No. 1
WHY INFLAMMATION-FIGHTING FOODS ARE FILLING UP YOUR GROCERY CART
Fighting inflammation with food is quickly becoming a major health priority—and for good reason, considering inflammation is linked to everything from bloating and acne to life threatening illnesses, say physicians and researchers.
“We expect to see the market for inflammation-fighting foods to grow 7 percent by 2020 and expect 2017 to be a big year in terms of new product announcements and continued research and development,” says Deborah Barrington, a senior editor at Industry Dive.
Inflammation-fighting ingredients are already trending on Pinterest. “Turmeric was one of our trending flavors in our recent Pinsights Flavor Report and specifically turmeric lattes. Ginger tea is also a trending search, up 20 percent,” confirms Stephanie Kumar, partner insights lead at Pinterest.
It’s no coincidence that many healthy food trends—from the zoodle (zucchini noodle) and cauliflower rice to nut milks and vegan cheese—are substitutes for inflammatory ingredients like gluten, grains, and dairy.
Expect to see food brands to capitalizing on the buzz in 2017: Starbucks just planted its flag with a new anti-inflammatory drink made with cayenne called the Chile Mocha.
No. 2
MEET WORKLEISURE: ATHLEISURE IS TAKING ON THE WORKPLACE
Thanks to athleisure, life has become a lot more comfortable. But the one place fashionable fitness clothes have yet to fully infiltrate? The office. And major brands are taking note, designing what Well+Good has termed workleisure—activewear’s answer to machine-washable, office-appropriate business attire.
From new lifestyle brands like Aday, Betabrand, and Kit and Ace to activewear stalwarts like Lululemon and Under Armour, the companies that dress you for the gym now want to dress you for the office. “For years, I’d been bugging our design team to make pieces that were athletic, on-trend, work appropriate, machine-washable, and beautiful,” explains Katie Warner Johnson, co-founder of Carbon38.
“Women who hop on planes like they’re taxis and race between meetings need workwear with activewear DNA. So for each new collection, we include pieces that can transition from the bicycle to the boardroom,” says Johnson.
No. 3
CANNABIS GETS SERIOUSLY COMMERCIAL
Retail brands now want to be your cannabis dealer, with pot-infused foods, beauty products, and other consumer goods that bottle the plant’s much-buzzed-about healing benefits.
These very legal products won’t make you high (sorry!). They use non-psychoactive extracts from the plant—most notably, cannabidiol or CBD. (The psychoactive THC content is also below the US legal limit of .03 percent.)
“A growing body of scientific research shows CBD has the power to reduce anxiety and stress, lower inflammation, relax the body and mind, and subtly lift the mood,” explains Whitney Tingle of Sakara, which recently introduced CBD-oil chocolates to its line of superfood snacks.
CBD is also showing up in skin-care brands, like CBD For Life and Lord Jones, which make anti-inflammatory creams. Aceso’s cannabinoid drink powders and sprays help reduce anxiety, while Foria Relief’s suppositories soothe menstrual cramps.
And as states continue to legalize marijuana, you’ll see it moving into cooking, winemaking, and even fitness. “Look for cannabis use to become part of people’s wellness routines,” says Lord Jones’ co-founder Cindy Capobianco, who predicts “cannabis workouts.” (LA’s Goda Yoga already offers a 420 class for medical marijuana card holders.)
“The taboos associated with cannabis are falling away,” says Capobianco. “Soon the market will be legitimized.”
No. 4
NEXT-GEN WELLNESS RETREATS WANT TO ADD STAMPS TO YOUR PASSPORT
Wellness travel’s always been a thing, but now curated experiences developed by leading wellness insiders and top tier fitness instructors are trending—and retreats are getting more sophisticated as a result.
“Women don’t want to go on a vacation that takes them away from their healthy approach to life,” says Kyle Miller, co-founder of Love Yoga, a bicoastal studio with its own travel program. “Retreats are the answer—and you get to experience a new culture.”
It’s not just doing yoga for 60 minutes every morning and calling that wellness travel.
Instead, you can join your yoga teacher in Cuba, or spend a week of clean eating, custom workouts, daily massage in an up-and-coming destination like Botswana on Escape to Shape.
Recently, even retailer Free People got into travel with FP Escapes, encompassing nutrition, yoga, and natural beauty treatments. It’s about shoppers’ “sharing their lifestyles with each other,” says Free People’s director of brand marketing Abby Morgan.
Taryn Toomey hosts several high-touch “Retreatments” a year in such locales as the Dominican Republic, setting a healthy menu for the whole week, bringing vetted healers and experts, and creating bonding opportunities that feel bespoke and authentic.
Without distractions of “to-do lists, families, and responsibilities,” these vacations are where we “meet one’s true self,” explains Toomey, not escape from it.
