This wasn’t the weirdest year in health fads, but as Emily Bazelon, Amanda Schaffer and the New York Times’ Topos Graphics point out, it was not a slow year either. By month, here’s their list of the fads:
January: Don’t take cough medicine if you have a cold.
February: Get circumcised.
March: Sleeping pills make you fat. So can sleep loss.
April: Don’t pray for the sick.
May: Try Botox for the blues… and the bladder.
June: Drink lots of coffee.
July: Smoke marijuana. O.K., not quite.
August: Don’t eat a lot of soy. Unless you have cancer.
September: Beware of leafy vegetables.
October: Go fish.
November: Cut back on marathon running.
December: Don’t take antidepressants if you’re so depressed you’re suicidal.
[thanks Art Caplan]
Labels: health fads