The health and wellness scene is likely to evolve with new trends and products by 2024. Here are some major observations and trends to look out for this year:
- Wellness Products: Experts have recommended a variety of wellness products and initiatives for the year 2024.These include mindfulness and stress-reduction tools like Ten Percent Happier.
- Fitness: Fitness remains a priority in 2024, with new workout trends and technologies emerging.
- Mental Wellness: Mental health remains a priority, with innovative approaches to improving mental well-being being a part of wellness.
- Skincare: Experts predict that skincare will make a significant impact in 2024, fueled by emerging workout trends and technologies.
- Nutrition: Members of the Forbes Health Advisory Board foresee nutrition trends, recommending an emphasis on food choices and their impact on overall wellness.
- Holistic Approaches: In 2024, wellness is likely to include holistic practices such as Ayurveda and biohacking.
- Health Tech: Health tech innovations are expected to increase usage and impact the wellness sector.
- Market Growth: Experts project rapid growth in the wellness market, reflecting a sustained global focus on health and well-being.
- Unique Trends: Specific trends such as “dry January” and “cosy cardio” are also gaining attention in the wellness
- Empowerment: Consumers desire empowerment in their wellness decisions, especially regarding plant-based and probiotic goods.
What might the next 12 months possibly have in store for us if 2023 was all about probiotics and ChatGPT-guided fitness plans? So, we examined some data-driven forecasts to bring you the top wellness and fitness trends for 2024.
What will fitness and health look like in 2024?
People will increasingly celebrate unprocessed food.
My bet is that “ultra-processed” will be the food phrase of the year as everyone who cares about what they eat realises that they need to reduce their use of foods that are industrially produced, employ industrially extracted components, and are designed to replace real foods while also being “addictive.” Many studies have linked these foods to obesity-related chronic disorders (heart disease, type 2 diabetes, etc.) and overall mortality. One research trial backs up the addiction concept by showing that those who eat ultra-processed diets consume many more calories than those who eat moderately processed diets. It would not surprise me if non-ultra-processed products were potentially marketed as such.
Rodents Will Inspire the Next Bro-Science Fad
We shall learn about an epochal breakthrough in the quest for immortality sometime in 2024. There will be a chemical that, when given in adequate quantities to particular transgenic mice, extends life by a statistically significant amount when extended from rodent years to human years. Human experiments will be organised; venture cash will flow as freely as red wine; and incredibly long podcasts will be recorded. Obscure plants containing chemicals vaguely similar to the breakthrough will flood the Internet. The projected value of the worldwide wellness market is $6.6 trillion. The United States’ life expectancy will continue its decade-long slide.
Adults will have unstructured play.
Everyone suffers from loneliness. We are in desperate need of personal connection and interaction. We’re running out of reasons to get outside. Physically, we are all withering and calcifying. Stay with me; PvP zones are the obvious response. What exactly is a PvP zone, you ask? In open-world video games, PvP zones are specified regions where players can directly interact with—OK, attack—one another. Obviously, I do not want there to be physical violence. A space for adults to participate in rather unconstrained play, on the other hand? We require it today more than ever. I see you shaking your head, but it just goes to show how desperately you need to interact with your fellow humans in a PvP zone. You might think I’m joking, but I’m dead serious.
The most important characteristic of the PvP zone is that it is unstructured, a place where no one loses and talent is irrelevant. Nobody would deny that many of us think far too much these days. Perhaps the solution to all of our woes is to just designate a section of our parks where it is acceptable to approach someone you don’t know and yell “Tag, you are it” before running away. Zones for PvP. It could, should, and, in my opinion, will happen.
Badminton is emerging.
When it comes to racquet sports, an old face is making a comeback on the main court. Badminton, which originated in China over 2,000 years ago, is the sport in which you hit a shuttlecock rather than a ball (if you’re unfamiliar with the sport). It peaked in popularity in the West a century ago, and while it has been in the Olympics for a long time, it appears to be making a comeback now that we’re back in the 20s.
The popularity of badminton stems from its simple regulations and faster, more physically demanding pace than tennis. It also happens to be the first alphabetical option on your Polar Sports profiles. According to Pinterest, badminton will be a new fitness fad in 2024, with an 80% increase in searches for badminton rackets and outfits in the last year.
A greater emphasis on preventive solutions will allow us to spend less money on healthcare.
