SHE is an Academy Award-winning actress who seems to garner more headlines these days for what she says and does off-screen, with her latest proclamations over what she eats an example of this trend after she revealed her passion for “bone broth”.
It’s Gwyneth isn’t it?
You got it in one! Now 50-years-old, Ms Paltrow, who won the Best Actress Oscar in 1999 for her role in Shakespeare in Love, has been the focus of a major backlash after sharing details of what is described as her "daily wellness routine". In an interview with “functional medicine expert” Dr Will Cole, for his podcast The Art of Being Well, Ms Paltrow's revelations over her meagre food intake drew criticism online.
Bone broth?
She said: "I eat dinner early in the evening. I do a nice intermittent fast. I usually eat something about 12. And in the morning, I'll have some things that won't spike my blood sugar, so I have coffee. But I really like soup for lunch. I have bone broth for lunch a lot of the days. 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’ (a US fitness teacher).”
The fun didn’t end there?
The star of movies such as Sliding Doors and Iron Man, Ms Paltrow then finishes up her day by dry brushing, going in her infrared sauna for 30 minutes and then having a meal “according to paleo" with “lots of vegetables”, adding that: “It's really important for me to support my detox.”
The response…?
Has been largely negative, with dieticians and nutritionists flooding social media with their take on the claims. US nutritionist, Kathleen Meehanrd, posted a TikTok video blasting Ms Paltrow's interview, saying: "She claimed the statements were serving to "normalise disordered eating", adding that the actress was "literally on a liquid diet that that's extremely low calorie…She talks about the intermittent fasting... the boundaries she has around eating...all these things she does to feel well. Part of why she probably needs to work on feeling well so much despite being one of the most privileged people in the world is because she’s not eating any freaking food.”
There may be more to it?
Ms Paltrow now runs her own lifestyle company, Goop, which she launched in 2008, telling subscribers to her newsletter her aim was to encourage them to "nourish the inner aspect”. Now involving a podcast, a Netflix documentary series and its own range of products, including skincare and clothes, Goop made headlines for promoting treatments such as coffee enemas and vaginal steaming, both of which sparked warnings from medical experts not to engage in. A raft of online sleuths also pointed to the fact that her comments could be a “publicity stunt” with items such as an infrared sauna on sale on her Goop site for $8099.
However?
Others online, including host of Canadian TV show The Social, Cynthia Loyst, pointed out that “the reason people are turning to Gwyneth” is due to an “absence in the traditional medical system that we still aren’t addressing, particularly for women’s health”, saying “wellness experts” and “gurus” fill the vacuum caused by women being dismissed by traditional medical experts.
What is bone broth anyway?
It's no more than a clear soup made from bones with some meat, naturally high in collagen. One cup has less than 40 calories, but the recommended calorie intake for women in a day is around 2,000. Yum!
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