December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM Once synonymous with PMS (as in, “I’m feeling so hormonal!”), there’s now a growing understanding of hormones’ role in every system of the body, affecting everything from your heart health to your sleep quality. And with a new wave of startups offering at-home hormone testing, which was once only available at a doctor’s office, you can now have direct access to the health clues your hormones are providing. Because of this, the general market for home testing is predicted to grow by three- to four-fold over the next few years, says Jacqueline Jacques, SVP of medical affairs for supplement brand Thorne. Thorne launched a line of at-home hormone testing kits in early 2018, with options for stress, sleep, thyroid, in addition to fertility intel. Home testing pioneer EverlyWell also offers a range of hormone tests—its comprehensive Women’s Health Test is the most popular in its entire catalog. Other testing providers include FLO Living, LetsGetChecked, and the newly launched Modern Fertility and Mira, which help women keep tabs on their fertility-impacting hormones. “Some of the lines between what people are doing themselves and what’s happening in the doctor’s office are starting to blur,” Jacques says. And with growing awareness of the medical research gender gap—only one-third of cardiovascular clinical trial subjects are female, for example—more women are seeking to arm themselves with information about their specific physiology before they make an appointment with their doctor. With a new wave of startups offering at-home hormone testing, you
Month: December 2018
Got oat milk? You will soon
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM Two years ago, it was a major deal when Starbucks added almond milk to its menu. At long last, everyone’s alt-milk dreams came true! Now, there’s a new dairy alternative on people’s healthy latte order wish list: oat. The demand for oat milk has become so massive that market leader Oatly has upped its production by 1,250 percent just to meet it—including building a new factory to do so. The brand largely credits baristas for spreading the oat milk gospel. “When we decided to come to the US [from Sweden], we thought folks here would be ready for us and they definitely were,” says Sara Fletcher, the brand’s communications and public affairs lead. “A lot of people tried Oatly first at a coffee shop, which is an easy way to see how it tastes and performs. And when we launched in grocery stores earlier this year, the people who had grown to love oat milk in their coffee were ready to stock their fridges, too.” The demand for oat milk has become so massive that market leader Oatly has upped its production by 1,250 percent just to meet it—including building a new factory to do so. Lee Zheng, who owns Saltwater Coffee in New York City, sees the demand for oat milk firsthand, saying it’s now even more popular than (gasp!) almond. “It doesn’t have the nutty taste the other alternatives, like almond or macadamia, do, and it’s creamy and steams quite well compared to
One-stop wellness is putting your healthy life under one roof
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM People freaking love Costco. And it’s no mystery why: Today, life moves at a breakneck pace, and if you can’t stock up on toilet paper, get your eyes checked, and book a vacation all in one spot (while snacking on an açaí bowl), those things might not get done at all. Now, both newcomers and some of the biggest names in the wellness and hospitality industries are hoping to capture the same magic of this one-stop-shop approach by housing multiple aspects of your wellness routine under one roof. “Millennials are a generation fascinated by self-actualization, self-improvement, and community—and in finding spaces that enable them to experience all those things together,” says Christina Disler, founder of Werklab, a coworking space in Vancouver that offers a meditation zone, beauty bar, access to energy-healing practitioners, and other wellness amenities in addition to a place to plug in your laptop. Why does this matter? Because, according to Forbes, millennials—now the largest generation by population—are the driving force behind the rapid growth of the wellness market, with 78 percent of millennials choosing to spend money on experiences rather than “stuff.” “Millennials are a generation fascinated by self-actualization, self-improvement, and community—and in finding spaces that enable them to experience all those things together,” —Christina Disler, founder of Werklab “We see more and more people looking for wellness options that fit seamlessly into the flow of their day-to-day work and personal lives,” echoes Avi Yehiel, WeWork’s head of wellness. That’s why the
CBD regulation will pave the way for a boom of new products
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM If 2018 was the year that CBD started seeping into everything—from our skin care to our cinnamon rolls—2019 will be the year the world stops perceiving it as a niche wellness fad and sees its mainstream potential. Why? Well, once the 2018 Farm Bill finally passes (any day now!), hemp-based CBD cultivation is expected to become legal in all 50 states. Industry experts believe this will clear up the current confusion around the hemp plant’s legality, making retailers, scientists, and manufacturers more comfortable working with it—and paving the way for a tidal wave of research, product innovation, and distribution of hemp products. To be clear, we’re talking about cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound in hemp and cannabis plants that’s credited with relieving anxiety, insomnia, pain, and inflammation. (Though rigorous studies backing up those claims are scarce, due to the current regulatory landscape.) And to put the hunger for CBD into perspective, the market for hemp-based CBD could top $22 billion by 2022, according to cannabis industry research firm The Brightfield Group. Yep, $22 billion. In contrast, turmeric—another plant ingredient with lots of hype surrounding it—raked in $11 billion in the US in 2017. It won’t just be startups contributing to the impending green rush—Coca-Cola has already announced its intent to start experimenting with CBD in Canada That said, experts still commonly refer to the CBD market as the “wild west,” and there are many issues to address before it can truly ascend to the next level.
