Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop empire was always going to be problematic. It was always going to be for clueless, rich white women. It was always going to be just another fraud. Gwyneth’s thing was just to dress up Goop as something else: wellness. Under the wellness banner, Gwyneth can sell her creepy elimination diets and fake science (stickers that cure cancer, jade vadge eggs). The beginning of Goop was about this too, and that was before she even figured out a way to monetize her main interests (fake science and diets). It reminds me of the reviews from her cookbook It’s All Good. Critics slammed Gwyneth’s ode to extreme elimination dieting by saying it “takes laughable Hollywood neuroticism about eating to the next level.” And: “The book reads like the manifesto to some sort of creepy healthy-girl sorority with members who use beet juice rather than permanent marker to circle the ‘problem areas’ on each other’s bodies.” That was six years ago. Guess what? Gwyneth and Goop are still on the same bulls–t:
Gwyneth Paltrow has come under fire from diet experts after her lifestyle website told readers to try to reach their ‘leanest liveable weight’. Scientists say the article on the actress’ Goop site sends out a dangerous message which glorifies ‘skinniness’ and encourages eating disorders such as anorexia. Goop’s advice follows other bizarre and controversial endorsements by Miss Paltrow for the likes of bee-sting facials, ‘moon dust’ smoothies and animal bone broth.
The article – headlined Busting Diet Myths and taglined ‘supported by science’ – features an interview with US psychologist Dr Traci Mann in which she says people should aim to be at the lowest end of their ‘set range’. She explains that this means a genetically-determined range of weights which a generally healthy person tends to stick to.
But Cambridge University scientist Dr Giles Yeo says the advice to be at the ‘low end’ is confusing and irresponsible, suggesting people should be ‘as skinny as possible’ without dying. The geneticist and author, who has presented programmes for the BBC’s Horizon and Trust Me, I’m a Doctor on how the brain controls our eating, added: ‘This is a dangerous suggestion, as many people will take it to mean they should be as thin as possible. It is irresponsible because the idea is so open to misinterpretation, especially for young girls susceptible to eating disorders. The problem with many of Goop’s recommendations is that they are not based on science, but pseudoscience.’
Dr Yeo has long warned about the dangers of dieting, saying people should try to eat less of everything rather than ‘blindly’ counting calories. He told the New Scientist Live event in London yesterday that the ‘fear of food’ created by articles like that on Goop sends people on fad diets. He said: ‘It’s a silly idea because there is no clear way to determine what your leanest liveable weight is. It is therefore nigh-on impossible to find a target to stick to. People should not be afraid of food, and ‘diet’ should not have become such a loaded term. Goop is part of the reason that people have become afraid of eating. We need to love our food, just eat less of it.’
Dr Mann said last night: ‘I am strongly and clearly opposed to strict dieting. In fact, the article is specifically about not dieting, not trying to lose too much weight and not doing anything unhealthy or extreme. The phrase ‘leanest liveable weight’ refers to the leanest weight you can be without doing any strict dieting or unhealthy behaviour.’
“The phrase ‘leanest liveable weight’ refers to the leanest weight you can be without doing any strict dieting or unhealthy behaviour.” LOL. Of course that’s what it really means Dr. Quackery. The thing is, if this was just a one-off issue, I would say okay, I’ll give this person the benefit of the doubt, maybe that IS what she meant. But Gwyneth Paltrow’s neurosis about food, weight and “health” has seeped into everything about Goop. It is the original sin of Goop – Goop was initially just a glimpse into Gwyneth’s neurotic and starved mind, a place where she could brag about all of her extreme diets and “cleanses.” It was always going to evolve into this: a “wellness” site which told women to go to any (unhealthy) length to be as skinny as possible.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.
I have enough anxiety about my life and my body. Goop can go ____ herself.
It is such a horribly entitled way to look at lifestyle, humanity – how we nourish ourselves and why.
