4 ms·

I reviewed all 161 of GOOP’s wellness products for pseudoscience

36 points by okket 8y ago

elyobo 8y ago
> The majority of health products (90%) could not be supported by science. 10% could be? Outcome more positive for Goop than expected.
- Fnoord 8y ago
  Looking at the mentioned prices on the review, I'll wager that for that 10% which might (!!) be supported science you are better off going to a store which is 1) cheaper 2) doesn't resort to pseudoscience. Pharmacies here (NL) have two points of sale: one for prescribed medicine, one for over the counter. But the over the counter also sells other stuff such as a thermometer for babies, pads, tampons, and candy such as liquorice and peppermint. IMHO a pharmacy should not sell candy, or any pseudoscientific BS for that matter. Other than that you're better off going to such a store -if they got what you need and are open, that is.
  - GiuseppaAcciaio 8y ago
    A lot of pharmacies I see in Europe and UK sell homeopathy, and by according to a schoolmate who graduated in Pharmacy and inherited the license to run one from his dad (Italy is weird like that), homeopathic products are among the biggest cash cows for them, together with supplements.
    - tzs 8y ago
      > A lot of pharmacies I see in Europe and UK sell homeopathy Same at major chain pharmacies in the US. Worse, it is often placed to promote it over actual medicine. Go in looking for over the counter relief for runny or itchy eyes or for a runny or congested nose due to seasonal allergies, and you will often find that the homeopathic crap is placed on the chest level shelves so it is the first and easiest seen. The real stuff is two or three shelves down.
- olliej 8y ago
  Condoms, tampons, pads, and menstrual cups are all very well supported by science and/or common sense (presumably someone would notice a non-functional tampon). The other bit was some of the supplements do contain vitamin D, which does actually have use due to the (relatively) high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in modern society - that’s why milk in America has vitamin D in it. Of course as the article notes, those supplements were advertised for acne, which vitamin D has no effect on :D
tomcam 8y ago
Talk about taking one for the team. Thank you, Dr. Gunter. The keyword list contains some of my absolute most and least favorite things, a variety of topics one often doesn’t see on HN: > Keywords: jade, crystals, vagina, coffee, enema, supplements, toxins, medical conspiracy theories, Epstein Barr Virus, mediums, vitamin B12 injections Spoiler alert: > The goop store is 90% quackatorium
- Fnoord 8y ago
  I'm curious about the pseudoscience behind vitamin B12 injections? Correct me if I am wrong but if a person is very B12-deficient, injections are a way to relatively quick fix that whereas tablets wouldn't do much at that point. Supplements is another. If you don't eat certain foods, you might get deficiencies. The way to get that checked is via conventional science though.
  - sigi45 8y ago
    That's something a doctor will tell you. Not something a website should suggest upon you.
    - Fnoord 8y ago
      Fair enough.
  - JeanMarcS 8y ago
    She stated in the post > At In Goop Health there are free vitamin B12 shots, which are unnecessary unless you have a vitamin B12 deficiency. Hopefully, the new goop scientists can calculate the odds that all the women attending a goop event are vitamin B12 deficient? Perhaps they will also point out that oral works quite well, so the injection is for show?
  - GiuseppaAcciaio 8y ago
    My uneducated guess would be that someone who is so B12-deficient to require an injection (rather than just taking a daily pill) is unlikely to be able attend a Goop wellness event on account of the neurological damage :)
dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago
Dr Gunter did a good job here, although I find her analysis a little shallow. A large part of the article is devoted to the discussion of what has been excluded. Now, as for the included items, I'd expect a more in-depth discussion. For example, as for essential oils, she notes "a pleasant smell is not a medicine." I know WebMD might not be the best source of health information, but they sum up the current knowledge regarding aromatherapy use cases quite well.[0] I'm not a fan of aromatherapy but you can't just say there is no medicinal use for it in spite of evidence from several scientific papers (mild cases of anxiety mainly, see the meta-research [1]) - you need to be very precise, especially if you claim to do research. [0] https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/aromatherapy-overview#1 https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/aromatherapy... [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353611705800538?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135361170...
- kingosticks 8y ago
  Agreed. Especially considering the earlier stated acknowledgment "that spirituality and religion can have a beneficial impact for some people."
- loceng 8y ago
  Completely agree. On an unrelated side note, I like to plan potential talent hires/people/thinkers I'd like to work with based in part on thoughtful comments I see people making and keep a running bookmark list of said people - thought I'd bookmark you in it to eventually maybe reach out to, and turns out I already had you bookmarked! Based on your HN profile description, sold even harder; here's my reply relating to down-vote system to an HN moderator: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18133326 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18133326 :)
  - dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago
    Thank you! Your comment made me realize I definitely spend too much time on HN...
    - 8y ago

36 points by okket 8y ago

> The majority of health products (90%) could not be supported by science. 10% could be? Outcome more positive for Goop than expected.