Get ready for cauli-mania, part two
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM Cauliflower has already transformed your homemade pizza habit, but the veggie is coming to replace more than just crust. The frozen food section at the grocery store is now cauli-mania central—thanks to both start-up food brands like Caulipower and grocery store mainstays like Birds Eye and Green Giant. Evidence of just how much Americans love this rockstar veggie: According to Nielsen, sales for packaged cauliflower products grew 71 percent last year. Caulipower Cauliflower Pizza, which launched only two years ago, is already in 1,000 different retailers. And Green Giant, one of the most accessible frozen food brands in the country, has launched a slew of cauli-products in the past two years, including pizza crust, cauliflower rice, and cauliflower mashed potatoes. Even Kraft has jumped on board, coming out with cauliflower mac-and-cheese. In 2019, expect the rockstar veggie to move past the freezer section and into the chips and cracker aisle—typically thought of as the least healthy section of the store. “When we first introduced Green Giant riced veggies in September of 2016, we were harvesting five acres of cauliflower for the product,” says Jordan Greenberg, the company’s vice president and general manager. “Currently, we’re harvesting 150,000 heads of cauliflower per day for our riced veggie line.” What’s to come for the veggie in 2019? Expect it to move past the freezer section and into the chips and cracker aisle—typically thought of as the least healthy section of the store. Cauliflower-based brand From the Ground Up
Home tech is improving in ways that even the #analog4life crowd can love
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM One in five US adults now uses a smart speaker like the Amazon Echo or Google Assistant, and they’ve become the gateway to outfitting entire homes with smart products. Yet, while in the past, home tech’s primary purpose was entertainment (think: flashy TVs and an impressive speaker system) the focus now is on making life less stressful. “Whereas the majority of [my] clients are focused on ‘smart’ technology being integrated into lighting, security, and mechanical systems, more and more early adopters are looking to technology to empower wellness in other areas of their homes and lives,” says architect Veronica Schreibeis-Smith. People are turning to home tech to get to the bottom of all their wellness woes. Can’t sleep? Just ask your mattress to figure out what’s keeping you up at night. Don’t have the energy to figure out what to eat for dinner? Let your fridge suggest meal options based on what’s inside. Can’t get to the gym? Install a mirror that doubles as a virtual fitness instructor. And slated to launch in 2019 is a trash-can-looking machine that can be fed shirts, pants, pillowcases, and towels that will fold everything in less than five minutes. (For newbies not looking to make a major investment—yet—you can also get your smart home humming for as little as $30 to $50 for an Amazon Echo Dot or a Google Home Mini.) Don’t have the energy to figure out what to eat for dinner? Let your fridge suggest meal
MCT oil is going mass-market, thanks to keto lovers
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM Let’s get something straight right now: MCT oil—which is suddenly everywhere —is nothing new. “It was a big deal around 2008,” says Mike Israetel, PhD, chief sport scientist for Renaissance Periodization fitness programs. But there’s a reason why the longtime staple of Bulletproof coffee went away (seriously, crickets for almost a decade), yet is back with a major vengeance: Call it the keto effect. In 2018, nothing dominated the food scene—healthy or otherwise—quite like the ketogenic diet. Beloved by celebs and CrossFitters alike for its reputed ability to do everything from help with weight management to ease anxiety, the keto diet is all about putting your body into ketosis, a state in which you burn fat instead of carbs for fuel. And MCT oil (which contains medium-length chains of fats called triglycerides, most commonly extracted from coconut oil) is really good at helping you stay in that state. It’s even better than coconut oil and other healthy fats, and this ketosis cred looks to be making the masses go crazy for MCT. A report released by Grand View Research says that the MCT market is expected to reach $2.46 billion by 2025. And BevNet reports that the price has more than doubled in the past five years, jumping from $3 to $8 per kilo. Hitting the market are more MCT-oil-laced products than ever, including ready-to-drink lattes and smoothie-ready gels and powders. Even Nestle is getting in on the game. “More scientists have come out with
Cortisol-conscious workouts are making sweat sessions smarter