No. 5
WELCOME TO THE ERA OF MENSTRUAL REALNESS
Remember the girl from the tampon ads? Wearing all white, and riding a horse? She was a veiled advertiser’s message—cueing women viewers without offending the sensitivities of the non-menstruating audience. But in 2016, everyone woke up.
We’re now moving into an era of menstrual realness inspired by Kiran Gandhi’s free-bleeding 2015 London Marathon run, and led by better-for-you feminine product brands that are speaking to directly to young women with in-your-face, laugh-at-the-patriarchy campaigns.
Think: Lola’s tongue-in-cheek marketing to “Make Periods Great Again” or Thinx underwear’s too-blunt-for-the-subway ads, which made founder Miki Agrawal a poster child for cool-girl entrepreneurialism this year.
Another thing women (specifically female voters) woke up to in 2016? The fact that tampons and pads were getting taxed as “luxury products” instead of necessities. Forty states had such taxes at the start of 2016, and thanks to the outcry many have since voted to repeal them. So 2017 could be a big year.
With less effort spent hiding the “shame” of a natural bodily function every month, more attention can go to listening to what our periods say about our overall health, says Well+Good Wellness Council member Alisa Vitti, a women’s hormone expert. Our culture “would have us believe that cravings, cramps, and out-of-control emotions are inevitable parts of womanhood,” she says. “I’m here to tell you: It’s just not true.”
No. 6
PLANT PROTEIN BLOSSOMS IN A BIG WAY
Gone is the idea that protein has to come from an animal. Pea and hemp proteins are popping up everywhere, in increasingly delicious powders for smoothies, in nutrition bars, in potato chips—and also at trendy restaurants like By Chloe and Momofuku Nishi, where the veggie burgers seem so real they sizzle and “bleed.”
Beyond Burger CEO Ethan Brown says plants are the future of protein. “Our sole mission is creating plant-based meats that allow people to eat more of the traditional dishes they love while feeling great about health, sustainability, and animal welfare. We see 2017 as a time where the meat case is going to be called the protein case, and consumers will be able to buy plant-based and animal protein side by side.” Tyson’s recent investment in Beyond Meat is a big sign that meat manufacturers see it this way, too.
“Millennials are growing this market. They want what’s good for them—but also what’s good for the people and the environment,” says Vega’s founder Brendan Brazier. In the smoothie powder aisle alone, he adds, plant protein is growing 2.5 times faster than whey, and will soon outpace it.
Plant protein is no longer a niche market for vegans or athletes, confirms Vega’s Kim McDevitt. Their research shows that 80 percent of households have meatless Mondays.
No. 7
"WOO-WOO" WELLNESS GOES MAINSTREAM
When you can fill your shopping cart at Target with Crystal Light as well as crystals, you know something’s seriously changed. But for a generation raised on yoga, meditation, and green juice, formerly fringe “woo woo” wellness concepts are becoming downright mainstream.
Crystals are increasingly celebrated as life-enhancing, whether as jewelry or in home design, by everyone from Jennifer Aniston and hip-hop stars to fitness phenom Taryn Toomey. (She’ll soon be teaching The Class on a crystal-embedded floor in her new Tribeca studio “to protect and balance the energetic flow of the space.”)
Acceptance for things like cupping continues to grow, too: Just a few years ago, the world gasped (and rolled their eyes) when Gwyneth Paltrow revealed bruises from a cupping session. And this summer, everyone simply nodded when Olympian Michael Phelps’ shared his cupping recovery session.
Even reiki, one of the spa menu’s most mysterious items, is becoming an in-demand service, says Lisa Levine, founder of Maha Rose, a Brooklyn mecca for holistic healing. Millana Snow, co-founder of online wellness resource SereneBook, confirms that “more people—and brands—are eager to explore things like energy healing and even shamanic journeying.”
Why? Thank the anxiety-inducing era we’re living in, says Levine: “Intense times call for serious magic.”
No. 8
COLLAGEN’S BOOST TO IT-INGREDIENT STATUS
Maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s collagen? For a growing number of women, the fibrous protein is the secret to glowing skin—not to mention shiny hair, strong nails, and healthy digestion.
“The majority of the body is collagen—our skin, our bones,” explains Kurt Seidensticker, founder of collagen powder brand Vital Proteins. “But after the age of 25, people are less efficient at making it, so your body has to get it elsewhere.” Unfortunately, the Western diet offers up few such opportunities.
Cue the bone broth boom—and its new grab-and-go versions (via brands like Epic and Bonafide Provisions), and a nascent category of the amino-acid-packed nutrition bars (from Bulletproof and Primal Kitchen).
