Are Wellness Trends Making People Think They Can Cheat Death?

Dr. Jen Guntner, a blogger and gynecologist, has openly criticized Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop blog on her own blog, Wielding the Lasso of Truth, for sharing what she considers questionable medical advice.

Shayla Love, columnist for Tonic, interviewed Dr. Guntner about her recent experience at the In Goop Health conference in New York, hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand, where the mantra was "death doesn’t exist." 

In back-to-back sessions, Gunter told Love, “This theme persisted. The attendees were informed by a variety of professionals throughout the daylong conference that death wasn’t real.

“It was really death-heavy, and not in what I would consider a medically productive way,” she said. “This was a health conference, not a religion conference, so I’m looking at it from a health perspective.”

The speakers included a psychic medium, Laura Lynne Jackson; Dr. Eben Alexander; a neurologist who says he died and saw heaven; and Anita Moorjani, who told the audience that cancer could be cured by love. 

I grew up in the 60s, studied Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ "On Death and Dying" and lived in the San Francisco area during one of its most celebrated times when people were focused on self-help and learning. I’ve been to Esalen and Pathwork and watched a friend reborn at The Forum. I’m not naive, and I do believe in God. Never have I heard such a reckless approach.

Related:Is Ultra-Processed Food Linked to Cancer?

Perhaps in a generation that grew up with high-tech video games in which fighting battles are the norm, and people getting gunned down in schools make headlines, our connection with death has changed. While Goop’s line of supplements may be the cure for some, for the rest of us, when trying to convince people to choose their foods and lifestyles more carefully, we point to dying an early and painful death as a primary reason to change behaviors and live a long and healthy life—not to shut our eyes to reality.