Gwyneth Paltrow is no stranger to controversies, especially when it comes to health and wellness. And don’t get us wrong, Gwyneth has definitely shared some amazing insider tips, from her DIY facial to her glowy skin care routine. But the Goop queen has also been known to promote a problematic beauty ritual or two (recall that ‘sunscreen contour’ hack?).
The actress turned beauty mogul has come under fire yet again for her “problematic” wellness routine. And both experts and fans are calling Gwyneth out.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness routine
Why is a wellness routine so divisive you ask? Let us break it down for you. In an interview on the Dear Media podcast, Gwyneth spilled her daily rituals. And her day looks something like this: black coffee in the morning, fasting until 12pm, bone broth for lunch, one hour of pilates, a walk or a Tracy Anderson workout, 30 minutes in the sauna and a paleo-based dinner (read: “lots of vegetables”). Oh, and she also enjoys a regular IV session.
“It’s really important for me to support my detox,” Gwyneth said. But if you’re wondering how healthy this diet is, you’re not alone.
“I did not think Gwyneth could get any more dangerous to the public, but then she posted this,” said dietitian Abbey Sharp said in a TikTok video. “So many red flags in such a short interview.”
She went on to say that Gwyneth’s fasting habits (18 hours per day) aren’t sustainable to support a woman’s reproductive functions. “You do not need to detox,” Abbey urged. “Your body does this every day by peeing, pooping, breathing and sweating.”
Abbey isn’t the only one calling out the problematic aspects of Gwyneth’s diet. “I fully believe that she’s doing the best that she can do in the diet culture world that we live in where we’re told to eat as little as possible in order to be healthy and well,” dietitian Kate Regan (aka @wholesomechicknutrition) said. “As a dietitian who works with clients with eating disorders and disordered eating this is absolutely not an example of a ‘what I eat in a day’ that you should aspire to.”
So is this just toxic diet culture rearing its ugly head again? TikTok seems to think so. “This screams ‘I starred in Shallow Hal'”, one commenter wrote on the original clip shared by Dear Media. “This is promoting eating disorder culture and I don’t appreciate this being available for teenagers and yong adults,” said another.
Whilst Gwyneth isn’t directly calling for other people to adopt her diet, there’s no denying the influence she has amongst her followers — she’s been dubbed ‘Mother Goop’ for a reason.
But Gwyneth isn’t solely responsible the latest iteration of diet culture. TikTok has seen a rise in trends such as ‘what I eat in a day’ and ‘glow-up tips’ that implicitly promote unhealthy dieting habits under the guise of wellness. And we weren’t the only ones to note the lack of size diversity on the runways at recent fashion weeks. But that’s a conversation for another time…
The bottom line? Well, in Kate’s words, “this daily wellness routine should not be glamourised.” And we’d have to agree.
Main image: Getty
What do you think of Gwyneth Paltrow’s wellness routine? Have you noticed a rise in diet culture lately?
i feel like most detox diets almost always have problematic foundations
Agreed, we don’t need to do a detox diet, the body is constantly removing toxins
We actually all need to detox, we are bombarded with chemicals daily, but it needs to be done properly. I follow Anthony Williams the medical medium, he does not believe in starving rather than replacing bad foods with healing foods, drinks and smoothies. Think less processed and more wholefood fruits and veggies.
I like to think that when I have to have a colonosopy and have to eat very little, that I am detoxing. Makes it sound okay??
Completely agree, detoxes are complete myths. If you really had a high build up of toxins in your body you’d need medical attention not a fad diet.
yes that makes sense
I think she’s starving herself.
Agreed. I can’t see why she would need to detox or diet.
I haven’t noticed it but I don’t tend to watch or follow tik tok or the likes. Been slightly too busy for that lately
I dont follow tik tok either, but do check instagram and haven’t noticed anything yet
I’m not on either Tik Tok or Insta so I’m totally out of the loop
I don’t bother with these sites but young impressionable people do and this can be dangerous
Not something I would follow.