Fnoord 8y ago
Looking at the mentioned prices on the review, I'll wager that for that 10% which might (!!) be supported science you are better off going to a store which is 1) cheaper 2) doesn't resort to pseudoscience. Pharmacies here (NL) have two points of sale: one for prescribed medicine, one for over the counter. But the over the counter also sells other stuff such as a thermometer for babies, pads, tampons, and candy such as liquorice and peppermint. IMHO a pharmacy should not sell candy, or any pseudoscientific BS for that matter. Other than that you're better off going to such a store -if they got what you need and are open, that is.
- GiuseppaAcciaio 8y ago
  A lot of pharmacies I see in Europe and UK sell homeopathy, and by according to a schoolmate who graduated in Pharmacy and inherited the license to run one from his dad (Italy is weird like that), homeopathic products are among the biggest cash cows for them, together with supplements.
  - tzs 8y ago
    > A lot of pharmacies I see in Europe and UK sell homeopathy Same at major chain pharmacies in the US. Worse, it is often placed to promote it over actual medicine. Go in looking for over the counter relief for runny or itchy eyes or for a runny or congested nose due to seasonal allergies, and you will often find that the homeopathic crap is placed on the chest level shelves so it is the first and easiest seen. The real stuff is two or three shelves down.
olliej 8y ago
Condoms, tampons, pads, and menstrual cups are all very well supported by science and/or common sense (presumably someone would notice a non-functional tampon). The other bit was some of the supplements do contain vitamin D, which does actually have use due to the (relatively) high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in modern society - that’s why milk in America has vitamin D in it. Of course as the article notes, those supplements were advertised for acne, which vitamin D has no effect on :D

tomcam 8y ago

Talk about taking one for the team. Thank you, Dr. Gunter. The keyword list contains some of my absolute most and least favorite things, a variety of topics one often doesn’t see on HN: > Keywords: jade, crystals, vagina, coffee, enema, supplements, toxins, medical conspiracy theories, Epstein Barr Virus, mediums, vitamin B12 injections Spoiler alert: > The goop store is 90% quackatorium

Fnoord 8y ago
I'm curious about the pseudoscience behind vitamin B12 injections? Correct me if I am wrong but if a person is very B12-deficient, injections are a way to relatively quick fix that whereas tablets wouldn't do much at that point. Supplements is another. If you don't eat certain foods, you might get deficiencies. The way to get that checked is via conventional science though.
- sigi45 8y ago
  That's something a doctor will tell you. Not something a website should suggest upon you.
  - Fnoord 8y ago
    Fair enough.
- JeanMarcS 8y ago
  She stated in the post > At In Goop Health there are free vitamin B12 shots, which are unnecessary unless you have a vitamin B12 deficiency. Hopefully, the new goop scientists can calculate the odds that all the women attending a goop event are vitamin B12 deficient? Perhaps they will also point out that oral works quite well, so the injection is for show?
- GiuseppaAcciaio 8y ago
  My uneducated guess would be that someone who is so B12-deficient to require an injection (rather than just taking a daily pill) is unlikely to be able attend a Goop wellness event on account of the neurological damage :)

dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago

Dr Gunter did a good job here, although I find her analysis a little shallow. A large part of the article is devoted to the discussion of what has been excluded. Now, as for the included items, I'd expect a more in-depth discussion. For example, as for essential oils, she notes "a pleasant smell is not a medicine." I know WebMD might not be the best source of health information, but they sum up the current knowledge regarding aromatherapy use cases quite well.[0] I'm not a fan of aromatherapy but you can't just say there is no medicinal use for it in spite of evidence from several scientific papers (mild cases of anxiety mainly, see the meta-research [1]) - you need to be very precise, especially if you claim to do research. [0] https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/aromatherapy-overview#1 https://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/aromatherapy... [1] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1353611705800538?via%3Dihub https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S135361170...

kingosticks 8y ago
Agreed. Especially considering the earlier stated acknowledgment "that spirituality and religion can have a beneficial impact for some people."
loceng 8y ago
Completely agree. On an unrelated side note, I like to plan potential talent hires/people/thinkers I'd like to work with based in part on thoughtful comments I see people making and keep a running bookmark list of said people - thought I'd bookmark you in it to eventually maybe reach out to, and turns out I already had you bookmarked! Based on your HN profile description, sold even harder; here's my reply relating to down-vote system to an HN moderator: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18133326 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18133326 :)
- dvfjsdhgfv 8y ago
  Thank you! Your comment made me realize I definitely spend too much time on HN...
  - 8y ago