She needs to take a seat and learn about life journeys, trauma, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, poverty, disability and age and how these impact upon you and your diet.
I hate this sort of nonsense (was going to do extreme swearing) she can shove a jade egg where the sun don’t shine
It will be interesting when, due to the inexorable march of time she develops some disease or malady. Will she seek conventional treatment or will she go the Steve Jobs route and try to “fruit diet” her way out of cancer, etc. ? Time will tell.
reply to blacktoypoodle…..she already has osteopenia at this young age, her bones are thinning
I noticed Mann is a psychologist, so her use of “leanest” is calculated—sounds less horrifying than “thinnest livable weight.” She sounds right up Goop’s snake oil alley.
Truly!! HOW was Goop not shut down after that “stickers cure cancer” BS??? HOW is she allowed to still shill her neurosis?? I *know* there are many rich women with more time and money than sense that have that “I want to be with the “in” crowd” mentality, but HOW can even they not see through this??
Remember Wallis Simpson’s, “You can’t be too rich or too thin” statement…. It kills me how many women (and it IS women ONLY) who have this burned into their psyches.
Yep,what Wallis said is still burned into my brain.And yes I’d love to be richer and thinner,but it doesn’t define my every waking moment.My sixteen year old daughter and I have conversations about weight,size,exercise,healthy eating…
She wanders why the skinniest girls almost always have the boyfriend.
I told her it’s such a double standard-men’s bodies are considered *good* and they are considered handsome/attractive in many shapes and sizes,while women are still held to the idea that the thinner the prettier-not true ,but still we have a long way to go.
Yeah, why is a psychologist offering advice on health? Maybe mental health, but leave the body to the doctors who spend their whole lives treating people with health issues. It bugs that Goop’s ego silences Goop’s own common sense. I’m sure Goopie knows that she is full of sh*t.
A lot of diet (i.e. what people eat) and weight loss/maintenance is mental. And, many physicians know very little about proper nutrition. If you look this woman up, a lot of her research is on how to get people to make and keep better eating habits (like eating more vegetables). I think honestly her research and message is quite reasonable, but the pairing with GOOP is a disaster because of all the extreme diet and exercise advice that the site (and Gwyneth) also shill.
I thought the same thing – why consult a psychologist, and not a medical doctor?
When I read the interview and looked her up, Mann is a researcher studying behavioral health in regards to eating.
Which is fine, and as I said below the actual interview is a lot less inflammatory than what I read here, but it would have been smart for them to also have a medical doctor who specializes in that field comment as well. But Goop is never one for facts or thoroughness.
why is she utilizing the views of a psychologist to discuss a physical health issue instead of someone with an appropriate medical background? (mind you, a psychologist should have been acutely aware of how her words would be perceived to mean)
Gross. Only Goop is Paltrows twin mental health issues of narcissism and neuroticism in corporate manifestation. I hope Apple is old enough to eat junk food.
“People should not be afraid of food, and ‘diet’ should not have become such a loaded term”
YES. For any of you who have fallen into dieting culture and orthorexia I highly recommend the intuitive eating approach, it’s something dieticians are teaching and it deals with the underlying issues of food behavior.
Why do you wish for Apple to eat junk food? It’s horribly unhealthy. I have always been poor, and I would never touch fast food and dont consume junk. My parents were raised on a farm and only eat real food. There was no reason for us to have cereals, sodas, juices, junk snacks. There’s a vast world of health between being on an elimination diet and eating junk food.
+1 I hate the normalization of junk food, and the horrible literally murderous effects it has on us. It is just as much a bane as Paltrow and clueless rich people and their skinnyness fetish.
This woman is dangerous and yet she’s treated in the media/zeitgeist as amusing – She and GOOP passed off as something to lightly mock as if the b.s. she’s shilling is benign, silly fun.
Without crushing the metaphor, it feels a little 2016 Trumpian. Cause yeah, he was just so amusing and nothing serious would ever come from the media shining such a big light on him, right?
