Is Gwyneth Paltrow wrong about everything? : how the famous sell us elixirs of health, beauty & happiness / Timothy Caulfield.
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 222-244) and index.

"An exploration of the effect our celebrity-dominated culture has on our ideas of living the good life Our perceptions of beauty, health, success, and happiness are framed by a popular culture that is increasingly disconnected from reality. This isn't just a hyperbolic assertion. Research tells us that our health decisions and goals are influenced by both celebrity culture and celebrity endorsements, that our children's ambitions are now overwhelmingly governed by the fantasy of fame, and that our ideals of beauty and success are mediated through a celebrity-dominated worldview. The celebrity brand is at once the most desired state of being (modern-day royalty!) and one of the most socially problematic. Health law and policy researcher Timothy Caulfield provides a fun look into the celebrity world, including interesting facts and anecdotes, as well as a boatload of practical and evidence-based advice on everything from diet, skin care, and colon cleanses to detoxing from our celebrity ambitions. Caulfield tries out for American Idol, has a professional makeover, and endures the Gwyneth Paltrow-endorsed cleanse in this thoroughly unique, engaging, and provocative book"--,Provided by publisher.

"We live in the era of health science research. Rarely a day goes by without a public pronouncement of some exciting health-enhancing discovery: a new diet, a new fitness routine, a new drug or alternative therapy. And we are told--by the media, family, government and health care experts--that we should use this information to live a healthier life. But can we really use it to improve our health? What information can we trust? Are areas like genetics really the answer to our health problems? Can we ever believe pharmaceutical companies? In this book, I will use two decades of experience working in the areas of health and science policy to investigate these, and other questions. In a way, it will be a personal search for good, trustworthy, facts about health. It will be a search for stuff that actually works. But this will be more than a simple quest for answers, it will be an exploration of where health information comes from, how it is produced and, perhaps most important, how it is communicated. What will we find? While science is everywhere, the scientific information that passes through most people's field of view (usually via the media) is often wrong, hyped, or twisted by an ideological or commercial agenda"--,Provided by publisher.