Trends, by design, have a quick rise to popularity followed by a sad long fall to make room for the new obsessions of society. This is especially true for anything health and fitness related - mainly because every one is looking for a quick fix that requires a small amount of effort with the greatest benefits. Here are some of the trendiest and craziest health fads of the year and overall, what to try and maybe what to skip.
Cold Pressed Juice
What do you get when you juice carrots, beets, spinach, apples and oranges? A whole lot of vitamins, minerals, and plant chemicals - just now in juice form. Juicing has been a big trend for a couple of years now and while I’m not one to turn down a juice bar (Whole Foods has a really good one), juicing is not really any healthier than eating whole fruits and vegetables because you aren't getting the fiber or the sustainable energy that they offer.
Celebrity Diets
Whether it's for slimming down for a role or just because, some celebrity diets are just plain bizarre, and I for one wont be trying any of the following. From Beyonce’s lemon juice and cayenne crash diet to Megan Fox’s “vinegar diet” (apparently, she does shots of vinegar because it cleanses out her system, but that just sounds plain disgusting to me). Also, Gwyneth Paltrow once downed pots of pureed veggies and other baby foods to help elimintate toxicity in her body and to lose extra weight.
Barre Classes
A mixture of small movement exercises (called isometric movements) that make it seem like you aren’t working hard enough and nothing is actually happening - but you wont be feeling that way when you try and walk down the stairs of the studio. From experience, barre classes can seem (and feel, when you aren’t doing the movement correctly) like a girly work out, but the toning and isolation of specific muscles will make you feel like hell tomorrow - until you go back for another class that is. Barre classes help increase endurance and individual muscle strength without the risk of injury - plus, if your body starts to shake like a bowl of jello, you’ll know you’re doing it right.
Juice Cleanse
If you want to be miserable for 24-36 hours, then sure why not try a juice cleanse, in which you ingest nothing but juice and water. (no - not even coffee). Good news- you'll probably lose some weight. Bad news- it’ll all water weight, not fat. Some side effects include: dizziness, irritability, nausea, headaches, and the obvious lack of actual food. Speaking from experience, if you make it past the first day without giving into temptation and getting a burger (because, for the life of you, you’ve forgotten what food tastes like) you’ll actually feel pretty ~cleansed~.
Acai & Chia
Acai bowls are the best things in the world, I’ll stand by that statement forever. Not only is it super yummy, but this superfood is known to help heart health, aid in weight loss and digestion, boost your immune system, and promote skin health. Put chia seeds in your smoothies, yogurt, or oatmeal - they are known for their high levels of protein, fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and are loaded with antioxidants.
Weight-Loss Teas
You can’t look at any type of social media without seeing a celebrity endorse a ‘tea tox’ in which you’re basically promised extreme weight loss in 2 weeks… maybe file this one under too good to be true.
Eating ‘gluten free’ when you don’t have a gluten intolerance.
Celiac disease and gluten intolerances are very real conditions and are often hard to diagnose and more common than people would think. And while many people do suffer from these intolerances and are not able to eat on a gluten diet, it has recently become trendy to forgo gluten (and bagels!!!) because someone in their yoga class told them to.
Find the hilarious Jimmy Kimmel segment where he asks gluten free eaters what exactly gluten was here. Spoiler alert: no one knows.
“The 7/21 Minute Workout”
This routine involves twelve common exercises done in 30 second intervals with a 10-second rest in between each move, for 7 minutes. according to this exercise blog, this workout is a well-designed and could be done anywhere - also, said blogger had trouble getting through more than 3 rounds of the circuit without getting terribly winded- and he writes professionally about fitness so I’m betting a normal person, like me, could make it through maybe one.
