The lengths to which people will go in pursuit of youth, beauty, and the promise of eternal life have long been the subjects of frightening fairy tales—and, seemingly, the wellness sphere. We’ll lay in coffin-like tubes to boost our vitality (hyperbaric oxygen chambers) or don a Jason-esque red light therapy mask to keep wrinkles at bay. The wellness world even has its very own “vampire”: biohacking icon Bryan Johnson, who draws blood from his son and infuses it into his own body in a quest for immortality.
The past year has had its share of wellness scares. There you’ll be, scrolling TikTok or Instagram when suddenly—AAHH!—an influencer pop ups, promoting something outrageous (like yet another live-on-camera enema) or making health claims without any factual basis. Most terrifying of all? All of the products in these videos are for sale!
The spread of wellness misinformation is legitimately scary when it leads to widespread public health issues or unnecessary concern about what might be “lurking” in our beauty products. However, much like Halloween costumes, some wellness fads are simply ridiculous. So, in honor of All Hallow’s Eve, here are five recent spooky wellness trends that leave us shaking in our boots—and shaking our heads.
1. Testicle tanning and slapping
The men are not alright. From washing vegetables in human urine to ward off “chemicals” to chugging breast milk for gainz, so-called hyper-masculine practices are trending on TikTok and in body-building forums.
Recently, a new trend has emerged: individuals are slapping and tanning their testicles. Featured in the new documentary Harder Better Faster Stronger, wellness practitioners are “going to town” (hitting and tugging) on their testicles to boost testosterone levels. In a clip from the documentary, clinical psychologist and Mind the Science author Jonathan Stea, PhD, says, “There’s no credible scientific evidence for that.” Please, boys, leave your balls alone!
2. Blood flow restriction training
There will always be a new gadget or protocol that promises to make building muscle a breeze (we see you, vibration plates), but this one takes our breath away—and not in a good way. A physical therapy technique known as blood flow restriction training is intended to help rehabilitate muscles, but has now gained popularity in fitness circles. Strength-seekers are using restriction cuffs to limit blood flow to their muscles, believing it makes their muscles work harder. In case you need a reminder, blood is how muscles get the nutrients they need to do their thing. So, depriving them of blood while lifting weights is like trying to accelerate a car while cutting off its fuel supply.
3. Eating carrots for a ‘tan’
Well, here’s a sitcom gag that has become a wellness fad. Eating excessive amounts of carrots can give your skin an orange hue—a condition called carotenemia—thanks to the beta-carotene in the vegetable. So, naturally, TikTokkers are saying it’s a natural way to get a tan if you can get *just* the right balance of darkness without tending tangerine. While this isn’t necessarily harmful, it is… freaky.
4. Ice bath diets
While there is mixed evidence regarding the health benefits of ice baths, this remedy’s abilities got hyped up even more this year. People are now submerging themselves in arctic water several times a day as a way to lose weight, believing the cold can stress the body in the same way that exercise does, causing it to burn calories from fat. Listen, “freezing off the fat” is a cosmetic procedure. You can’t achieve the same results (or “stimulate your metabolism” enough) by chilling in a barrel of ice-cold hose water every few hours.
5. Villainizing sunscreen
In the last year, what should be an uncontroversial health practice became controversial on TikTok. Wellness influencers came for SPF, the doctor-recommended protection against skin cancer, spewing sunscreen misinformation about allegedly harmful effects. Influencers say the ingredients in sunscreen do more harm than the sun, which we’re sure zero doctors would agree with. We get it; people have opinions on sun protection! You can, of course, do your due diligence in picking the type of sun protection that works best for you and make an informed choice about sunscreen ingredients. But please, don’t believe the SPF hate out there.
The world is spooky enough as it is. Do yourself a favor: the next time some suspect wellness content comes your way on social media, keep swiping.
