5 Times Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Website Was Criticized For Wellness Tips
The Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow's brainchild, the lifestyle website Goop, is usually known for its controversial health advice like vaginal steaming and this time too, it is drawing negative attention for its wellness stickers. The stickers allegedly contain materials used in NASA spacesuits.
Goop said in a post that the stickers, which are sold by Body Vibes, are "wearable stickers that rebalance the energy frequency in our bodies, have become a major obsession around goop HQ." It is “made with the same conductive carbon material NASA uses to line space suits so they can monitor an astronaut’s vitals during wear” and can target energetic frequency imbalances in the body, according to Gizmodo.
The stickers are sold in packages of 10 for $60 or 24 for $120.
Mark Shelhamer, former chief scientist at NASA’s human research division, criticized the product and told Gizmodo: “Wow. What a load of BS this is.”
The scientist said the sticker's claim to have carbon material from NASA spacesuits is not true. He added: "Not only is the whole premise like snake oil, the logic doesn’t even hold up...If they promote healing, why do they leave marks on the skin when they are removed?"
This is not the first instance when the actress' lifestyle website was ridiculed for its products. There have been previous occasions when Goop's wellness tips were ridiculed for being bizzare.
Here are some of them.
In January, in a blog titled “Better Sex: Jade Eggs for Your Yoni,” the website claimed the trick is a “strictly guarded secret of Chinese royalty in antiquity — queens and concubines used them to stay in shape for emperors — jade eggs harness the power of energy work, crystal healing, and a Kegel-like physical practice.” The eggs were available on the website for $66 and were listed as "sold out" toward the end of January.
However, the advice was not taken well by experts. “I read the post on GOOP and all I can tell you is it is the biggest load of garbage I have read on your site since vaginal steaming,” Dr. Jen Gunter, an obstetrician and gynecologist (Ob-Gyn) for Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, wrote in an open letter to the actress. “Nothing says female empowerment more than the only reason to do this is for your man!" the doctor added.
In the letter to Paltrow, Gunter also talked about potential health risks associated with the vaginal use of the eggs as advertised.
In an another Goop blog, it said that sitting in infrared saunas "intensifies the elimination of toxins," which doctors said was not true. They pointed out that although sitting in the sauna may help to cure heart diseases and relieve chronic pain, it doesn't necessarily eliminate toxins.
"We do not have data that shows one can sweat out toxins in any meaningful way," Dr. Catherine Forest, of Stanford University's School of Medicine, told the New York Times.
Another Goop guide in 2015 talked about vaginal steam. It said: "You sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination of infrared and mugwort steam cleanses your uterus, et al. It is an energetic release — not just a steam douche — that balances female hormone levels." However, ob-gyn Dr. Draion Burch told LiveScience that scientific evidence doesn't back this practice up. He even said it could cause burns or bacterial infections.
Read: Gwyneth Paltrow Shares How She Changed Her Lifestyle After Her Dad Was Diagnosed With Cancer
In a yet another blog Goop described threading as an "under-the-radar" face lift "that's sending A-listers flocking to Europe and Asia" because it's no longer allowed in the U.S.
Allure reported threading facelifts — in which a doctor uses a barbed thread to lift sagging skin — were approved by the FDA in 2004. However, due to complaints by several women about the adverse effects of the procedure, it lost the FDA's approval later.
A study conducted in 2009 found the facelifts don't offer lasting results. Also, they cost up to $11,000.
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