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM The “rise and grind” memes may never stop on Instagram. But at some point, your body might. There’s a growing realization that relentless, punishing, long workouts aren’t always better—particularly if they trigger a wave of cortisol, AKA the stress hormone. Cortisol sends your body into fight-or-flight mode, so it temporarily hits pause on regular bodily functions and slows metabolism (it can also prime your body for injury, or signal it to store fat). Translation: Those last dig-deep reps can actually backfire on you, slowing your progress toward a fitness goals. For this reason—as well as a mindset shift toward working out for your brain as much as your bod (thanks to growing research into the connection between exercise and mental health)—many fitness lovers are starting to take a more measured approach, turning to sweat sessions that are more hormone-conscious than hurts-so-good. In 2019, look for shorter training sessions to become the new norm—30-minute classes are already offered by Peloton, barre3, Equinox, and more. Just look at the trend of HILIT (high-intensity, low-impact) workouts popping up everywhere––from big gyms like Equinox and Crunch, to boutique studios like SLT, the LIT Method, and B MVMNT, which was an early adopter when the workout launched back in 2010. “At the time, I received a lot of backlash from the fitness community, but now people have come around,” says celebrity trainer Bizzie Gold, B MVMNT’s founder. Her strength training classes include a dash of yoga and even tribal dance
Meet the “retin-alts”: A new breed of plant-based skin care that’s irritation-free
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM Retinoids have been the gold standard in skin care for decades, combatting the issues of pimply-faced teenagers and sun-damaged adults in equal measure by speeding up cell turnover and flipping the switch on collagen pumps within the complexion. Retinoids—an umbrella term for vitamin A derivatives like OTC retinol and Rx options such as tretinoin, adapalene, and tazarotene—are so beloved, in fact, that 88 percent of MDs in a Well+Good survey said they’d recommend the vitamin A derivatives to patients over any other product. But they’re not perfect (think: dryness, flakiness, sun sensitivity, and overall irritation)—which is why a new, gentler, plant-based alternative has the skin-care savvy set jumping for radiant joy. In 2019, get ready for “retin-alts” to pop up everywhere. One, in particular, bakuchiol, is in products like Alpyn Beauty Melt Moisturizer (which is poised to hit the big time on QVC) and Biossance Squalane + Phyto-Retinol Serum. It’s also used in spa industry vet Vance Soto’s Ole Henriksen Spa in Los Angeles, where aestheticians tap the brand’s bakuchiol-rich Transform Plus serums and moisturizers into the skin. And more options are coming to market en masse next year, with Allies of Skin Mandelic Pigmentation Corrector Night Serum and Bybi 1% Bakuchiol in Olive Squalane at clean beauty shop Credo. “Bakuchiol works as an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant, so it’s also ideal for those who suffer from dry, sensitive skin and can’t tolerate a retinol.” —Dendy Engelman, MD Derived from the babchi plant and with
The Rihanna Effect: Brands are getting real about sizing and shades
December 04, 2018 at 03:45AM At New York Fashion Week this fall, Rihanna showed the industry how to put on a show where everyone’s invited, thanks to the body-diverse magic of her Savage x Fenty lingerie line—capping off a year where she also revolutionized the beauty game with the “Fenty 40” spectrum of shades. And like the Fenty Effect on the beauty industry, there are major (ultra positive) changes happening in the world of fashion inclusivity, too. “The apparel industry is beginning to see the light—both in terms of financial benefits and the gains to the consumer,” says Alexandra Waldman, co-founder and creative director of Universal Standard, a brand with a mission to bring the same elevated shopping experience to a size 6 and a size 26. J.Crew, Madewell and Reformation are just three of the brands that have expanded their size ranges this year—and there’s more to come in 2019 from lingerie fave Lively and new denim brand ASKK NYY (founded by Rag & Bone alums Katrina Klein and Andrea Suarez), for starters. “The apparel industry is beginning to see the light—both in terms of financial benefits and the gains to the consumer.” —Alexandra Waldman, co-founder and creative director of Universal Standard Of course, the body-inclusivity movement has been the huge driving force pushing brands to change—but hey, a little Rihanna magic isn’t hurting, either. She makes inclusivity and diversity feel downright badass, as do models like Barbie Ferreira, Candice Huffine, Iskra Lawrence, and Paloma Elsesser. They’re not only