The MODERN WELLNESS Guide

From Instagram-worthy cold plunges to the supplement made from “liquid gold,” today’s buzziest health trends merit a deeper dive.

- Katie Berohn, Kathleen Hou, and Tasha Nicole Smith

Mind

TURNING THE DIAL TO COLD

Celebrities like Hailey Bieber have lately touted cold plunging, the practice of dunking yourself into icy water that dates back to ancient times. Devotees claim cold plunges can improve mood, energy, metabolism, and dopamine levels. Controlled and large-scale studies are limited, but a 2022 analysis in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health suggests that ice bathing may bolster the immune system, help prevent some cardiovascular conditions, and counter insulin resistance. Cold plunges certainly can be a social lubricant: At Othership in New York, the sauna/ice bath/repeat cycle can be done as a community, thanks to a 7,000-foot-space with flickering candlelight, a 90-person “performance sauna,” and some of the coldest ice baths in North America (there’s a DJ on Saturday nights, and the space recently celebrated its first in-person proposal). Cofounder Emily Bent advocates cold plunges as an alternative to drinking. “You’re able to be more free and more open,” she says. Risks include the cold-shock response, which triggers hyperventilation and elevated heart rate and blood pressure. Plunge with caution.

"Unlike in the past, when you might have all gone out to eat, you might now all IV together."

THE RAREFIED AIR OF A-LISTERS

Come into my chamber—my hyperbaric oxygen chamber, that is. Athletes like Michael Phelps have used them to enhance recovery time, and Justin Bieber reportedly have one in his recording studio to lower stress. The Financial Times has reported that some CEOs use the treatment to “sharpen their thinking,” per their doctors, and research suggests it can improve brain function and reduce brain plaques associated with Alzheimer’s (Nicole Kidman’s CEO character in