The 5 top 2022 health and wellness trends – Motherly Inc.

As we close out 2021, it’s empowering to look back and recognize just how far we’ve come. We’ve gotten pretty good at quickly adapting to what wellness looks like amid an ever-changing health landscape, and that’s not nothing. In between exercising more at home and keeping up with talk therapy, we embraced sex positivity , said no more often and let go of mom guilt . We checked in on our kids’ mental wellness and worked at our own . We reprioritized what’s most important.

And as the calendar flips to the new year, we’re looking forward to taking personal health to the next level, starting with what’s on this plates and in our homes, but also with normalizing all lived experiences (hello, menopause plus fertility struggles). We’re setting our intentions to make this year exactly what we want it in order to be. With apologies to Taylor Swift, I suppose you could say we’re feeling ’22? Yep.

1. Mushrooms are having a moment

Just as CBD was everywhere in 2020 and 2021, mushrooms are about to step into the sun. Psychedelics, adaptogens plus culinary fungi are just now embarking on their reign as wellness darlings, and with good reason: More and more research (plus a book and a Netflix documentary ) is stacking up in support of their own myriad benefits.  

Maybe you’ve already started adding adaptogenic mushrooms to your coffee , but research abounds on how certain varieties, like chaga and lion’s mane, can support cancer treatments , too.  

Psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical compound within psychedelic mushrooms, is now being studied for its role in treating depression plus other mental health conditions. One study out of Johns Hopkins Medical Center on 24 participants found that using psilocybin in two 5-hour doses resulted in a more than 71% reduction in symptoms of major depression at a 1-month follow-up in 67% of individuals. Early research is promising, though larger trials are needed.

Mushrooms are also nutritional powerhouses , and now you can even try your hand at growing your own along with an at-home kit. (I’ve used and loved this one from Smallhold . )

2. Telehealth is the particular new norm

If nothing else, the pandemic changed the landscape of healthcare, making access to virtual health services much easier. In 2022, we’re expecting to see an even greater rise within virtual health care platforms, especially ones focused on dealing with specific problems, such because Allara Health , which is centered on polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or Choix , which is focused upon abortion care.  

Many insurance plans right now fully cover the cost of virtual visits—and it is worth checking to see if yours does. By removing barriers such as time spent commuting to the particular doctor’s office and long wait times in the clinic plus offering expanded hours, virtual platforms allow you to set up the doctor’s appointment around your schedule such as never before. We hope this particular will help more moms prioritize their particular own health care in the coming 12 months.

3. Indoor air quality rises towards the top

When IKEA first announced its new line of in-furniture air filters launching this fall, we took notice. More and a lot more companies are creating design-forward air flow purifiers that can fit seamlessly into your own living room where they can operate while blending in. Along with the rise of climate-change-fueled forest fires, airborne viruses (you know the one) and the simple fact that we’re all spending more minutes in our houses than ever, becoming conscious of exactly what we’re breathing in every second matters.  

We’ll also see a rise in apps plus trackers within ’22, like the recently launched Amazon Smart Air Quality Monitor , that allow you in order to get a reading and overall score associated with your in-home air quality. These trackers also give recommendations for making improvements to promote better air high quality and have the particular ability in order to sync with other in home smart devices, like Amazon . com Alexa or Google Home.  

4. Menopause goes mainstream

On average, as many as 2 . 2 million U. S. women hit menopause each year, making relief and support for this life phase an opportunity with regard to big business over the next few years (to put it mildly).  

Still, menopause support is primed for reinvention: There’s a significant stigma and lack of information around perimenopause plus menopause that will, even today, makes it difficult for numerous women to know what they’re dealing with or even when they’re actually going through it.  

Menopause can last 10 many years and may trigger as many as 34 different symptoms , which can range from, yes, hot flashes, but also brain fog, insomnia and vertigo. As many as 16% of women are experiencing menopause symptoms without having been diagnosed by their doctor—suffering without having support.

Thanks to telehealth systems like Elektra Health plus menopause wellness brands Bonafide , Embr Labs and State Of , in 2022, more women entering this particular phase will be able to get the support—and treatment—they deserve.

5. Male fertility enters the chat

Given the recent worrying reports of declining sperm counts across generations , the particular role associated with males in couples’ male fertility challenges will be now fully in the spotlight. Because of a lack of awareness and plenty of stigmatization close to male infertility, women have been shouldering most of the blame for fertility issues for decades.  

But the truth is, in 35% of couples experiencing infertility, male factors are identified as a contributing cause alongside female factors. In 8% of cases, a male factor is usually the only identifiable cause. Both partners need in order to be assessed equally regarding issues when trying to conceive–not just the partner with an uterus.  

Semen quality can also be considered a biomarker intended for overall male health, similar to how the woman’s menstrual cycle can be considered the fifth vital sign. In a study associated with 9, 387 men, those with the medical diagnosis unrelated in order to fertility furthermore had lower sperm quality , highlighting a relationship between medical conditions and semen production. Paying attention to sperm health is important but frequently overlooked.

Two new products aim to help make information about sperm health and semen collection methods more accessible. ProteX, released this year from Reproductive Solutions , is the particular first FDA-listed product available for at-home semen selection for use in male fertility treatments such as IVF. And Legacy , a home semen analysis kit, may measure everything from motility to morphology for a complete picture of sperm quality. By reducing the need to get in-clinic sperm collection or doctor’s appointments, assessing man fertility challenges is a lot more convenient compared to ever.