Random Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop Health Advice Is Not Good (12 items)

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  (#4) Goop-Approved Coffee Enemas Can Perforate Your Bowels

  Leave it to Goop to take enemas to an even weirder level – namely, by including a shot of espresso. These Goop-approved coffee enema kits can cost as much as $140, but they can cost a lot more when it comes to you health.

  A Goop articles titled "The Nuts and Bolts of Colonics" pushes the belief that our colons are filled with dangerous "mucoid plaque," a substance that builds up on our intestinal walls and can only be removed with regular enemas. The problem is, mucoid plaque doesn't actually exist. The term was invented by holistic entrepreneur named Richard Anderson, but the whole idea has no grounding in science. The colon is actually very good at its job of excreting waste, and enemas can do a lot of damage to the colon in many ways.

  The biggest risk enema-users run is bowel perforation. Amateurs trying to perform an enema have a chance of actually puncturing the colon, which can lead to internal bleeding and potentially death. Enemas also remove important gut bacteria that is crucial for healthy digestion, and coffee enemas in particular can cause ulcers and even proctocolitis (inflammation).
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  (#10) Goop Recommends Natural Sunscreen, Even Though It May Not Be As Effective

  Like many alternative lifestylers, Goop is adamant that you should avoid chemicals at all cost. This ignores the fact that literally all matter is made of chemicals, but facts haven't stopped the lifestyle brand before.

  Goop considers sunscreen made with "chemicals" to be detrimental to your health and suggests using mineral-based sunscreens as an alternative. Gwyneth Paltrow and company believe that most sunscreen is full of hormones that will disrupt your body's natural production of hormones, but science disagrees.

  According to experts, there are no health concerns when it comes to wearing sunscreen. Consumer Reports shows that these natural, mineral-based sunscreens – which only have titanium dioxide or zinc oxide as active ingredients – do not provide as broad of a range of UV protection as their chemical counterparts.
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  (#9) Goop Claims Drinking Potentially Dangerous Raw Goat Milk Rids The Body Of Parasites

  According to Goop, you probably have a parasite inside you right now. The solution? Drink nothing but raw goat's milk for a week and the parasite should just slide right out on its own. Of course, the biggest problem with that treatment is that it's completely unfounded.

  In the United States, poor regulation and sanitation makes raw milk an incredibly dangerous beverage to drink. Harmful bacteria strains like salmonella and E. coli can be passed on by unpasteurized milk, and it's one of the most common ways to acquire a foodborne illness. Pasteurized milk has been heated to a temperature that kills these bacteria and is 150 times less likely to make you sick than unpasteurized milk.

  You're not going to kill any parasites with a goat milk cleanse, but you might just give yourself some wicked food poisoning. Oh, and it will also give you a good amount of gas.
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  (#6) Goop's Medical Medium Espouses A Cure For Hypothyroidism That Can Actually Cause The Condition

  Anthony William, a medical medium who has no actual medical training, swears he can communicate with a spirit that gives pharmaceutical advice. William shared his thoughts on iodine in an interview with Goop, and they were immediately ripped apart by scientists.

  Dr. Jen Gunter, a Canadian physician, points out that William seems to be wrong about basic facts regarding iodine. William believes most people aren't getting enough iodine in their diets, but that's actually not true. Iodized salt is a common ingredient in all sorts of food, and most Americans have little trouble meeting their required amount of iodine.

  William also believes that iodine supplements are necessary to prevent all sorts of thyroid related medical issues, including cancer and hypothyroidism. According to Gunter, taking in excessive amounts of iodine could actually increase your risk of developing a thyroid problem. 
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  (#11) Goop Sells Healing Stickers They Falsely Claim Use NASA Technology

  Goop has a brand called Body Vibes, which sells tiny stickers that are supposed to be for "harmonizing and balancing the human body" with "natural frequencies."

  It sounds suspect, but the company stands behind their stickers. At one point, Goop went as far as to claim the stickers were made from the same material that lines NASA spacesuits and monitors an astronaut's vital signs. The only problem here is that none of the materials mentioned by Goop can actually be found in a NASA spacesuit.

  A representative from NASA described the product as "a load of BS" and confirmed that their is no science behind the expensive stickers, which cost about $120 for a pack of 24 and are touted as having the ability to cure pain.
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  (#5) Vaginal Steaming Can Give You Bacterial Infections

  The Goop site claims that steaming your vagina will "rebalance hormones" and make your vagina cleaner than it has ever been. Since hormones are not produced by the vagina (they are created in the ovaries as well as the brain), this claim is straight pseudoscience. Hormones are distributed throughout the body via the blood stream, including to the vagina; there is no way that warm steam could have any effect on hormonal production.

  Vagina steaming is also purported to clean and rehydrate the female sex organ, but it actually has the opposite effect. Water is a terrible lubricant, and it can actually wash away the essential oils naturally produced by our bodies that help retain moisture in our skin. Vaginas are also self-cleaning organs, and practices such as douching can have unpleasant consequences.

  On top of that, heating up your vagina is generally advised against. Our bodies stay at a consistent temperature for a reason; any hotter and that closed, humid environment becomes the perfect breeding spot for bacteria. Steaming your vagina will not clean it – it will actually make it much dirtier and prone to infection.

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