Article by: Tian van Taak
With each new year, industries shift, trends come and go, technology advance and new scientific findings result in change. To stay on the forefront, we asked some of our local experts to offer their predictions about what they think will command the health and wellness industry in 2022. Here’s what they see coming in 4 key categories: health and wellness, fitness and nutrition,
Trend: Bacterial Vigilance; Dr Marinus
Covid -19 taught us all one important thing that bacteria and viruses are all around us and studies have shown that many people will continue the hygiene protocols that were put in place during this time as they have seen the benefit of regular hand sanitising and wearing masks. Dr Marinus one of our local experts concur this fact and states that a lot of people have now created far more healthy habits as a result of this epidemic.
Trend: Sober Curiosity
More and more people are trying to detox and cut alcohol out from their diet as a part of their everyday life. This could have also resulted from the lockdown protocol. This is great news for our collective health, physically and mentally! Non-alcoholic spirits is one of the fastest growing consumer goods product ranges available at present.
Trend: The importance of social connections for mental health
COVID-19 has only emphasised and broadened the truth of his finding – that chronic loneliness is as detrimental to our overall health as smoking. We cannot create thriving health alone. We need a community, even a small one, to be our most resilient selves. Mental health and wellness is as important as physical wellbeing.
Trend: Kindness
This may seem like less of a health trend than a pipe dream, but as we witness what feels like a crisis of bad behaviour – in restaurants, on airplanes, on freeways – we see how much unkindness literally harms our health.
It creates undue stress for service workers and can lead to actual physical injuries. The silver lining – if you can call it that – is that the necessity of empathy and mutual respect for our physical health has never been clearer. Without mutual kindness, we cannot thrive and we should all be aware of this by now.
Trend: Fitness
The trend in 2022 is fitness in all age groups and disciplines. Gyms and conventional fitness routines will always have a market, but in recent times we have seen anything from Yoga to CrossFit make a comeback. The idea at present is that you are an individual and your schedule and fitness needs will determine what fitness routine works for you. We want to encourage all our readers to start experimenting and try all available fitness programmes available around the West Coast. “
Trend: Nutrition
More mainstream chatter about animal- based eating styles and regenerative agriculture.
Plant-based eating has had the spotlight in recent years for its health and environmental ‘benefits’, but more people are realising that eating nothing but plants (with more of those food options being highly processed, fake versions of animal proteins such as veggie burgers, plant-based sausages, and egg-free ‘eggs’) is not that easy. People are now moving to more organic based food diets, knowing where your food cames from and how it is made are becoming more and more important. This is a great micro economic benefit for small towns in the West Coast as there is now an opportunity for small producers or entrepreneurs to be able to provide people with the dietary requirements that they need.
Dr Marinus local GP answered some of my questions and gave his professional opinion…
South Africa and the world are still living in a covid reality and even though numbers of positive cases have come down, do you think this epidemic has changed people’s behavior towards general health?
Since the start of the COVID-19 lockdown negative health activities such as smoking and decreased physical exercise, have been unavoidable due to prolonged situations of self-isolation, shielding and physical distancing. Also, job losses and/or decreased income resulted in diminished commitments in health promoting behaviors. Most of these behavioral changes will have a negative impact on mental health. Sadly, the long-term impacts COVID-19 on health and well-being are still unknown, but most experts expect that the effects will be extreme, with the most underprivileged people in the population burdened the most.
The general health and wellness of a small-town inhabitant compared to someone living in the city has been discussed before. Are we better off in small towns and why?
In my opinion, it depends on the small town in question, as not all small towns are the same. Some rural towns with run-down infrastructure will be more detrimental to the general health and well-being of a community, whereas a small town like Langebaan with functioning services enhances the general well-being of the community. I have seen the primary health clinic in Langebaan and, contrary to popular believe, it functions 100% better than most other state-run primary health facilities. Currently Langebaan is growing at a rapid rate due to “decentralization” – families are moving from cities to smaller towns because of the improved or “better” environment/community/facilities.
What is one of the most common mistakes patients make when looking after their general wellness and what can the individual do to have healthier habits of health care?
One word: Detox. It might come as a surprise to some, but your liver, kidneys and skin do a pretty good job of detoxifying your body and eliminating waste and impurities through your digestive tract, your lungs and lymphatic system. You can support your body’s detox efforts by eating a balanced healthy diet with minimal processed foods, exercising, and drinking enough water.