Collagen-rich powders and supplements are a growing category (sourced from grass-fed cows, chickens, fish, and, in the case of beauty brand Reserveage, vegan-friendly plant sources) as are bottled drinks (both Dirty Lemon and Fountain have collagen “beauty” tonics).
“Consumers are becoming educated about the importance of a long-term approach by beautifying and nourishing from within, versus short-term solutions provided by topicals,” says Reserveage founder Naomi Whittel. The ultimate sign that collagen is about to go big? It’s a staple in Jennifer Aniston’s daily smoothie.
No. 9
NESTING AT HOME IS THE NEW GOING OUT
If your dream Friday night involves Netflix and tea in your Instagram-worthy bedroom sanctuary versus getting dressed to go out to dinner or dancing, you’re not alone. Nesting is the new going out.
Gen Xers may have been too embarrassed to opt out of weekend social plans, but Millennials are unabashedly dialing theirs back with more “me time.” Whether to decompress after a crazy work week or prevent early professional burnout, they’re getting cozy and getting down with a self-care mindset, confirms Pinterest researcher Larkin Brown. “Self care searches are up 121%,” she says.
On social media, we’re glamorizing our nesting habits, and our pretty, carefully designed bedrooms in a way that decor sites like Apartment Therapy might. (Posts about bedrooms are their top performing “by room” types, second only to kitchens.) “Interest in bedroom photos across Pinterest accounts for 450 million searches per year,” confirms Janel Laban, executive editor at Apartment Therapy.
And the nesting mentality has sparked businesses that celebrate homebodism, like the Stay Home Club—”a club that never meets,” and makes popular hoodies and tees. It’s a lifestyle founder Olivia Mew has seen grow “from creative types in 2012 to the masses.”
And while socializing isn’t going away, “people are prioritizing personal comfort, and a more casual approach to quality time with friends,” confirms Pinterest’s Brown. “Girls night in is trending upwards 35% year over year,” she says. Next year’s going to be all about re-charging.
No. 10
THE FUTURE OF FITNESS IS FRANCHISED
Cool-kid indie (and now semi-corporate) brands like SoulCycle and Barry’s Bootcamp started the boutique fitness craze. But the companies using a franchise model are largely the ones scaling it, with hundreds of studios opening all over the world.
Leading the charge are Orangetheory with 500 studios and Pure Barre with 400, both of which got recent private equity infusions. Orangetheory opened a new studio every day in 2016 and has more under development in 20 countries. Pure Barre opened upwards of 60 studios in 2016 and anticipates similar growth in 2017.
Other franchise-based boutique brands growing like crazy include CycleBar and Australia-based F45 Training, which is in 18 countries. But it’s the barre scene, filled with examples like barre3, Barre Code, and Bar Method where the business model is thriving the most.
“The franchising model offers companies an accelerated, ‘capital-light’ pathway to growth—with an ability to open new locations faster than a traditional owned and operated strategy,” explains Aarti Kapoor, an investment banker at Moelis & Company who specializes in boutique fitness and wellness. The challenge for these unstoppable businesses? Ensuring a quality experience location to location.
No. 11
HYPER-FUNCTIONAL BEVERAGES, YOUR NEW HEALTH TONIC
Forget sugary, vitamin-dusted waters—new hyper-functional, ultra-healthy, virtually medicinal beverages are about to flood the market.
Whether you’re in need of an energy boost, focusing your thoughts, or quality shut-eye, there’s a drink for that—no specialty store required. Rebbl’s organic blends are available at supermarkets for $3.99, Torii Lab’s Awake tonic is stocked in cool hotel mini-bars, and you can order a case of Dirty Lemon’s ultra-stylish range by text message. Next year, these tonics will get even more purse-size and portable.
What’s responsible for the functional beverages boom? More people are turning to ancient remedies for their modern maladies. “In the medicinal community, it’s overwhelmingly accepted that herbal and natural extracts with proven efficacy can have significant impact on attitude, appearance, and overall well-being,” says Zak Normandin, Dirty Lemon’s co-founder. “This format takes the guesswork out of the pills and powders which have traditionally dominated the function-specific product space.”
And there’s no need to hold your nose as you sip. As Sheryl O’Loughlin, CEO of Rebbl (whose reishi-mushroom chocolate drink is the grown-up version of Yoohoo), puts it, “Why would I have to take a pill and then eat my food if it’s all in one—and tastes so good?”
No. 12
EVERYONE’S DITCHING THEIR MAKEUP FOR THE NATURAL LOOK
It seems like every week, another celebrity posts a proud makeup-free selfie, exclaiming her enthusiasm for joining the #NoMakeup movement.
Alicia Keys, Gwyneth Paltrow, Cameron Diaz, and even Kim Kardashian have recently gone bare faced and au naturale because of its empowering message of self-love.
