ELLE’s Modern Wellness Guide

These days, keeping up with wellness trends can feel a bit like Hercules battling the Hydra—the minute you feel like you have a grasp on one, four new trends pop up in its place. To help, ELLE examined the year’s biggest and buzziest—from colostrum to extreme protein to cold plunging—in search of an answer to the overwhelming question: “Does any of it even work?” Here is the lowdown from experts on whether or not you should test-drive these trends yourself and what the science actually shows.

Like Route 66 connecting Chicago to the American West, the vagus nerve acts as an information highway running from your brain to your large intestine. Unlike other nerves, it’s not one you can feel. Most of us don’t even know it’s there, but celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow have recently touted the benefits of “stimulating” it. The nerve is thought to control resting and digesting, and sparking it could help release stress and get your body out of fight-or-flight mode, according to Gudrun Snyder, a doctor of acupuncture in Chicago. You can allegedly activate it through acupuncture, ear seeds that stimulate aural pressure points, or aromatherapy with essential oils like chamomile and lavender. More controversially, you can have a doctor “implant” an electrical impulse near the nerve. There are vagus nerve bath oils, and Amazon even sells a “Vagus Nerve Deck” with exercises to “reset your nervous system.” A 2020 study in the cardiac journal Heart Rhythm O2 found that stimulating the vagus nerve through acupuncture may enhance heart rate variability and activate the parasympathetic nervous system to lower stress, though it notes that more research is needed. Still, it isn’t a cure-all for stress and anxiety. “We’re still trying to find out more about [vagus nerve stimulation’s] efficacy,” says Terri Bacow, a clinical psychologist in New York. Talk to your doctor before trying anything.—Katie Berohn, beauty editor

Although celebrities like Hailey Bieber and high-powered executives like superagent Ari Emanuel have lately popularized cold plunging, the practice of dunking yourself into icy water dates back to ancient times. (Some even credit the Greek philosopher Hippocrates as the “grandfather” of cryotherapy.) Devotees like mega-wellness podcaster Andrew Huberman claim cold plunges can improve anxiety, energy, metabolism, and dopamine levels. Controlled and large-scale studies are lacking, but a 2022 study from the International Journal of Circumpolar Health did find increasing scientific support for the health benefits of cold water immersion, such as decreased cortisol and improved mood and focus. Cold plunges are certainly a social lubricant: At Othership in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, the sauna/ice bath/repeat cycle is done as a community, thanks to a 7,000-foot-space with flickering candlelight, a 90-person “performance sauna,” and six of the coldest ice baths in North America (there’s even a DJ on Friday nights, and the space is celebrating its first in-person proposal). Cofounder Emily Bent touts cold plunges as an alternative to drinking. “You’re able to be more free and more open,” she says (there may be something to it; creatives like Benny Blanco and Eva Longoria have sat in Alo Yoga’s cold plunge and answered questions for the brand’s video series, Break the Ice). Risks, as noted in a 2021 study in Lifestyle Medicine, include cold shock, which can trigger hyperventilation and heart conditions. Plunge with caution.—Kathleen Hou, beauty director

Come into my chamber—my hyperbaric oxygen chamber, that is. Justin Bieber reportedly has one in his recording studio, and athletes like Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Phelps praise the practice for decreasing inflammation, lowering stress levels, and fostering an improved sense of well-being. The Financial Times reports that some CEOs use the treatment to “sharpen their thinking,” claiming it can improve brain function and reduce some brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s (Nicole Kidman’s CEO character in Babygirl even steps into one). These chambers deliver increased oxygen, via pressured gas, which dissolves into the blood (the gas from your oxygen facial is not pressurized). “High pressure drives oxygen into the bloodstream, much like pressurizing a can of soda with CO2 carbonates the beverage,” explains Sean Alemi, MD, a facial plastic surgeon in Great Neck, New York. As of July 2021, the FDA approved the usage of hyperbaric oxygen chambers to treat several issues, including burns and wound healing; they have also become popular in aesthetics to reduce surgery recovery time. Alemi always has patients clinically evaluated before they try the treatment, as there are risks, including over-oxygenation, particularly for those with lung problems and with middle ear pressure equalization disorders. Although there are varieties available to purchase online, you probably shouldn’t—and you certainly shouldn’t try to build your own, something the FDA warns could led to fire and suffocation. While the hyperbaric oxygen therapy could be promising, it’s best to wait for the results of ongoing studies, including trials testing the therapy for COVID and traumatic brain injuries.­—K.H.

They’ll mix eggs into cottage cheese. They’ll drink bone broth by the quart. They’ll eat steak with avocado and Greek yogurt. Fitfluencers like the Liver King will do questionable things to hit their high-protein goals. Protein is an essential part of a balanced diet—eating one gram of protein per two pounds of body weight helps build muscles and maintain bone density, which is especially important for women, who are more at risk for osteoporosis as we age. For example, the average 170-pound woman should aim to consume 62 grams of protein in a day. High-protein devotees on TikTok, however, take protein intake to the extreme, aiming for numbers like 150 grams of protein per day (and typically, they’re consuming protein found in meat and dairy). They claim that eating more protein can help balance your hormones, trim excess fat from your waist, and clear your skin. There’s no evidence that eating more than the FDA-recommended amount of protein will do any of those things, and in fact, it’s important to take caution. One study from ISRN Nutrition found that diets with protein intake over the daily recommended amount can increase risk for coronary heart disease and cancer, and may cause bone and liver disorders. Another 2024 study from the journal Nature Metabolism found that the risks of a high-protein diet outweigh the potential benefits. As with all diets, Mesa says that when eating high amounts of protein becomes a rule or an obsession, you start to find yourself in disordered-eating territory. “Sometimes food can just be food, and we don’t have to add protein to it.”—K.B.

