Will Gwynnie’s GOOP harm your health?
As she admits she didn’t want her bizarre lifestyle tips checked for facts...
Ten years have passed since Gwyneth Paltrow — actress, earth mother and self-styled lifestyle guru — founded her wellness website, Goop.
It has grown from a weekly newsletter into an e-commerce business worth £190million and with more than a million global subscribers all hooked on Gwynnie’s brand of wellness mumbo-jumbo, which promotes weird and wonderful medicines, bizarre beauty products and outlandish dietary advice.
But it seems science has finally called time on Goop’s gibberish.
In an interview with the new York Times last week, the actress revealed that a partnership with publisher Conde nast — for an £11-an-issue quarterly magazine — fell apart after it insisted on fact-checking articles.
The practice, which she dubbed ‘old-school’, is not how Gwyneth runs her website, where interviews with alternative medicine practitioners and controversial healers run unchallenged and products are promoted apparently without evidence to back them up. Here, we round up the wackiest advice on the site — and the not-so-laughable results . . .
BEE-STING TREATMENT THAT KILLED A WOMAN
GwYnnIe raised eyebrows in 2016 when she revealed that she had experimented with ‘apitherapy’, an ancient — and incredibly painful — treatment that involves deliberately allowing yourself to be stung by bees.
Declaring herself ‘open to anything’, she told an interviewer: ‘I’ve been stung by bees. People use it to get rid of inflammation and scarring.’ In a Goop post about ‘the importance of honey and bee pollen’, she added: ‘I was recently given “bee venom therapy” for an old injury and it disappeared.’
The actress is said to spend up to five hours at a time at the Be Hive Of Healing salon in LA, which offers the treatment.
A practitioner picks up bees with tweezers and places them on the body, angering them so they sting. The idea is that this kick-starts the body’s natural healing mechanism.
The treatment been condemned by doctors. A 2015 review warned that adverse reactions can be ‘frequent’ and noted side-effects including swelling, infection and lifethreatening allergic reactions.
This year a 55-year-old Spanish woman died after developing anaphylactic shock from a severe reaction to bee stings. She had been undergoing the treatment once a month for two years when she fell into a coma and died weeks later of multiple organ failure.
‘MOON DUST’ WITH NO BENEFITS
One of the most preposterous products on Gwyneth’s site is ‘Moon Dust’, a range of powdered herbal remedies said to ‘work synergistically at the deepest levels to enhance your beauty, brain, body, sexual energy, sleep and spirit’.
The actress swears by a sprinkling of ‘magic’ dust in her morning smoothie and even has a recipe for ‘sex bark’, a chocolate treat containing ‘an aphrodisiac warming potion’. Other varieties include ‘Action Dust’ and ‘Beauty Dust’. A box of 12 sachets costs £26.70.
But experts have been sceptical about the powders, which contain extracts of the superfood goji berries, schisandra, an exotic berry, and stevia, the artificial sweetener. ‘They throw a lot of Chinese medicinal products together for which the evidence is primarily anecdotal,’ says Daniel Commane, a nutrition expert at the University of Reading.
In 2016, Goop agreed to stop advertising the food supplements after a U.S. business group complained that ‘an advertiser has an obligation to ensure the claims it makes for the product are truthful, accurate and not misleading’.
JADE EGGS ‘CAN CAUSE INFECTION’
GwYnnIe angered gynaecologists once again in 2017, when Goop ran an interview with a ‘beauty guru’ advocating that women should put jade eggs inside their vaginas.
The interview was with Shiva Rose, an Iranian-American actress, who claims to have been using the eggs — available to buy on the site for £50 —for seven years. ‘Jade eggs can help cultivate sexual energy, clear chi pathways in the body, intensify femininity and invigorate our life force,’ she said.
Dr Jen Gunter, an obstetrician and gynaecologist, warned that as jade is porous, using it could pave the way for bacterial infection — and that sleeping or walking with the eggs inside you could damage pelvic floor muscles, causing chronic pain and discomfort during sex. ‘The claim that they can balance hormones is biologically impossible,’ she added.
