The Million Dollar Smoothie
In the rarely-visited ‘explore’ tab of our instagram account, I came across a reel that rendered me genuinely perplexed. In the video, cropped so we can see both the kitchen counter *and* her impossibly toned middle, a popular fashion and lifestyle influencer puts together a smoothie. She begins, scooping and spooning powders, gels, and liquids into the smoothie, listing each ingredient and why she uses it as she goes. When she hits ingredient 6, unceremoniously dumping these healing elixirs into the blender, our eyes scan the post caption. It reads: “the million dollar smoothie”.
The gal is not joking.
@djunabel
In the smoothie, there are 15 ingredients, of which - curiously - only 2 are real, actual whole foods. Actually, 3 if you include the chia seeds. The rest of purchased or packaged supplementation blends. She includes:
"Qi" by SuperFeast
"Blue Beauty" (protein) by Moon Juice
cricket protein powder
baobab
chia seeds
"I Am Gaia" (women’s blend) by SuperFeast
mucuna (can’t lie, I had to google this)
"Glow" powder by Beauty Chef
2 kinds of collagen
chlorella
shasandra (also googled)
sea moss
blueberries (I know this one!)
spinach (for texture!!! I am deceased)
almond milk
Look, I love the feeling of taking care of myself every time I pop that overpriced probiotic, chug the most vile-tasting powdered greens, or sneak my kids gummy multivitamins when I crave candy, but this is next level. I cannot even imagine the taste of this, nor do I know what 75% of the ingredients are meant to do, or if someone like me even needs them.
Also, can a body process or absorb all of this?
I’ve been influenced though. I saved the post because yes, I'm interested in recipes and eating better and being health however efficiently I can. Maybe her smoothie is it!! Or maybe we're on our way to a food pill like Leeloo enjoys so much in The Fifth Element.
(I know some of you will want to try this anyway, so here’s the original video. Please report back.)
While the concept of “Wellness” can be traced as far back as 3000 B.C, its modernization and commercialization began around around 1950, with more research and literature becoming widely available, alongside the new concept of supplements, ie “magic pills” that became available at pharmacies around the world. Since then, there has always been a steady stream of new offerings that take the market by storm, too often a part of diet culture under the guise of ‘Wellness’, and too often the westernization of an eastern practice or medicine.
Most recently, Gwyneth Paltrow’s goop helped take it to another level altogether (vaginal jade eggs included, and no I will not link to it). Backed by our obsession with celebrity culture, the global Health and Wellness industry now tops $5 billion.
It’s not always Gwyneth’s altar that we’re kneeling at. There are plenty of other well known and well-followed celebrities or influencers that peddle different products or get in the market with their own. We get these recommendations from everyone from friends, family, some healthcare practitioners, and good ol’ social media influencers, all of whom swear powder X or vitamin Y is the cure to all of your ailments and woes.
But do they work? Since Y2K, the National Institute of Health has spent a few billion dollars studying vitamins and minerals, and still the scientific evidence is not at all clear.
The good news is that, overall, they don’t appear to hurt, either. The only thing that gets eviscerated is your wallet, given the absolutely criminal costs of some of these potions.
And yet…we keep buying it!! When we’re talking about spending $100 for a bottle of “high quality”(?!) multivitamins, I have thoughts.
Two notable health concerns to consider before you go on a lil’ shopping spree in the Wellness aisle: 1) they could potentially interact with other existing medications you take, and 2) your kidneys, y’all.
A third (and important) concern is that depending on where you are in the world, not all supplements are regulated or held to any meaningful standard, meaning they can make pretty non-scientifically backed things, get reeeeeally creative with their marketing copy, or even include ingredients and not pop them on the label.
To be clear, I’m not trying to be a poopy pants at all...I take supplements. When consulting with my own trusted medical practitioners, which include my GP, a Naturopathic Doctor, and a neuropsychologist, “why not?” seems to be the general consensus.
I’m not alone in my dabbling of unregulated substances. When I polled my favourite people on the internet, they hit me back with tsunami of their own supplement routine and why they take them.
My favourite responses were “No, should I be!?” and “This is a great way to set money on fire.”
Multivitamins, magnesium, and vitamins D and B12 were the most popular responses by a long shot.
Other popular answers included:
Ashwagandha, athlete greens, biotin, collagen, fibre, glutamine, iron, kelp, milk thistle, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin A, omega 3, 6, 9 (and fish oils), probiotics, protein powder, selenium, zinc.
For some, they’ve tried it and have reported back that it did nothing for them. For others, when they are in pain or desperate or just have extra cash and want to strive for better health, they'll try anything.
So, what is the best approach for us mere mortals who choose to use our disposable income on these magical concoctions? I, notably the farthest thing from a medical expert, say pick one goal: hormone, immuno-, or adrenal support, strength or race recovery, prenatal or fertility, stress management or improving sleep, etc. For me, it’s brain health.
From there, if you can, get a blood panel done to get an idea of what’s happening for you before you begin your trek on this Great Supplementation Adventure. A Naturopathic Doctor, which is covered by some benefit or insurance plans, can get this sorted for you. In combination, chat with your medical doctor and a pharmacist to make sure you’re headed in the right direction, not screwing up your existing meds, and not posing any other health risks.
While the smoothie post did not make me want to actually try the smoothie, it did make me stop and contemplate the abundance of supplements and sheer volume of choice we now have to address a bevy of maladies. For now, I’m going to do a deeper dive on the companies I’m currently purchasing supplements from, along with gaining a better understanding of the ingredients, where they are sourced from, and any regulation or testing that took place.
Here's to your health, and I’ll see you in the Wellness aisle.