The Lemon Water Trend

Going in line with the last post about "wellness" trends, one thing that I've been seeing everywhere (mostly on Pinterest) is the phenomenon of hot lemon water.  Basically, drinking hot sugarless lemonade instead of coffee is supposed to get rid of "toxins" or something.  Apparently, according to the telegraph.co.uk Gwenyth Paltrow and Beyonce are both into this new trend, though I would take any fitness advice from Gwenyth Paltrow with a grain of salt, given her adherence to the questionable Tracy Anderson Method.

The telegraph.co.uk article wryly notes that the lemon water trend isn't so new as,

"Lemon and H20 isn’t exactly a new combination, of course: the earliest reference to lemonade is thought to date back to Ancient Egypt."

Lemon water has a bit of Vitamin C in it, but according to the article too much of it can erode tooth enamel.  Glossy Pinterest recipes/infographics kind of skip over that part.  It might be easier just to drink water.     

A Bad Rap for Wellness

I saw this article today "The Sickening Business of Wellness" by Yvette d'Entremont, also known as SciBabe at scibabe.com.  Basically, because of the lack of studies with reproducable results about how Himalayan salt lamps are magical, the entire industry of "wellness" must be snake oily gimmick, and it's better to avoid it completely, and never drink green juice again.

The article is right to slam certain pre-bottled beverages, that practically purport to be so effective as to bring instant health and enlightenment the momemt one drinks them, as cheap marketing schemes.  However, what I think this article missed, is that the wellness movement as a whole is a move in the right direction, as consumers are moving away from overly processed sugarfoods, and moving toward vegetables and potentially healthy Indian spices.  Although there are companies out there trying to profit from "wellness", as a cultural phenomenon, it's generally positive in nature, as long as its followers don't ignore Western medicine and science (and probably don't drink too much pre-packaged mystery algae) in their pursuit of it.

Another take on the "wellness" movement is in a nymag.com article from earlier this year, "Can Wellness Be Scientific?", which lists several helpful resources at the bottom of the page.  However, I don't know why this article lists the Environmental Working Group (EWG) within the same line that mentions Mercola and Deepak Chopra.

Although a lot of profit-oriented schemes exist in the wellness movement, one shouldn't knock "wellness" as a whole.  When used as an alternative to actual medicine, yeah green detox beverages are probably not a good idea.  However, in conjunction with Western medicine, yoga and turmeric might actually do some good, as some studies have shown.*

Also, Himalayan salt lamps really do have a pleasant glow!  I like Dr. Andrew Weil's take on the salt lamp matter.


*Jurenka, JS.
"Anti-inflammatory properties of curcumin, a major constituent of Curcuma longa: a review of preclinical and clinical research." Altern Med Rev. 2009. Sep;14(3):277. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19594223

Are Hip Abductor and Hip Adductor Machines Nonsense?

A lot of times at the gym I'll see people (particularly women) using the hip abduction and adductor machines.  These machines can be found in any gym, but a lot of people seem to be unaware that they've gotten a lot of bad press over the past years.

This article from the Huffington Post, Fix Your Form: It’s Time To Stop Using The Hip Abductor/Adductor Machine notes that using these machines can strain the spine and disalign the knee cap.  Additionally, these machines come up in Mens' Fitness in 9 Machines You Should Never Use, which notes the stress that these machines can put on one's IT Bands. Additionally, SHAPE magazine lists hip abductor and adductor machines in 7 Exercises and Gym Machines to Skip. I don't fully agree with the SHAPE article in including the Lat Pulldown Machine, but they are right to note that this machine should be used with proper form.

In any case, it seems that it's better to pass over the hip abduction and adduction machines in the gym, opting instead for more functionally logically and beneficial exercises. 

Issues with Stainless Steel Water Bottles?

Nowadays, everyone seems to be moving away from plastic bottles, opting for stainless steel or glass ones instead.  However, problems abound with some water bottle manufacturers in China-- according to canarypapers.wordpress.com:

Because China has a proven track record of manufacturing steel products contaminated with everything from lead to cadmium, asbestos, Cobalt-60 and other radioactive wastes, I wouldn’t recommend any stainless steel water bottle from China[...] (https://canarypapers.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/digging-to-china-and-back-the-search-for-a-good-water-bottle/)

Anyhow, this article offers a good discussion of some of the issues facing stainless steel water bottles.