Sick care will be reimagined through a combination of sustainable lifestyle adjustments and personalised solutions. In the future decades, I believe that health-care spending will change from reactive to proactive. More exercise and nutritious eating should be the first line of defence. Building on that foundation, health monitors, preventative diagnostics, and coaching and care platforms can ultimately save the US healthcare system trillions of dollars.
We will balance medical advances with common-sense solutions.
We’ve reached a stage where I believe we’ll need to rethink how we think about health and wellbeing in a variety of ways. On the one hand, we will have to deal with the environment we have created. There is a growing recognition that having phones with you at all times is having a negative impact on the mental health of teenagers and young people. And for the rest of us, ignoring green space, parks, walking neighbourhoods, and so much more in our daily lives is setting us up for failure. On the other hand, the potential of medical breakthroughs such as GLP-1 medicines opens up much-needed opportunities for genuine change. The first true medicine for obesity will require us to reconsider how we see health, both personally and medically. My goal is that we will find ourselves grappling with the nuance in the centre, figuring out how to use medical discoveries while also paving the way for long-term sustainability by making our environment more inviting to healthier behaviours.
Research on strategies to expedite recovery
Many healing treatments have gained popularity in recent years. It’s become a crucial element of the training process for athletes of all levels, from foam rolling to massage guns. Cold water exposure, particularly through ice baths or similar sorts of chilly immersion after training, has gained significantly in popularity.
In 2024, we expect to gain a better understanding of cold water immersion, including its benefits such as relieving muscle soreness. For example, building on their pilot study from 2022, researchers in the United Kingdom will perform the largest, randomised, controlled experiment on the subject to examine if cold water exposure helps treat anxiety disorders and depression.
Experiencing international flavours
I hope that the desire for home cooks to experiment with more global flavours and ingredients from many international cuisines continues. According to my social media feeds, 2023 was the year of the chilli crisp.
Mushrooms that have medicinal properties
This is a current trend that I believe will gain mainstream attention in 2024. It appears like mushroom coffee is here to stay, which is a great way to get your fungus dose, but I also hope that the hoopla pushes people to cook with more various species of mushrooms.
Aside from the standard buttons and bellas, variations like chanterelle, shiitake, and enoki are very common in most large grocery stores these days. Most medicinal mushrooms are adaptogenic, which means they help the body cope with stress, something I believe many of us might benefit from.
The “Not Too Sweet” era will continue to gain traction.
Growing up in an Asian-American home, the best compliment someone could pay for a dessert was “it’s not too sweet.” This intolerance to cloying sweetness, which I developed at a young age, has caught on with the general public. From the long-overdue realignment of the soda industry towards sparkling water as the hero, to the continued rise in popularity of Asian food with its greater emphasis on savoury over sweet, to the all-too-common experience of asking your server for a wine recommendation that’s “on the drier side,” sweetness is marginalised. However, while sugar has been demonised for decades for its nutritional value, consumers are now limiting their sugar intake for reasons other than health. Even those who aren’t adamant about avoiding sugar are cutting back because they want to be able to taste their food rather than having their taste buds swamped in a flood of sweetness.
With rising scepticism about the healthfulness of artificial sweeteners and a general preference for more natural foods, diets in 2024 and beyond may not only continue to reduce sugar levels, but whatever small amounts of sugar they do consume will come from natural sources rather than synthetic ones.
We’ll stop complicating the concept of living well.
People will want stability and simplicity in their health and exercise routines as their lives become more chaotic and tumultuous. There will always be individuals who are onto the newest craze or bro-science gimmick, but it appears that more and more people are growing tired of this. There is already a lot of noise in the world, and one’s approach to health and fitness should not add to it.
I believe it will increasingly be back to basics—not only because they work but also because they are less exhausting. Out with the social media hype speeches from $8,000 cold plunges at five a.m., and in with a morning cup of coffee or tea, a book, and 30 to 60 minutes of regular activity. The former is appealing. The latter is the road to true health and happiness.
Take a break.
Expect to leave in 2024 and get some rest. The holiday trend is centred on helping Gen Z and Millennials rest and recover better. Whether you’ve been dealing with stress, burnout, or sleeplessness, taking some time away from work and everything else to learn how to prioritise sleep hygiene is the kind of break you’ll undoubtedly benefit from for the rest of the year (excuse the pun).
You wouldn’t be the only one attempting to slow down instead of running about at an exhaustingly touristy event. Searches for all things slow life on Pinterest increased by 60%, while interest in digital detox challenges rose by 80%, and searches for anything linked to ASMR sleep saw a 165% increase. So, next year, feel free to have a couple more early evenings and languid mornings in bed.