Sofia Richie Grainge blended it into her Erewhon smoothie. Kourtney Kardashian packed it in her hospital bag when she gave birth. Anecdotally, some fans think it works like nature’s Lactaid. It’s colostrum, and in the wellness community, it’s been crowned “liquid gold.” Thicker and more flaxen in color than regular breast milk, colostrum is the very first type of milk that mothers make for their infants after they give birth, and it’s full of immunoglobulins, antimicrobial peptides, and growth factors (it’s not to be confused with raw milk, a whole other topic). Some brands, like Armra and Cowboy Colostrum, say colostrum might help adults too, and are powdering bovine colostrum and turning it into supplements. More research needs to be done, but one early study from the multidisciplinary journal Frontiers in Nutrition in 2021 demonstrated that colostrum shows promise for improving GI issues and helping reduce inflammation thanks to naturally occurring prebiotics, which may be why some people consider it akin to taking a Lactaid pill. As with any supplement, however, colostrum isn’t a silver bullet. “We always have to be skeptical of those magical health claims,” says Diana Mesa, registered dietitian. She says that colostrum supplements likely won’t hurt you—but you also shouldn’t count on them fixing all of your problems.—K.B.

The hottest new clubs don’t involve dressing up or sweet-talking your way past a bouncer to get inside. Instead, the most coveted wellness clubs have infrared saunas, cryotherapy, IV drips, and on-demand bone broth. Spending a Friday night focusing on wellness may seem more antisocial than a Friday night at a bar, but community is a major pillar of wellness that is often overlooked, says Jonathan Leary, founder and CEO of Remedy Place, a “social wellness club.” “We need to take care of ourselves in order to be healthy, and we need human connection to make us healthier,” says Leary, who points to studies like a 2015 one from the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, which suggested isolation is the health equivalent of 15 cigarettes a day. High-profile celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Drake have been spotted at Remedy Place. It’s a place to bring dates or even host bachelorette parties, particularly in their contrast suites, where groups can travel from infrared saunas to ice-cold plunge pools together. Advitam, a wellness “club” extension of dermatology and plastic surgery practice Shafer Clinic, offers rooftop group IV therapy. “Unlike in the past where you might have all gone out to eat together, you might now IV together,” says David Shafer, MD, cofounder of Advitam. Or you can go old school: Running clubs like Cooldown Running, in 15 cities nationally, are free and more popular than ever.—K.B.

Consider human design the Swiss Army Knife of self-help tools, cobbling together a whole New Age bookshelf into one form. The spiritual technique combines aspects of astrology, kabbalah, Myers-Briggs, I Ching, and even quantum physics to help people figure out their “true purpose” in life. Created in the ’80s, it’s recently started gaining momentum on LinkedIn, where it is often a trending topic and there are many guides for incorporating the practices into the workplace to better understand employees strengths and weaknesses. To take part, you call up a “human designer,” who creates a BodyGraph—a diagram mapping out your energy and your purpose. BodyGraphs are made based on birth date, time, and location with different subsections—a few chiefly important ones are type (your energy category), strategy (the best way for you to move through life), and profile (your personality). For example, based on her known birthday, birthplace, and estimated time of birth, Taylor Swift is a projector, which means she is a guide for other energy types; her authority is splenic, which means she relies on her instincts; and her profile is 5’1”, indicating that she’s an adaptable problem-solver. Swift likely doesn’t need any help figuring out her life purpose, but if she did, she could use this information to help figure out what best suits her (as an instinct-driven, problem-solving energy guide, all signs point to the wild success she already has). “The question for me is not whether human design is true, but whether it’s useful,” says Erin Claire Jones, a human design educator in New York. Jeni Gage, a human design coach in Los Angeles, says that most of her clients come to her at a crossroads, and leave with a clearer picture of what they want—but it can’t predict the future. Use it as a handy protractor help draw up your life plan, but don’t make it the entire blueprint.—K.B.

Even after we’ve graduated from school, we constantly find ourselves taking tests. Compatibility tests for new relationships. Aptitude tests for prospective jobs. But when it comes to self-evaluation, there are few tests more popular and enduring than the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Originally created to test leadership abilities in the workplace, the personality test, with 16 different types, has opened the door to self-discovery, particularly among Gen Z, as the test has made the rounds on TikTok. Online, people have found a sense of community via meme with others who fall into their MBTI categories. Some have even gone as far as categorizing popular movie characters into specific groups—Jo from Little Women has been deemed an ENFP (extroverted, intuitive, feeling, and perceiving—someone who embraces big emotions), while Laurie was labeled an ISFP (introverted, sensing, feeling, and perceiving). Perhaps their contrasting traits made them doomed lovers from the start. The personality types can lend to certain theories—for instance, an INTP (introverted, intuitive, thinking, and judgment) type may be more resourceful or entrepreneurial, making them a good business person. Some experts argue that certain biases can affect the test results, as the answers are based on someone’s own opinion of themselves, but psychotherapist and licensed mental health counselor Daryl Appleton, EdD, says the examination’s merit lies less in the results, but more so in the calm the introspection can bring. “It’s not just about the answers themselves,” she says. “It’s more about what you do with the information.”—Tasha Nicole Smith, beauty assistant

A version of this story appears in the March 2025 issue of ELLE.

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