I had to go and find this article, as it sounded so preposterous. And…it’s actually not that crazy? The “leanest livable weight” thing sounds awful, but in the Goop article, the woman also explicitly says that many people are setting themselves goal weights that are *below* their “leanest livable weight”, and encourages letting go of those goals. Honestly, most of the advice is pretty sound. That said, it’s definitely a problematic tagline within the context of Goop, as GP’s many *other* diet/wellness articles have shown that GP herself is probably aiming to maintain a weight below this “leanest livable”. If you look up Traci Mann, the psychologist interviewed, her body looks much more “normal” (i.e. she appears to be slim but not underweight). I do wonder how much due diligence she did before deciding to partner up with Goop though…
Hmm. So I generally loathe Goop and all the pseudo science, but I read the interview with this Dr. and didn’t find it THAT wrong.
The “leanest livable weight” thing is much better explained in there, and it’s not about skinniness, but staying on the lower end of the range your body naturally wants to be in, and it maybe be higher than your “goal weight”. It sounds like the goal is to avoid yo-yoing weight changes. It’s also not advice for women only, though being in Goop is certainly is aimed at women.
But why would you need to stay at the lowest end of your body’s set range apart from trying to follow diet culture?
The body’s set point is theoretically a range where your body is comfortable and healthy and you don’t need to engage in unhealthy behaviours in either direction… there should be no reason to aim for any particular point within that range.
So for me personally, it’s “easiest” for me to maintain a weight of about 150-155 lbs (in terms of diet/exercise), BUT I also notice I feel a lot better if I weigh more like 140-145 lbs, mostly just that moving around and exercising is a bit easier. Both weights are well within the healthy BMI guidelines for my height (5’9″). Neither requires what I would consider extreme dieting, to maintain the lower weight range I just have to be more mindful about junk food consumption (i.e. eat a serving of ice cream after dinner, not the whole container) and get in a little more activity (like an extra 10-20 min walking per day). So I would say that either weight could be considered a “set point”, but that the lower one does actually feel better…for ME. I have also tried in the past to get down to 135 or so (still a healthy BMI) and I find that does (for me) require a bit too much deprivation/vigilance about what I’m eating. Like, having an apple after dinner is a no go because it’s too many carbs. I also found the improvements in ease of movement and exercise weren’t as big. Like, yes, it was easier to run faster because I weighed less, but it was also harder to maintain the energy for running because I had to be so strict about what I was eating. I always thought of 135 as my “ideal” weight but once I got there and realized what was required to maintain it…nah. I let the extra 5 lbs come back on.
My take on the article was the doctor is trying to prevent people from dieting (starving) themselves to a lower weight than their body ‘wants”, which typically causes slow down, is difficult to maintain, and usually leads to re-gaining.
I think the advice is targeted to those prone to severe dieting, to keep them from engaging in unhealthy behavior, not intended to be the rule for everyone.
Cate’s example explains it well, I think.
Because I have diabetes on both sides of my family (as does my husband) and we’re trying to ensure that disease ends with that generation and doesn’t pass on to our kids. Diabetes has genetic ties but is also 100% tied to obesity. The article is sound advice for us, it may not be for others.
I didn’t read the article,don’t plan to,but I get where you are coming from.I am about the ssame as you @Cate in height and weight ranges,and I do feel better at my lower end.
For me it’s even less stressful to be at my lower range because I’m never thinking about the number on the scale and frankly getting dressed is easier when you know your clothing will slide on easier and you have breathing room.
My skinniest was 130 and I was way too thin,but I moved around with more ease,and I loved that my then sized 2 body was easy and fun to dress,I could by expensive clothing at clearance prices,it was nice.
I am not able to do that anymore and so be it. I would never hold myself or anyone else to that difficult standard.
I did read an article by an actual MD,who stated that being at YOUR lower weight range is healthier,but it’s very personal and should be determined between each individual and a trusted actual doctor.