GAS FROM GOAT MILK CLEANSING
In A startling interview in 2017, Gwyneth warned 60million of us are infected with microscopic parasites, explaining everything from tiredness to skin conditions.
The solution? According to Goop’s resident naturopath Dr Linda Lancaster, it’s an eight-day ‘cleanse’ in which you drink only raw goat’s milk. ‘Parasites primarily live in the mucus lining of the gut system, where they feed on nutrients before they enter the body,’ Dr Lancaster explained. ‘Think of the goat milk as bait — parasites come out of the gut lining to drink the milk.’
Though goat’s milk has proven health benefits — it is high in calcium and fatty acids but low in cholesterol — other health experts warn that drinking it for eight days could have unpleasant side-effects. not only is there no evidence of any so-called ‘cleansing’ effect, but it is likely to cause flatulence — and may increase your chances of getting ill. ‘The
that it’s going to cleanse you from parasites is fraught with problems,’ says gastroenterologist Dr Kyle Staller.
‘You’re more likely to get a parasite drinking raw goat’s milk.’
This is because unpasteurised dairy products can cause infections including toxoplasmosis, whose symptoms include fevers and headaches, and brucellosis, another parasitic condition which can lead to joint and muscle pain.
TIGHT BRA ‘CANCER RISK’ WAS A MYTH
GwYnnIe came under fire from cancer specialists in 2015 when a Goop article claimed that wearing a tight bra could increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer.
The myth came from relationship guru Habib Sadeghi, who also coined the phrase ‘conscious uncoupling’ and co-founded the Be Hive Of Healing centre.
‘It’s widely held that a tightfitting bra restricts the lymph nodes around the breast and underarm area, preventing toxins from being processed and flushed out of the body,’ he said. ‘Accumu- lated toxins anywhere in the body increase the risk of cancer.’
He also told Goop that the metal underwiring might ‘absorb and intensify’ radiation from mobile phones — a statement for which there is no scientific evidence.
Health law professor Timothy Caulfield condemned the claims as ‘bad’, ‘unscientific’ and ‘truly maddening’.
Other experts were concerned about their impact on breast cancer survivors, who might end up blaming themselves for their disease and suffering psychological distress.
That wasn’t Gwyneth’s only brabased advice, either. Two years later, she encouraged women to set their bras on fire as a way of getting over former partners, part of a ‘bra-burning cleansing ritual’ dreamt up by relationship guru Suzannah Galland.
‘The lingerie you wore with past lovers can carry the toxic residue of those relationships,’ explained Suzannah in a guest post.
DON’T TRY INTIMATE STEAM-CLEANING
In 2015, Gwyneth was criticised by gynaecologists after recommendidea eding women should steam-clean their vaginas to cleanse their insides and balance their energy levels. She directed subscribers to the Tikkun Spa in Santa Monica, California, which offers a 50-minute ‘Mugwort V-Steam’ (costing £38) or a £150 course of five sessions. ‘You sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort [a perennial plant] steam-cleanses your uterus,’ Gwynnie explained. ‘It is an energetic release that balances female hormone levels.’ But Dr Gunter wrote a scathing blog post warning women against following the actress’s advice. ‘Steam is probably not good for your vagina,’ she said. ‘Herbal steam is no better and quite possibly worse. ‘Mugwort, when steamed, either vaginally or on the vulva, can’t possibly balance any reproductive hormones, regulate your menstrual cycle, treat depression or cure infertility.’ Dr Gunter also objected to claims that steam ‘cleanses your uterus’, adding: ‘Steam isn’t going to get into your uterus from your vagina unless you are using an attachment with some kind of pressure. Most definitely never, ever do that.’ Other health experts have warned against the risk of burns, with hot steam potentially damaging the lining between the bladder and the rectum.
COFFEE ENEMAS CAN MAKE YOU SICK
Few things sound more unpleasant (or bizarre) than a ‘coffee enema’ — a type of colon cleanse that involves inserting a mixture of brewed coffee and water into the colon via the rectum.
