Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? Pretty Much.

Gwyneth is way off base with all the health and beauty tips she shares with the world, but so is the vast majority of everyone else. It starts with the skin/diet/lifstyle ‘guru’ down to Gwyneth and every celebrity with a diet, in a magazine, or any other bullshit they are trying to push to consumers. And then it extends to your family, friends, and coworkers. Where can one find the truth about healthy living? Timothy Caulfield suggests the professionals – academics, scientists, and researchers.

I might be a little biased in this review because I also really enjoyed Caulfield’s book The Cure for Everything. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book and I devoured it in 2 weeks. I dig his approach to health; it’s scientific and realistic. He is very clear about how difficult it is to lose weight and keep it off. The ‘advice’ in popular culture to ‘restore’ your body with a detox is bunk and causes you more mental anguish than you may care to admit. I read The Cure for Everything last year so I’m over all that mental anguish stuff (har har).

In his first book, he quotes Mark Twain, “Get your facts first, then you can distort them as much as you please.” That happens and it’s fine but why does everyone feel the need to push their own distortions on others? That question aside, I think knowing the proven facts can help people move out of this detrimental cycle and the information can help us make better choices for our longterm physical and mental health. Oh, and show us what beauty regimes aren’t worth the cost, which will help our financial well-being too.

My favourite gif character ever… Slothilda Sloth

Since finishing the book, I find it difficult to keep my mouth shut when my co-workers talk to me about their detoxes. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been there! I’ve done about 3-4 ‘detoxes,’ but Caulfield debunks them so effectively in his book that I will likely never do one again. Both of his books discuss how the media emphasizes that a sedentary lifestyle is what contributes to obesity rather than diet. Caulfield argues that diet is a more important habit to change when trying to lose weight. I agree and think that people should go into it knowing that they might end up back where they started. Longterm, it’s more important to remain steady and healthy than have many weight and size fluctuations over the years.

Topics that caught my attention:

Skin and aging: I haven’t felt the need to worry about this quite yet. Now, I’m going to be all over sunscreen. And I won’t let any salesperson talk me into any fancy anti-aging serums. This happened at Kiehl’s the other day and I probably came off as a over-educated bitch … but I liked it. I think this is going to save me a lot of money. There are so many beauty regimines that are bogus. Actually, Caulfield shares that research has shown people will buy a product that guarantees results more because it’s expensive than it’s marketing claims. I think this is whack but I’ve probably done it in the past.

How much money musicians make: Think of a well-known indie musician. Well, that guy or gal is doing really good if he’s making $50,000 a year. Most musicians go into the business knowing they aren’t going to hit celebrity fame. It’s for the passion of music, art, and creating. Of course, there are some people looking for purely fame (American Idol, The Voice, etc) and the majority of them are in for a rude awakening. Acting is even more difficult to break into and it sounds like an emotionally draining profession that leaves many with nothing to show for their efforts.

US and UK Celebrity Culture and happiness rates: Is it that much different than here in Canada? Not that I can see… however this leads me to my next point.

Seeing media all the time and its effect on body image: My year and a half break from reading fashion magazines while I was living in Kenya and Belgium was probably the best thing I could have done for my mental health in my early 20s.

Some of my friends may steer away from non-fiction but I think even you guys will find his writing style to be really engaging and have the entertainment value that fiction often has. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek in addition to being fun and challenging to read out loud. Right before bed, I would read half a chapter to my partner and it provided us with some laughs and some cool conversations about health and popular culture.

If I had enough money, I would buy a bunch and just hand them out to people. There are a lot of fascinating facts and lessons in Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything? to put into practice in everyday life that can make you feel better about yourself and your health.

*drops mike*