We’re going to start Biohacking our ‘Beach Vacations’
You could go to a sterile clinic for a lifespan boost with vitamin IV drips and stem cell therapy, but resorts are now collaborating with longevity centres to offer onsite treatments. Guests at resorts can receive a poolside NAD+ IV drip. The Regenerative Wellness Clinic offers live blood analysis to customers. Many also provide thorough diagnostic testing to guests, which can help determine biohack treatments like localised cryotherapy.
Dance workouts for Gen Z
On the other end of the age spectrum, #DanceFitness will have around a billion TikTok views in 2023. You’ll understand why Gen Z can’t get enough of sweating it out to music once you’ve seen (or participated in) one of the app’s many dancing challenges. It’s comparable to how aerobic dance exercises like Zumba were fitness crazes in past generations. Except that you may now record and share it online, expanding your sense of digital community.
Staying healthy (working out regularly, eating well, etc.) is one of Gen Z’s top goals, according to recent Instagram research. Group fitness classes are also popular with this demographic, demonstrating that in-person exercise experiences are important to those who grew up on the internet. With more gyms offering dancing classes, it’s a logical fit for people looking for motivational music, guided workouts, and the chance to meet a new exercise partner or two.
Fitness on all levels
Next year, we will encourage you to explore the connection between your mind and body in relation to your mental health. Instead, you will have the opportunity to focus on improving your overall fitness, including both your mental and physical health. Instead, it will concentrate on your whole health, emphasising the interdependence of your mental and physical health and how they can only be described in relation to one another.
This all-encompassing approach to wellness will result in more attentive options at the gym, such as meditation sessions and even counselling. As a result, mental health services and apps will begin to encourage and provide physical fitness workouts. The aim is to cultivate a healthy, balanced, and resilient body and mind.
Low-intensity workouts will see (yet another) renaissance
People have realised that shorter workouts can still be beneficial (see exercise snacks!) and that high-intensity workouts do not have to be lengthy. What follows will be a flood of lower-intensity workouts taking a lap in the spotlight. People are walking more, doing lower-intensity steady-state training (Zone 2 and otherwise), and wanting to feel better rather than merely be fitter. As millennials’ life responsibilities increase with age, the wear and tear that hard workouts have on the body will become more apparent for this generation of people born during the wellness boom. Furthermore, people are beginning to comprehend more of the science underpinning the benefits of low-intensity steady-state exercise, particularly for the heart. The “soft life” approach will manifest itself in the gym.
AI for fitness personalisation
Where would you be in 2023 if you hadn’t used ChatGPT? After years of anticipation, AI in the fitness field suddenly became a reality. With the rise in popularity of wearable technology over the last decade, you can now use your data to personalise every aspect of your approach to exercise and health. It is empowering to not only monitor but also optimise your health in whichever way works for you, from utilising AI to adapt your dietary plans to experimenting with it as a running coach. AI can provide you with data like heart rate variability (HRV), cardiac load, energy consumption, and the quality and quantity of sleep you get each night. With new capabilities such as skin temperature and daytime alertness added in recent months, you’ll be able to acquire an even deeper picture of your fitness and wellness in 2024, providing you with more insights that AI can enhance.
Concentrate on mental health recovery.
Many people have become more aware of the exhausting effects of a mind and body in constant activity in the years since the outbreak. Finding ways to take a mental break during meetings, workdays, weekends, and other times has become more important, complementing physical recuperation requirements.
Meditation, writing, setting boundaries, spending time in nature, and checking in with a mental health practitioner are all ways to include more of these recovery moments in your life.
More knowledge, tools, leadership involvement, and continuing discussion are helping to incorporate mental health into our daily lives. Individuals are more willing and open to assisting themselves (and their communities) in achieving mental health. It is now, and will continue to be, increasingly common to open up and share ideas about our inner experiences.
Increasing understanding of the connection between community and mental health
We are seeing a greater awareness of how the groups we belong to and how we interact in those communities affect our mental health. Mental health is not necessarily personal; it is also community-based. To improve our individual mentalities, there is a greater need to positively impact our local (and worldwide) communities.
Consider the following: Where do I go to work? Who do I collaborate with? What is our common goal and impact? What organisations do I belong to, and how do they affect the world in a positive or negative way? How are we assisting one another?
Staying informed about these trends is crucial for making informed decisions about your health and fitness in 2024.
Stay Healthy!
Stay Blessed!
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