either.
Sunscreen Pills
The FDA recently forced a few supplement companies to change their bottles because of claims that their vitamins could act as “internal sunscreen.” The companies asserted that people who took the pills were rubber to forego wearing topical sunscreen.
While nosotros’d all honey to protect our skin without applying pesky sunscreen, there’s no reliable bear witness to evidence that information technology’s possible for any vitamin or mineral on the inside of the body to stop the skin from absorbing UV rays. Vitamins may potentially brand peel expect salubrious, but they can’t make peel UV ray-resistant. Sunscreen is a must for everyone.
Crystals
Crystals have long been part of witchcraft and other New Age pseudoscience; at present, people are trying to make the rocks mainstream by claiming they have health benefits. People are calculation expensive crystals to all kinds of products with the claim the rocks take healing powers or the ability to regulate a person’due south energies.
At that place’s admittedly zero scientific bear witness that crystals practise anything for the trunk. Energy work lies solely in the spiritual realm. Information technology’south inexplicable, and many people notice it objectionable for personal or religious reasons. If it can’t exist explained, it’due south really difficult to prove that information technology’south working.
Supplements Through 4
Facilities that deliver vitamins and other supplements intravenously have go quite popular. Many people live extremely fast-paced lives and are looking for an extra boost. Athletes have even faced sanctions because some of these supplements are considered to exist functioning-enhancing drugs.
Scientific discipline doesn’t dorsum the idea of getting nutrients via Four. This is only useful for people who are hospitalized and in dire need of a supplement. For the average person, the body can well-nigh efficiently metabolize nutrients that come through the digestive tract. Nutrients in the bloodstream don’t work faster in the trunk.
CBD Oil
CBD oil is a hot-push button issue across the country. It’s not marijuana, and it doesn’t brand a person high. Even so, the supplement is heavily associated with a drug that remains illegal in many states. On a drug test, CBD oil can show upward the same as illicit marijuana if enough of the psychoactive compound THC is present in the oil.
CBD oil is promoted every bit a natural solution for pain and anxiety. Although there are promising studies, the evidence isn’t there withal to warrant widespread employ. In that location’s too much concern over unknown contraindications with other medicines, and it’due south difficult to ensure the quality of the oil.
Cupping
Cupping involves having vacuum-sealed domes attached to diverse areas of the skin. This is a method of massage that’s said to speed upwards musculus recovery processes and reduce inflammation. People also claim that it relieves pain and has detoxifying properties.
Modern scientific discipline hasn’t shown whatever true benefits. When done improperly, cupping can crusade scars and burns. It’s rooted in the disproven idea that optimal health is maintained by balancing 4 “humors,” or liquids, within the body. Aside from the risks previously outlined, cupping can be viewed as a massage method, but it doesn’t necessarily have any proven wellness benefits.
Don’t Eat the Frog
Marking Twain said, “If you eat a frog first thing in the morning, that will probably be the worst thing you do all twenty-four hours.” In other words, doing the hardest tasks offset is said to make the entire day more productive.
Recent research is turning this productivity hack on its head. Depending on how intimidating those initial tasks are, putting them first tin cause a person to actually procrastinate more. This is chosen pre-procrastination. The term was coined in a Penn Land study. To be truly productive, tailor the grade of your day to your personal working style.
Activated Charcoal
Activated charcoal tin can save the life of someone who ingests poison considering information technology naturally binds to harmful substances. That’due south why it’southward one of the hottest ingredients in everything from toothpaste to face masks. Some people are even eating it, and that’southward a problem.
Charcoal doesn’t just bind to harmful substances. In the digestive tract, it binds to molecules of food and medicine, preventing your body from absorbing what it needs. People who consume it for the detoxifying effects are really blocking their bodies from receiving nutrients or experiencing the effects of medication. In that location’due south no proven do good to consuming charcoal, but the potential dangers are well documented.
Ambition-suppressing Lollipops
Members of the Kardashian association are a few of the celebrities who take promoted lollipops that are supposed to suppress appetite. One popular ingredient in these lollipops is Satiereal, a saffron establish extract that’s not FDA approved.
Saffron does take some appetite-suppressing properties, but there’s only one study, which has never been repeated, that indicates this. Amidst doctors and dieticians, appetite suppression of any kind is very controversial. Many recommend learning to eat the right foods in moderation rather than stifling natural hunger cravings, which tin have unintended long-term consequences. Instead of lollipops, notice a healthy snack.
Source: https://www.life123.com/lifestyle/popular-unscientific-wellness-trends?utm_content=params%3Ao%3D740009%26ad%3DdirN%26qo%3DserpIndex&ueid=fb7d764a-40a9-4a5f-82ff-adf9659613a5