But Gwynnie recommends the procedure, by way of a £100 home kit, in her 2018 Beauty and wellness Detox Guide.
Medical professionals advise against unnecessary detoxes, and say DIY kits can be dangerous as many people have no idea how to use them (Goop states its kit is ‘for those who know that they’re doing’).
Colon cleanses can also be detrimental to health. Dr Michael F. Picco, of the Mayo Clinic in Florida, says the side-effects of coffee enemas may include cramping, bloating, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting, as well as dehydration and rectal tears.
Implant O’Rama, the company that makes the Goop-approved enema kit, makes a point of stating that information in relation to its products ‘is not intended to replace your medical doctor’.
... AND MORE LOOPY GOOP IDEAS
MeRCIFullY, not all Goop mumbo-jumbo has a potentially adverse effect on health. Some of it is just ridiculous . . .
WEARABLE ‘HEALING’ BODY STICKERS
In 2017, Gwyneth raved about Body Vibes, a range of stickers worn on the body in order to ‘rebalance energy frequency’, reduce inflammation and encourage cell production.
‘while you’re wearing them — close to your heart, on your left shoulder or arm — they’ll fill in the deficiencies in your reserves, creating a calming effect, smoothing out both physical tension and anxiety,’ she explained on Goop.
The stickers — which cost up to £45 for a pack of ten — were initially said to be made of ‘nasa space suit material’, a claim that had to be retracted when nasa categorically denied it.
what’s more, users said they were left with marks on their skin after wearing the patches for the prescribed three days.
REPELLENT SPRAY TO WARD OFF VAMPIRES
FOR £20, Goop fans can buy a bottle of ‘psychic vampire repellent’, a sprayable elixir reported to ‘banish bad vibes and shield you from the people who may be causing them’.
The ‘protective mist’ is said to use a combination of gem healing and aromatic oils — among them rosewater, lavender and juniper, as well as ‘sonically tuned water’ and ‘reiki-charged crystals’.
users are advised to shake the bottle gently and spray it around their ‘aura’. Gwynnie insisted that it is ‘meant to be a tongue-incheek product’ but nonetheless, it is still for sale on her site.
A BAG OF HEALING CRYSTAL TRICKS
CeleBRITIeS from Victoria Beckham to Gisele Bundchen swear by the healing powers of crystals — but Gwyneth takes the craze one step further with her £64 crystal medicine bag.
essentially a drawstring pouch containing a set of colourful stones, the bag is ‘energetically cleansed with sage, tuned with sound waves, activated with mantras and blessed with reiki’.
Its magical powers are said to include reducing stress, encouraging creativity and inspiring feelings of happiness, as well as ‘facilitating the manifestation of money, luck, opportunity and success’.
A £10,300 SEX TOY & MILK-FREE CONDOMS
GwYneTH’S sex advice is unconventional, to say the least, and in 2016 she published a list of her favourite adult toys, including a £10,300 24-carat gold vibrator.
Goop also warned against using condoms that have been treated with milk derivatives, encouraging followers to use contraception that is ‘vegan, paraben-free, glycerin-free, nonxynal-9-free and benzocaine and lidocaine-free’, a suggestion that drew fire from safe sex campaigners.
Another of Gwynnie’s ideas is deriving sexual pleasure from eating, drinking and moving the body in ‘non-linear ways’, such as enjoying the feeling of your clothes brushing against your skin.
Finally, Gwyneth’s Christmas gift guides inspire much mirth — and last year’s festive suggestions seemed wackier than most.
Among them were a £3,100 goldplated juicer, a £9,000 ‘diamond’ vase and a £930 ‘toxin-free’ casserole dish designed to keep carcinogenic chemicals (which can flake off metal pans) out of your food.
Other items included a £64 bottle containing an amethyst ‘to infuse water with positive energy’, a £270 ‘meditation band’ that plays nature sounds, and a £61 brass paperclip.