Gwyneth Paltrow Wants You to Buy a $ 90 Drug for a Disease You Don’t Have
Gwyneth Paltrow, an advocate of vaginal eggs , poor lubrication advice and honestly too many misguided ideas to keep track of , now sells vitamins that she says can treat an imaginary condition called “adrenal fatigue.”
The vitamins in question are titled Why Am I So Damn Tired? , a clever trick to make you think, hmm, sometimes I get tired, so this addition should be the answer! But – I feel like I have to point this out to the robots and aliens in the audience – all humans sometimes get tired and for a variety of reasons. Almost none of them can be solved with vitamins.
Inside the package, you’ll find some pretty standard multivitamins and fish oil supplements, as well as some powdered herbal ingredients that may or may not do something. (In some cases, herbal supplements can harm your health , so I’d like to see evidence that they are safe, rather than giving Gwyneth the benefit of doubt.)
There is no reason to believe that any of these things will make you less tired, which brings us back to the question on the label. Why are you so Effing tired? Is it because you are working overtime trying to save on jeweled birkenstocks ? No, this is where imaginary illness comes in. Dr. Alejandro Jünger , known for his Goop and Dr. Oz-approved detox cleansers, has designed a package to address the specific cause of fatigue :
This regimen is designed for people with adrenal depletion or adrenal fatigue – a term that is not commonly used or even recognized by most modern doctors, except in extreme cases. It affects the proportion of people at the epidemic level and is commonly confused with other conditions. The most common symptoms are: physical and mental exhaustion, sleep problems, weight gain and difficulty losing weight, poor digestion, constipation, irregular periods, frequent colds and other infections, and worsening of individual underlying medical problems.
This is not recognized by most modern doctors because there is no evidence of its existence. (And yes, modern doctors have looked .) The Hormonal Health Network, part of the Endocrine Society, has a fact sheet on adrenal fatigue, which warns that vitamins or supplements sold for this condition will not help: they will not help and can do harm … In fact, pretending to have adrenal fatigue can aggravate the exhaustion or other symptoms (if you have them):
Doctors urge you not to waste precious time accepting an unproven diagnosis, such as adrenal fatigue, if you feel tired, weak, or depressed. If you have these symptoms, you may have adrenal insufficiency, depression, obstructive sleep apnea, or other health problems. Getting a real diagnosis is very important to help you feel better and overcome your health problems.
Heard what? You want a real diagnosis, not a $ 90 a month supply of pills. Adrenal insufficiency, no matter how it sounds, is a real disease, the treatment of which does not require expensive Internet vitamins.
Gwyneth’s other three supplement packages do not cause imaginary illnesses, but they are also unlikely to help your health. After all, the supplement industry is a mess and supplements won’t make you lose weight or anything else they’d like to claim. Mother Lode supplement can replace prenatal vitamins, but you can also buy them at your local grocery store for $ 81 cheaper .