And the idea’s catching on.
Makeup-free enthusiasts are growing in number—the Instagram hashtag #nomakeup shows over 12 million fresh-faced results. Skin care enjoys twice the market share of makeup, indicating that more women prefer a glowy complexion to covering up.
And authenticity, as a sentiment, is winning out over perfectionism, note makeup artists. “It’s refreshing and powerful to see women reclaiming and redefining beauty on our own terms,” says Rebecca Casciano, a New York-based artist. She sees the bare-face trend as an expression of self-acceptance (much like the body positivity movement).
“For years, we’ve been trained to emphasize or create what we do or do not have,” adds Shirley Pinkson, a former creative director of makeup for NARS and the co-founder of W3LL PEOPLE. “This movement towards ‘less’ guides a woman to embrace what makes her most beautiful—her unique, gorgeous features.”
While makeup isn’t going away, authentic beauty is going to be a hot topic—for women and beauty brands—in 2017.
No. 13
THE SOCIAL SCENE IS SOBERING UP
If you steer clear of sugar, chug green juice, and schedule daily workouts in your calendar, there’s bound to come a time when alcohol—and the ensuing hangover—starts to lose its luster. For many New Yorkers and Angelenos that time is now, and a tide of booze-free social gatherings is rising to meet the sober crowd where they are.
“If you’re used to having a drink with dinner or when you go out, it can be really uncomfortable to break the habit,” explains Ruby Warrington, who co-founded NYC’s Club Soda event series with meditation guide Biet Simkin. Their events address how to navigate sober life, from sex and dating without alcohol to avoiding the bar at holiday parties.
Happenings like these are getting easier to find. In New York, a new pop-up party, called The Softer Image, combines herbal tonics, dancing, and energy healing. And in May 2017, wellness luminaries Gabrielle Bernstein and Elena Brower will speak at the first SheRecovers conference, which will look at sobriety through a variety of modern lenses. In Los Angeles, dry dinner parties and yoga-fuelled DJ events are providing social alternatives to the bar scene.
And since Perrier can get boring really fast, in 2017 you’ll see healthy mocktails—like the new Curious Elixirs—on more bar menus.
No. 14
BEAUTY COUNTERS ARE GETTING CLEANER
Women are now reading the labels on their beauty products as carefully as food labels. They’re scanning moisturizers for ingredients to avoid and seeing skin care as an extension of their health. As a result, chic, cleaner beauty products are getting way more accessible.
“Women come into our store having done a lot of research on ingredients and are hungry to know more,” says Annie Jackson, VP of merchandising at Credo Beauty, one of an expanding number of non-toxic beauty stores across the country.
Natural and organic brands are sprouting up almost daily, and becoming a very viable industry that’s estimated to reach $16 billion by 2020.
All of this is why mega stores like Target, Millennial lifestyle retailers like Urban Outfitters, and chains like Sephora are rapidly expanding their clean beauty offerings. “We’ve definitely seen an increase in the use of natural ingredients,” says Priya Venkatesh, Sephora’s VP of skin and hair merchandising. “Brands such as Herbivore Botanicals and Drunk Elephant have an enthusiastic fan base.”
And, for the first time since 1938, a discussion about cosmetics regulation is happening on a governmental level. If passed next year, the Personal Care Products Safety Act would empower the Food & Drug Administration to evaluate skin-care ingredients for safety.
One of the biggest health movements brewing in the US? It’s all about clean beauty.
No. 15
RECOVERY NOW RULES FOR FITNESS FANATICS
High intensity workouts continue to be one of the hottest and fast growing (according to our observations and the ACSM’s Worldwide Survey of Fitness Trends). But an obsession with them has led to over-training and injuries, ushering in a new let’s-slow-down mentality that’s going to keep spreading.
Tough workouts aren’t fading away, but people are finally focusing on good habits, recovery classes, and self-care products to offset their physical toll. “I think we’re finally getting some balance back, which is why we’re seeing a resurgence in restorative techniques—the popularity of foam rolling is a great example,” says Lauren Roxburgh an alignment expert and author of Taller, Slimmer Younger: 21 Days to a Foam Roller Physique, whose clients include athletes like LeBron James and Gabby Reece.
“People are becoming more educated on the importance of recovery,” agrees Daniel Giordano—a go-to New York City physical therapist, who also created Rove, a travel-friendly foam roller that’s one of many recovery products coming to market. There’s also Whoop, a fitness tracker that measures your sleep and recovery, and WellWell, a science-backed recovery beverage. And expect to see more fitness classes dedicated to recovery like ACCESS, LIT Method’s low-impact HIIT, and a renewed interest in gentle (as opposed to power) yoga.
As more people recover properly and see how much better they feel, the habit is likely to become more ingrained.
