Gwyneth Paltrow launched her lifestyle newsletter Goop from her kitchen table in London in October 2008, offering personal recommendations on everything from reflexologists to banana nut muffins. Fifteen years later, the brand is reportedly worth over £200 million, with clothing lines, podcasts, Netflix shows and an annual wellness summit. But alongside its success, Goop has become notorious for promoting health advice that ranges from dubious to dangerous.
Among the most bizarre claims, Paltrow coined the term 'conscious uncoupling' for her 2014 split from Chris Martin, and published a five-step guide to yawning in 2015. She also promoted an eight-day raw goat's milk cleanse as a parasite treatment, and suggested that bloating, dandruff and sugar cravings could be signs of an 'insidious yeast infection' requiring a fruit-restricted diet and anti-fungal supplements.
In 2017, Goop recommended inserting $66 jade or rose quartz eggs into the vagina to improve muscle tone and hormonal balance, a claim that led to a $145,000 lawsuit for unsubstantiated marketing after backlash from gynaecologists. The brand also sold a £61 candle called 'This Smells Like My Vagina', which sold out within hours, and advised readers to speak kindly to their water based on a coffee table book by Masaru Emoto.
Other recommendations included burning bras to release negative energy from past relationships, using at-home coffee enema kits for detox, and placing $120 'Body Vibes' stickers on the skin to 'rebalance energy frequency'. Paltrow also revealed on a podcast that she had used rectal ozone therapy, a practice dismissed by scientists. Despite the controversies, Goop has maintained a loyal following and continues to expand its wellness empire.
