How Goop’s Haters Made Gwyneth Paltrow’s Company Worth $250 Million

THE BUSINESS OF WELLNESS This is the incredible story of GOOP—a company worth $250 million that sells sometimes questionable wellness products and services. This new article in The New York Times Magazine reveals the extent to which the celebrity-effect can deliver value out of thin air. Gwyneth Paltrow, the movie star, has become a major player in a wellness industry that is big business on…

Study: Good Sleep Crucial for Teens’ Metabolic Health

WELLNESS EVIDENCE A new study that tracked 829 teens for sleep time and quality found that a good night’s sleep seems to be crucial for their metabolic health. Shorter sleep time was associated with higher glucose levels, systolic blood pressure and triglycerides and lower HDL cholesterol—all signs of poor metabolic health. While other studies have linked bad sleep with obesity, this study is notable because…

GWI’s Mental Wellness Initiative to Release Report on New Directions in Mental Wellbeing

The world is suffering from a mental wellness crisis: Roughly one billion people suffer from anxiety, and one in four people experience mental disorders. To answer the need for more evidence-based pathways to mental wellbeing, the GWI’s Mental Wellness Initiative will release a new, in-depth report, Mental Wellness: Pathways, Evidence and Horizons, in early October at the Global Wellness Summit in Italy. It will present…

Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of July 31, 2018)

A 4-Day Workweek? A Test Run Shows a Surprising Result – The New York Times, July 19, 2018 This is an interesting example of how working less may lead to higher productivity. A New Zealand financial firm that let its employees work four days a week while being paid for five says the experiment was so successful that it hopes to make the change permanent.…

Cosmetic Surgery for Men Will Rise

There is one particular segment of the wellness industry that is growing fast and that will most likely grow even faster in the years to come: plastic surgery for men. The stigma that has long been associated with it is disappearing, and future growth will be spurred by new attitudes about male grooming and beauty espoused by millennials and younger generations. More “C-level” patients (CEOs,…

Kids of Moms Following 5 Healthy Habits 75% Less Likely to Become Obese

The Wellness MoonshotTM The GWI’s Wellness MoonshotTM: A World Free of Preventable Disease is a global call to action. And new research from Harvard University indicates that tackling the world’s obesity crisis may have much to do with mothers. The large study found that if mothers follow five healthy habits—exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy body weight, consuming moderate levels of alcohol,…