The Wellness Trends We Want to Say Goodbye to in 2019 for a Happier, Healthier 365 Days Ahead
From detox teas to hot yoga to antidepressant stigma, here are the seven trends Well+Good staffers will be showing the door before the shiny, new year ahead.
So long, farewell, plastic AND paper straws
"We have got to say a huge goodbye to paper straws. I am all for greener options, especially for the people who need to sip their beverages through a thin tube—but do we really enjoy the way it makes your coffee (Or matcha! Tea! Boba!) tastes like dirt? Or disintegrates? I promise you the market has a beautiful reusable glass or metal options—not to mention that they're way better overall for the environment." —Ems McCarthy, Well+Good digital designer
The Boston Tea Party: Detox tea edition
"They don’t work, they’re dangerous, and they promote a very warped idea of what bodies should look and behave like." —Jessie Van Amburg, senior food and health editor
Why detox teas don't work:
Antidepressant shaming needs to be silenced
"I’d love to see antidepressant shame disappear in 2020. Yes, 'big pharma' is problematic and yes, mental health care is still in its relative infancy, but antidepressants help a lot of people (myself included!), and as suicide rates skyrocket, I feel like this trend isn’t merely annoying but rather dangerous AF. Exercise, diet, meditation and other wellness tenets are SO helpful in alleviating depression and anxiety, but they don’t work when people are too bogged down by their disease to partake in them. If one more person without a medical degree gives me the unsolicited advice to try ayahuasca/sound baths/vaginal steams instead of Lexapro, I’m going to need to up my Lexapro." —Erin Bunch, freelance writer
The "women can't weight lift" mentality
"The idea that weight lifting and femininity can’t mix. If you can name a woman that has gotten unintentionally ‘bulky’ while lifting weights, I’ll eat my words.” —Bojana Galic, Livestrong writer
Oat milk heralds the death of almond
"When I first became aware that dairy can cause inflammation, I jumped right onboard the almond milk train, just like everybody else. It was the reigning alt-milk for quite some time, and I thought it was so much better than the milk I used to drink… mainly because of how healthy it was compared to the cow stuff. But once oat milk trickled into the alt-dairy world, I took one sip and wondered how the hell I put up with almond milk for so long. Oat milk is creamy, delicious, and makes any coffee drink taste heavenly. It blows nut milk out of the water. After the few depressing instances in which I've had to get almond milk because the cafe wasn’t cool enough to have oat milk yet, I’ve realized that almond milk merely tastes like nutty water. I’m thrilled that oat milk is exploding, because I’m never drinking nut milk ever again." —Rachel Lapidos, beauty and fitness editor
Oat milk is good for you, too:
Labeling foods as "good" or "bad"
"After reading this super-smart piece detailing the harmful language of diet culture, I started to realize the flaws in how I talked about food. So much of my previous ideas surrounding "health" were based on a binary value system of good and bad. I used words like "guilt-free" and "sinful" to describe meals—and, ultimately, it only hurt my relationship with my own body. Now, I'm trying to search for the subtleties in nutrition. I decide what's "good" for me on a given day." —Kells McPhillips, staff writer
Hot yoga's not for everyone—and that's okay
"Sorry to this modality, but I am opting out of hot yoga from here on out. I know that the benefits of the workout are the real deal (and my bendiest friends certainly swear by it), but my body hates me every time I attempt to sweat it out on a mat in a 90-plus-degree room. I’ve tried time and time again and have personally ended up in some tough situations (.... fainting and throwing up, if you really care to know) that have made me realize it just isn’t for me." —Zoe Weiner, associate beauty and fitness editor
Wondering what trends we're expecting to POP next year? Read all about the big boom of the fertility industry and the pleasure revolution.
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