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2020’s Craziest Health Trends!

2020 certainly has been a crazy year - before throwing in health or fitness related trends- but there's no way we could have let the last moments of the year slip by without special mention to some pretty out-there moments in the health & wellbeing industry.

So, we've enlisted the help of our nutritionist Yasmin to share some of them. Brace yourselves... 

1) Banana Bread

Ok, so hear us out- this one may not be crazy, but 2020 has certainly seen its fair share of banana bread being baked. A food tech company published data earlier in the year showing that from 29^th March – 4^th April 2020, banana bread content blew up crazily with views of all banana bread recipes surpassing a million. But why!?

 Well, this craze probably came about for a few reasons. Let’s be honest, all the fresh fruit and veg that we seemed to stockpile was fast becoming past its use by date – banana bread was the obvious solution! It's also pretty nostalgic, and may remind many people of their childhood baking. Whilst we couldn’t see family and friends due to lockdown, we needed as much comfort as possible- this being the ultimate comfort blanket.

As bakes go, banana bread can also be fairly nutritious as bananas are a great source of potassium, magnesium and vitamin B6. (Next time, try adding our Turmeric & Smoked Paprika on top of your bake for a spicy twist. Totally delicious!)

Crazy Rating: 1/5
Taste Rating: 5/5

2) Dalgona Coffee

 If you’ve never heard of dalgona coffee, you’ve probably been living under a rock. Jokes aside, if you don’t have Instagram or TikTok, you may have missed out on the trend, so here’s the recipe: whip up equal portions of instant coffee, sugar and hot water until it becomes creamy and dense, you then add your milk and enjoy hot or cold.

 We must admit, we all tried it, and therefore it had to feature of our crazy health trend list! Whilst it was something new to try in a time where life didn’t get much more exciting, the worry is that this new coffee prep method was encouraging higher sugar intakes, especially in those people who would have subbed their usually sugar free americano for a sugar dense whipped version. A typical dalgona coffee contains 1 tbsp of sugar, equalling 12.5g, without any addition of added sugars in milks. And fess up, who was really stopping at one of these a day…

Crazy Rating: 2/5
Taste Rating: 4/5

3) Meal replacement shakes

 Meal replacement and shake diets are certainly not a new craze, however during 2020 we’ve seen these companies doing a roaring trade in 2020.  Whilst having an option of a meal replacement shake from time to time may come in handy, as a way to ensure you are receiving both macro and micro nutrients, for the mostpart this business is built on preying on our insecurities and any lockdown weight gain. Our fear is how firmly they plant their roots in diet culture and that many young people may look at these products as essential to their diet, discouraging emphasis on healthy and wholesome food.

Crazy Rating: 5/5
Taste Rating: -5/5
(Bonus rating for ethics: - 100/5)

4) The 5:2 Diet

Technically this isn’t a trend but a diet, however we did think we’d got rid of this one, until it peered its ugly head back round the corner the second lockdown hit. Promising you can eat to your heart’s content for 5 days of the week if you cut down to 500 calories for 2 days, it’s a big old no from us. Not only is it encouraging us to consume *ONE QUARTER* of our recommended daily calorie intake, but its recent marketing ploy is to target young women in lockdown who may feel sad about gaining a couple of pounds (which is totally normal btw, we’re moving way less than normal and so are burning less calories- restriction is not the answer!). “Have as many doughnuts as you want then starve yourself for an entire weekend”- no thanks sis. You can crawl back under the rock you emerged from.

Crazy Rating: 4.5/5
Taste Rating: 1/5 (purely for the snacks you’re “allowed” to eat on your days off of fasting)

And last, but by no means least…

5) The Werewolf Diet

Also known as the lunar diet and the moon diet, it’s a fad – sorry- totally nutritious dietary plan that works according to the lunar phases. Basically, what you eat is determined by the cycles of the moon. E.g. you must only juice for 24 hours during a full moon, and you cannot eat after 6pm during other moon phases. It’s the absolute lack of scientific credibility for me.

Not only does the diet make just no sense, the lack of scientific studies (and therefor evidence) behind any potential “benefits” of the diet make it super unhealthy, and no better for you than saying you’ve got to eat a McDonald’s cheeseburger every time the sky is red at night.

Crazy Rating: 5/5
Taste Rating: 0/5 (if you’re into kale juice, this might be for you, but we’ll stick to the OJ)

We hope you enjoyed our round of 2020’s crazy health trends, and that you’re as excited as us to see what 2021 hits us with!