Recently, 50-year-old actress and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow hopped onto a podcast with her doctor, Dr. Will Cole, to chat all things health and wellness. During the podcast, the star revealed everything that she typically eats on a healthy day – and listeners were not happy.
As the founder of an international wellness brand, Paltrow has become a name synonymous with health and wellness globally, so listeners were shocked to hear her openly admit being on an “impossibly restrictive” diet.
In the podcast, Dr. Will Cole asks:
“What’s your wellness routine look like now?
To which Paltrow responds:
“I eat dinner early in the evenings. I do a nice intermittent fast and usually eat something at about 12. In the morning I’ll have some things that won’t spike my blood sugar, so I have coffee. I really like soup for lunch, I have bone broth for lunch a lot of the days.”
“I try to do one hour of movement, so I’ll either take a walk, or I’ll do pilates or I’ll do my Tracy Anderson, and then I’ll dry brush and get in the sauna. I do my infrared sauna for 30 minutes, and then for dinner I try to eat according to paleo. So lots of vegetables. It’s really important for me to support my detox.”
@dearmedia #gwynethpaltrow shares her daily wellness routine on The Art Of Being Well, listen now 🎧 #wellnessroutine #healthandwellness #healthylifestyle #routines #goop #podcastclips ♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim
After wolfing down a pastry for breakfast, hearing about Gwyneth’s restrictive diet is certainly not music to the ears, but is she wrong for promoting restrictive eating online?
We all know the line “with great power comes great responsibility.” As a celebrity who many look up to when it comes to wellness, Gwyneth could very well be perpetuating unhealthy diet culture and eating disorders by revealing her own restrictive diet, that would leave most of us feeling hungry and defeated if we were to waver from it.
Celebrity diet culture in Hollywood always sparks a wave of unhealthy mentality between fans, followers, and even between celebrities themselves.
Take awards season, for example. Historically, awards season has been firm motivation for stars to lose weight to look ‘good’ strutting down Hollywood’s red carpets. From Kim Kardashian’s crash diet in order to fit in Monroe’s famous white dress, to the diabetic Ozempic drug craze being punted by celebrities as the solution to weight loss, it can be easy getting lost in the celebrity diet culture craze, however…
There’s a level of honesty that Paltrow has to be commended for. At least she isn’t lying about how she pushes her body to meet her own health goals and standards, as unhealthy as they may seem to others…
Photo by Michael Tran/FilmMagic
Gwyneth shared this sentiment in an Instagram story which has since expired. The star clapped back at criticism about her wellness routine and said:
“I was doing a podcast with my doctor. This is somebody I’ve been working with for over 2 years now to deal with some chronic stuff.”
“I have long COVID, the way it manifests for me is very high levels of inflammation over time, so I’ve been working with Dr. Cole to really focus on foods that aren’t inflammatory, so lots of cooked vegetables, all kinds of protein, and healthy carbs to really lower inflammation.”
“It’s been working really well. This is based on my medical results and extensive testing that I’ve done.”
Paltrow then goes on to explain that her health and diet should and is not being offered up as a blueprint for others to follow.
“This was a transparent look at a conversation between me and my doctor, not meant to be advice for anyone else. It’s really just what has worked for me and it’s been very powerful and very positive.”
Paltrow also explains that her brief description of her eating habits are not consistent.
“This is not to say that I eat this way all day every day. And by the way, I eat far more than bone broth and vegetables. I eat full meals, and I also have a lot of days eating whatever I want, eating french fries and whatever.”
“But my baseline has been to try to be healthy and eat foods that will calm the system down, I hope that helps.”
Good on Paltrow for clarifying that one. The symptoms of long COVID can be tricky to work around, and high levels of inflammation in the body can become a very serious health risk. We don’t blame her for doing what she can to prevent her symptoms from getting any worse.
However, as an icon who is at the forefront of celebrity wellness, who thousands look up to for inspiration when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle, Paltrow should be aware that whatever message she tries to send to listeners, may have a direct impact on their thinking, eating habits and diet.
It’s true, what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for the rest though. Perhaps the message we should be taking from Paltrow’s interview is that we need to get to know our bodies and specific needs better in order to work at developing a wellness routine that works for us, as individuals.
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Feature Image: Getty
