As 2021 continues, consumers are becoming savvier on any and all ways to promote their immune health. Dietary supplements that have seen a surge in popularity include vitamins A, C, D, and E, elderberry, Echinacea, melatonin, probiotics, and zinc. Consumers have also developed a new understanding of how certain foods and beverages can affect their energy levels, stamina, strength, and ability to fight off viruses and disease. In many ways, shoppers have changed how they’re choosing the foods they eat, with a new focus on reading labels to understand what they should eat and what they should avoid to maintain optimal health.
Travel Trends Toward the Great Outdoors
Last year’s shifting travel restrictions have changed the way people think about their vacations. While travel was once about experiencing other cultures, meeting new people, and experimenting with exotic cuisines, for many people, it has shifted to slower, nature-based activities like camping, paddling, hiking, and cycling. Not only do these activities provide a natural way to remain socially distant, many people have found solace in nature during the stress of the past year and a half. As a result, there is new value being placed on being in the great outdoors and experiencing healing and relaxation in the wilderness.
Waking Up to Circadian Wellness
People are more sleep-deprived than ever before. In fact, nearly one-third of Americans aren’t getting the sleep they need to support good health. But instead of investing more time and money into sleep apps or prescription sleep aids, consumers are now turning their attention to circadian wellness. Circadian wellness is a practice of tuning into your 24-hour wake-sleep cycle, more commonly known as your biological clock. This phenomenon focuses on getting high-quality, restorative sleep by sleeping at the right circadian time, paying attention to light and dark cues in relation to sleeping. But circadian wellness doesn’t stop with sleep. It also involves keeping consistent meal times and exercise schedules. For those who find it difficult to get into a habit of healthy sleep cycles, a nightly melatonin supplement can help!
Home Is Where the Wellness Is
Home wellness is hot! Whether it’s a new pathogen-killing air purifier, online workouts, or virtual healthcare appointments. 2021 has found many of us making both big and small shifts in our home environments to make them more health-centric. Home wellness runs the gamut from the simplest of daily practices, like opening windows to improve air flow, to major, high-tech improvements like installing cutting-edge devices to remove micro-organisms, viruses, and bacteria from clothing.
Blue-Light-Blocking Glasses: Fad or Fact-Based?
With more time than ever being spent in front of screens, blue-light-blocking glasses have seen a surge in popularity for people hoping to prevent the effects of digital eye strain, including headaches, dry eyes, and restless sleep. Though fashion friendly, do these frames live up to their marketing hype or are their sales based more on fad than facts? According to a feasibility study conducted by a team of U.S. and U.K. researchers, donning a pair of blue-light-blocking glasses at least three hours before going to bed improved both sleep and mood in as little as two weeks. While more research needs to be done, investing in a pair of these glasses may be an easy and affordable way to counteract the disruptive effects of the electronics we’re exposed to every day.