It sounds very boring and restrictive, no way would I want to live with this routine
OR… instead of thinking I’m going to copy Gwyneth’s routine, I’m going to remind myself that yes she has an amazing figure, but I’d rather eat food and not spend roughly two hours a day exercising. I think she’s done us all a service here by being truthful that she has an impossible figure by maintaining an impossible routine.
And I feel it’s worth mentioning, I’m positive Gwyneth couldn’t care less about her reproductive health given she’s already had her family and is pushing menopause as it is. And I’m certain teenagers are not looking to her as a role model.
Weird and wacky as she is, I could listen to Gwyneth all day long. She has a few pearls of wisdom here and there, but the rest is wildly entertaining and makes me feel like I’m completely sane by contrast.
I’m ready to call BS but honestly she can do whatever she wants. I wish we stopped giving her a platform.
Yes I adree –
I think it is what her body needs.
If Gwynnie is happy starving herself then so be it. Who am I to judge. I like my food too much to follow in her footsteps.
coffee for breakfast and bone broth for lunch, wow how i would get the energy to go to work or go for my run ???
Celebs and their IV sessions 🙄
Yeah, & we don’t even know what she’s having by IV.
Well fasting on a black coffee is dangerous, she is running on adrenaline, very unhealthy. Now if she was having celery juice followed by fruit all morning then that would be healthy, at least you are getting fast glucose to your brain, nutrients and energy. She is looking older and in time will not function well.
Yep. Exactly. Everything she has said is promoting disordered eating behaviour and is highly dangerous.
Yes There are too may obsessions with weight
I am not into fad diets -My Mum used to say eat a little of everything and she was a healthy slim lady all her life
This is too extreme for me.
I am not usually into dieting. I like my food too much and really am very lucky that I dont seem to put on too much weight no matter what I eat
That’s not wellness that sounds like starvation
This doesn’t sound at all healthy in the long term
I find it hard to believe anyone continues to take her seriously – she’s said so many wacky things.
I’ve never been into starving myself.
Bad example for young people as we have a friend with a daughter who is anorexic and it is such a sad situation and example for impressionable people unfortunately not just young people.
Totally agree June and anorexia can cause so much pain for all the family and friends too.
I could not live like this -too extreme
I think it’s really sad.
It’s not a great way of life is it
Gwyneth Paltrow has always been controversial with everything that she does, not a way to diet most people forget that you abstain from eating when you go to sleep depending upon how many hours you sleep.
I just think she is a snake oil salesman
I think I would starve on her diet.
We’ve got the shock story but not much in-depth info. On the surface, intermittent fasting, eating lots of vegetables, exercise & saunas are good for longevity. However, we don’t know the quantity or ratio of protein she’s eating. Considering it’s “Mother Goop,” I’m doubtful it’s balanced.
Life is too enjoy and having a lovely meal out with friends creates fun memories . Why would you choose to punish yourself with extreme diets
Is she freinds with Posh? Sounds like disordered eating and that is coming from me.
The tone of speaking is always important. If a successful celebrity speaks as if something helped them, teenage girls especially will believe and implement it.
Saw this all over social media recently, seems highly problematic for someone so high profile to share a dangerous diet like this
I don’t think years ago people used to detox, but worked hard and possibly ate sparingly. Maybe a good diet and exercise works just as well, but I guess as long as people are healthy on such a diet it must work for them.
Wow, im disappointed to see she actually encourages this kind of terrible “diet”. It seems everyone is on a diet nowadays especially the older generation they try not to eat so they loose weight & they never exercise so nothing really changes
Yes, not a holistic approach to health, but I think she is very honest about her approach, that a lot of other celebrities probably do as well.
Sounds like a very restrictive diet regime
Yes it doesn’t include all the food groups
Sounds like intermittent fasting but she doesn’t seem to be getting enough calories a day on that diet plan
I would have no energy
I don’t want to be unkind, but Gwyneth strikes me as a bit of a loony that no one should listen to.