Diabetes and heart disease is definitely another issue for me. I happened to have some bloodwork including hA1c done when I was at a totally healthy weight, around 150-155 lbs. The value that came back indicated an elevated risk for heart disease. Nobody would have guessed that based on my weight, but…I also knew that the way I was eating could use some improvement. It was a wakeup call to me to be more mindful about junk food frequency and portion sizes, and ultimately resulted in losing 10 lbs. I’m sure I could have changed that number while maintaining the same weight instead of losing weight, perhaps by really pushing myself to build muscle or something, but ultimately being at a lower weight was the happiest/healthiest route *for me*.
This really freaked me out because it reminded me of something my grandfather told my mother when she was in her teens. He was a surgeon. He told her she should “eat as little as possible while still being able to get through the day.”
That’s the scariest thing to me. That was by a doctor over 50 years ago. No, he didn’t have a platform but that was his take, and it’s still poisonous. And just goes to show that more people feel this way than let on.
That’s interesting & little worrisome coming from a surgeon. My goodness, what did he consider the minimal amount he needed for his hands to stay steady & his brain to function properly?
I can’t decide if she’s an inherently stupid person who will fall for anything or just a garbage person looking to make cash. Maybe a bit of both?
if I recall correctly, in the past, Gwyneth has also said she likes to indulge in delicious rich food and these extreme diets are to keep her slim when her indulgences push her above a certain unacceptable weight. It is such a sad and judgmental way to view oneself.
The mere phrase “leanest livable weight” is so problematic. And it could easily be a trigger for someone with an eating disorder, especially looking at Gwyneth who has made a big deal out of staying slim and whose slim blonde white appearance was held up as a standard of beauty in so many movies.
To me it sounds like:” starve yourself ALMOST to death”. Scary!
It’s so ironic, the whole “set-point theory” actually gained traction in the 80s (maybe before?) as a body-positive concept: the idea that there’s a weight at which your body wants to live. That number may be higher or lower than you’d like it to be, but it just is what it is and it’s unhealthy to waste physical and mental energy fighting it.
Now, I don’t know if that theory is scientifically sound or not, but it’s just irresponsible to repackage it as “leanest livable weight.” What nonsense!
As much as I despise Goop and Gwyneth I must admin: there’s some truth to that statement. The road to longevity is to sleep more and to eat less. There are multiple scientific articles proving that the human cell regenerates better if one consumes a limited amount of calories and that humanity is abusing food. (I can send you links to those scientific articles and evidence if someone’s interested).
Read something similar,and I believe it,but I think it’s a unique number for every individual,not a number on a chart for someone to strive toward.I always feel much better and sleep much better when I’m less full.
Goop just comes off so holier than thou,that she’s hard to take seriously,and of course she gets so much (deserved)resentment because most of her advice just is quackery and elitist nonsense.
It’s Goop so it’s safe to say it is based on pseudoscience.
I cannot wait for the first public class action lawsuits come crashing into GOOP, redistributing those ill gotten gains back to the people she’s harmed. Jade egg-induced vag infection? Check. Terminal anorexia through deprivation indoctrination? Check. Terminal cancer despite cancer sticker treatment? Check.
Let’s be honest, for GP it has never been about wellness. It has ALWAYS been about being thin. What she promotes is textbook orthorexia. When she was younger, she could smoke and “party” to stay thin. Then she had kids and started extreme diet and exercise programs. She is just so full of shit.
Yep! She thinks we won’t remember, haha.
Absolutely agree. That’s why she’s always jumping on one fad or scam after another, constantly talking about detoxing and cleansing, overexercising, etc.
Speaking from personal experience, if you have or tend toward a disordered mindset, it’s not difficult to translate that into “get to the lowest weight possible.” I did it years ago – Aimed for a BMI of 18.5, which to me, was the leanest livable weight. Then I lost even more and, as you would expect, ran into a lot of health problems. At that point, it wasn’t livable.
