WELL & GOOD
The global wellness trends signal a shift towards holistic healing, both of the mind and body
The wellness industry is currently booming. One of the major reasons for this is that we have gone back about 50 years in many aspects of nutrition and lifestyle. We are now suffering the consequences of our excesses and are searching for answers for optimal health. Here are some of the major wellness trends that I have seen emerging in the last few years.
HOLISTIC NUTRITION IS BIG
While there is a huge interest in the food and pharmaceutical industry, very few take interest in finding out which is the best path to wellness. There are too many mixed messages about what is healthy and what isn’t. We have a huge number of people who think they are suffering from a genetic or chronic illness but they don’t relate it with a lifestyle problem. They think they take care of themselves. “I eat healthy. I go to the gym,” they say. But upon investigation it’s often found that they are not living an optimal life. There is research in the nutritional habits of people in countries where a significant number of people live for more than 100 years and it has been found that 90 per cent of their diet is fat-based with fish being eaten less than three times a week, meat less than five times a month, no dairy, lots of cereals, vegetables, grains and nuts with tea and water being the beverage of choice. This also aligns with what the Harvard Medical School has described as the ideal food pyramid and the Mediterranean and Japanese diets which are followed in countries with the highest life expectancy.
STARVING IS NOT SUSTAINABLE
Creating a diet that is attractive but effective is important. Starving and suffering never work in the long run. We believe that for someone to make a change in their life, whether it be diet or exercise, it should be tempting and sustainable enough for the person to want to incor-
porate it in their life. People will only make a couple of changes and they start to experience the benefit of these changes which leads them to make healthier changes. It is important to listen to your body, as it will give off warning alarms to signal when something is amiss.
TECHNOLOGY BOOSTS WELLNESS
New research and tech allows us to make significant improvements in health recommendations. Bioenergetic medicine allows us to test energy, look for energy blockages and imbalances and give very precise results. It's helpful in designing lifestyle recommendations. We also have advances in genetic testing which allow us to determine and examine premature ageing, which organs are ageing faster than others and why. The latest non-invasive aesthetic medicine like infiltrations are also giving excellent results. There are tests to determine your level of concentration, relaxation and mindfulness which help personalise wellness techniques. A ground breaking technique developed by NASA and Harvard also allow us to increase brain activity through a neuro-feedback helmet that has been giving remarkable results. The LED light pulses in the helmet help lower depression, anxiety and prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
SHIFTING PERCEPTIONS
There is also a change in the way people view wellness. Earlier, a wellness getaway was considered the bastion of people with some free time to kill. The majority of people who seek wellness now are decision makers, CEOs, heads of government, members of royal families, elite sports people and top models among others. Essentially these are people who, when they have free time, would like to make it count by improving their vitality, resetting and becoming a better version of themselves. As people care more about being healthy, the wellness industry will undergo a paradigm shift.