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If you follow my work, you probably know I tend to focus on movement-related topics (biomechanics, anatomy, alignment, pain science) and how they relate to yoga.
When it comes to the body and movement, there’s a great deal of outdated information and misinformation in the yoga world. I regularly use scientific insights to myth-bust this misinformation in order to help us see our yoga practice more clearly.
But did you know that movement-related misinformation is only one type of misinformation that’s prevalent in the yoga world?
There’s a whole other incarnation of pseudoscience to be found in the yoga world. This comes in the form of countless unsubstantiated health and nutrition claims.
The Wellness Industry and Pseudoscience
The yoga world is adjacent to, and in many cases overlapping with, something called the wellness industry.
On the surface, the concept of “wellness” seems great, and as an isolated term, I have no problem with it.
But the term “wellness” has unfortunately been co-opted by the wellness industry: a problematic industry of companies and influencers.
These scoundrels profit off making scary, unsupported claims about nutrition and health 😱. They sell products and services that are not evidence-based and, in many cases, can be harmful (not helpful!) to consumers’ health.
I see these claims everywhere: on social media, TV commercials, Google, and most importantly for our purposes, in the yoga world.
I’m thankful to have enough scientific literacy to recognize B.S. health claims when I see them. 😅
But I know many people in the yoga world don’t have these discernment skills. They’re easily swayed by health claims that sound intuitive on the surface but actually have no scientific support behind them.
One of the main goals of my work is to help our yoga community learn to discern good information from misinformation and to spot pseudoscience. I’m qualified to do this in the movement realm, but health and nutrition are not my areas of expertise.
Therefore, I’m beyond excited to report that Travis Pollen, PhD, and I invited two very special and highly-qualified guests onto our podcast to talk about… wellness myths!
The Unbiased Science podcast meets the Yoga Meets Movement Science podcast!
Dr. Jessica Steier and Dr. Andrea Love are the co-founders of the Unbiased Science podcast, which is an amazing resource I highly recommend to everyone with a body! 🙂
Jessica Steier, DrPH, PMP, is a public health scientist and data scientist, and Andrea Love, PhD, is an immunologist and microbiologist.
Jessica and Andrea are devoted to objective, critical appraisal of available evidence on science and health-related topics. They’re a much-needed powerhouse of credible, science-based information in a world of social media health misinformation.
Some of the important topics we cover in this podcast episode are…
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What is the wellness industry?
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What’s the difference between the wellness industry and conventional medicine?
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How are wellness products (e.g., supplements) regulated by the FDA?
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Are multivitamins (pills or powder) effective in terms of supporting health – or do they just make for expensive pee?
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Are organic foods healthier for us? Are they better for the environment?
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Is the statement “yoga boosts the immune system” evidence-based?
Tune into this new episode today to increase your awareness of the many wellness myths that permeate the yoga world and to improve your scientific literacy! 👊