But assuming that your goal is actually reasonable and getting and staying there doesn’t interrupt your life, then it isn’t a bad suggestion. It’s possible to do – I just had to go through the stupid shit to get there.
Yep I aimed for that too guided by BMI charts when I was at my worst… I don’t think they meant “Leanest liveable” to translate into what we’re thinking, but it sure sounds bad. Now a days I can’t believe how much happier I am with my weight, I haven’t weighed myself in years but I’ve lost inches everywhere from taking up adult ballet just for fun (I had no experience dancing) and my posture has improved. I eat everything now and never worry anymore, but GOOP always reminds me of my crazy Tracy Andersson days when I worked out 4x a week or something and then starved and then binged on pasta pretty much… horrible messages from GOOP camp all around. There’s no need to be so focused on just food at all.
Oh, fun!! I took ballet as a kid but didn’t stick with it. I still bust a few moves out around the house just to crack myself up, lol. God, Tracy… She was one of the people whose messages I somewhat internalized, even as I knew it was bullshit. All this crap about not lifting over 5 lbs. Please! That was the one thing I resisted at the time. I lifted like mad and still do. 😉
Sounds like you’re in a healthier place and I’m glad to hear it!
Am I making things up, or did Goop say a few years ago that she was lacking major vitamins or something like that due to her diet? She’s the last person in the world that should be offering diet advice.
Sounds familiar. She has a line of vitamins because of course.
So, just whittle yourself down a smidge from skeletal. Women need energy (i.e. food) to live their lives. Wan weaklings just can’t do what real women have to do in life. I do not include Goop in that category.
Convinced goop is for women trying to keep their youth because they married wealthier. Rich bi’ches. Trying their best to hang on to the husband that will eventually choose something or someone other than them.
um yeah. thus GP’s own jump off relationship and as her ex started dating women 13 years younger.
This reminded me of an article I read about the findings of a gerontologist. He said that overall, people at a lower weight lived longer than people who were overweight. He himself consumed a lower amount of daily calories than is normally advised (don’t remember the actual numbers) based upon his research findings.
My god, there are children starving here in the US and Gwyneth has the nerve to sell this nonsense!! How many of these people are sending the money they aren’t spending on food to food banks or charities to help those who would love to have one meal a day?!
This obsession with body weight and the “correct” types of eating are nothing more than first world problems caused by those that have more money than sense.
I am not a GP fan, but the original article on GOOP seems like sound advice. (I just went and read it.)
In the context of the entire article, the emphasis in the phrase “leanest livable weight” seems to be “leanest LIVABLE weight,” not “LEANEST livable weight.”
Here is another quote from it: “For many of us, our leanest livable weight is heavier than our dream weight. I urge people to aim for their leanest livable weight, rather than below it. Embrace it—it’s where your body wants you to be, it’s easy to maintain, and you can be healthy there.”
Again, not a fan of GOOP’s overall emphasis or philosophy–I think this is the second time I have ever been on the site–and I myself am very overweight…but I was okay with this article. It’s possible I missed something.
Why do men hate women tjis much? It’s the crazy doctors who want women to starve themselves, also the the stylists.. I really don’t get it… We must be really special to get so much envy and hatred…
I would pay good money to watch Lizzo beat the crap out of Gwyneth Paltrow.
She quoted a psychologist re: diet. Last I checked, psychology isn’t nutrition, genetics, kinesiology etc. !!
Leanest liveable weight definitely sends the wrong message. They should have just said set point or average weight range, but I guess that doesn’t sounds as Goopy. Just like she can’t say divorce and had to coin conscious uncoupling.
Everyone has their weight range within 10lbs and that weight you feel best at. She probably meant be on the low end of that but because she’s pompous, she had to make it sound like “be as skinny as you can without dying.”
Sometimes I like to just remind myself that I really dodged a bullet by not being a Hollywood actress. LOL.