These Are the 2022 Wellness Trends You Need to Know About

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Here we are... at the beginning of 2022. I don't know about you, but the thought of a new year is both exciting and daunting. My mind seems to race every time January 1 rolls around. Where did 2021 go? What are my goals and aspirations for 2022? Can I take a nap already?

But there's something so freeing about a fresh start. The start of the new year is like a "choose your own adventure" game. You get to decide how you want to begin the year and which things you want to try to enrich your life. From a wellness angle, that can mean a variety of things: trying new workouts, incorporating buzzy foods and ingredients into your meal plans, testing out new methods of self-care, and just finding new ways to improve your life.

To help you explore which wellness trends to try in the new year, I reached out to a bunch of experts in the space to get their trend predictions. They shared their thoughts on what will be big this year and what they're looking forward to across all facets of the wellness world: fitness, diet, sexual health, mental health, and more. Take a look at their predictions below for the inside scoop.

Health

1. More Access to Care

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"I think the pandemic has put a magnifying glass on the cracks in the American healthcare space and in turn accelerated the development of solutions. In 2022, I think we will continue to see a rise in products and services that allow for greater access through telehealth and digital tools and a more personalized approach to healthcare—particularly for women. You may not realize it, but women disproportionately suffer from common chronic conditions like depression, autoimmune conditions, and gastrointestinal disorders. And yet few medical services are designed around how women both need and want to engage with their care.

"At Parsley, we are doubling down on our holistic medical services for women in 2022, where our patients can address the full spectrum of their health concerns with one doctor rather than needing multiple specialists and services. We treat conditions including PCOS, mental health, and gastrointestinal concerns all in one place while also reducing prescription drug use by 30% and reducing or resolving symptoms for 80% of people. In 2022, we're excited to see even more services in the healthcare space that are purpose-built for their specific patients' needs." — Robin Berzin, founder of Parsley Health and author of State Change

2. Full-Body Approach to Wellness

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"After spending so much time in isolation the past two years, many have taken the time to really lean into their health and how they are taking care of themselves. While fad and quick-fix diets will always be a thing, I believe many are trading in the crash diet methods for a more sustainable, wholesome path. Now more than ever, people are looking for weight loss and healthy lifestyle approaches that put wellness at the forefront. The full-body approach, including mind, body, and soul, digs deeper into the 'why' behind it all and leads to making stronger connections between your health and your habits." — Chesley Foxworth, MA, health coach at Noom

3. Emphasis on Sleep

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"While the importance of sleep has long been talked about as necessary for our health, I hope that in 2022 (after living through two years of a pandemic), we all start taking our sleep hygiene seriously. Lack of sleep can make you more vulnerable to Alzheimer's disease, mental and emotional instability, and poor decision-making. In a nutshell, our physical and mental health suffer if we don't get the optimal eight to nine hours a night. As part of ensuring we get quality sleep, I think we'll see a rise in magnesium-rich foods—magnesium is sometimes known as nature's Xanax and is found in foods like black beans and pumpkin seeds—along with supplements that support both our physical and mental well-being." — Berzin

4. New Sleep and Energy Innovations

5. Importance of Immunity

6. Focus on Gut Health and Fiber

7. Body Intelligence

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"Finally, I see a 2022 focus on body intelligence, one of Sakara's Proprietary Nutrition Pillars. Your body is incredibly intelligent—it knows when it needs more or less of certain nutrients and how to heal itself if given the right environment and support. Our bodies are also completely unique. No two are the same. Rather than relying on general guidelines for calories, macros, serving size, or point systems to tell us what we should eat, we're seeing a shift for people to start tapping into their intuition and listening to their own body's needs." — DuBoise

8. Personalized Holistic Treatments

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"Many people want to avoid generic advice and one-size-fits-all tips. Instead, they seek out sources that offer more personalized experiences where they can learn more about themselves and determine practices that benefit their own holistic healing. Elix is geared towards a holistic, personalized approach through our technology and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices. We've combined ancient wisdom with modern science to offer individualized solutions for our customers. In fact, over 100,000 people have completed the Elix Online Health Assessment to learn more about their menstrual cycles and the custom herbal blends used to recognize and target their specific issues at the root." — Lulu Ge, founder and CEO of Elix

9. Looking at Uric Acid Levels

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"Without question, the most exciting news that will make its way onto the stage in early 2022 is the incredibly important role of elevated uric acid in threatening our metabolic health. In recent years, we've witnessed the explosive popularity of dietary programs from keto to Mediterranean to plant-based. And the promise of these approaches ultimately focuses on improving our metabolic health. This includes things like better body weight, blood sugar control, and normalized blood pressure. The headline for 2022 will spotlight the central role of uric acid elevation in causing metabolic mayhem. Our food choices play the most important role as they relate to our uric acid levels. Uric acid is derived from just three sources—alcohol, purines (the breakdown product of DNA and RNA), and most importantly, sugar fructose. What we are now seeing, and what will gain a lot of traction over the coming months, are dietary strategies geared at lowering uric acid. That means avoiding foods with added fructose, avoiding high-purine foods like organ and game meats, and making better choices with alcohol." — David Perlmutter, MD, board-certified neurologist, board member and fellow of the American College of Nutrition

10. Skin Health From the Inside

11. Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy

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"Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy will become the go-to form of self-care and make up for lost time. In the '80s, they thought SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) would cure mental illness—however, they didn't. At the tail end of 2020, a slim majority of Oregonians voted to allow the use of psilocybin when used for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. With all the work organizations like Field Trip Health (the largest provider of psychedelic-assisted therapy), Johns Hopkins, and more are doing with mainstream adoption and awareness, the majority of Americans will finally approve of ketamine's transformative properties and accept these treatments as the most important depression breakthrough in decades." — Mike Dow, Ph.D., PsyD, Field Trip Health psychotherapist

12. Creating a Sanctuary Within

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"How can we feel good in our daily lives? By creating sanctuaries and spaces of comfort in our homes. Last year, a big theme was decluttering and minimalism. While that will continue, I also believe that people will be intentional about how they bring healing and joy into their spaces. External uncertainties like new COVID-19 variants, returning to the office, school closures, and more encourage us to create our own inner balance and allow us the opportunity to practice finding our way back to center repeatedly throughout the day in a soothing home environment." — Ge

Eating

13. Emphasis on Nutrition and Eating Patterns

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"We are seeing a shift away from discussing or pointing out the health benefits of stand-alone nutrients and moving toward discussing and emphasizing nutrition patterns—patterns of eating. This is great because we don't consume single nutrients, and health is developed over time, not generally defined by a stand-alone moment." — Maya Feller, MS, RD, CDN, registered dietitian nutritionist

14. Moving Away From Fad Diets

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"In 2022, there will be options for nearly every person to find what speaks to them and create habits that truly stick. Health will continue to be promoted as a way of life—we are so moving away from associating health with a restrictive diet mentality. I really think that punitive fad diets will continue on the trajectory of being crowded out of the picture." — Rachel Brief, MS, RD, dietitian at Culina Health

"Now more than ever, people are aware of how nutrition impacts their health either positively or negatively. Rather than concentrating on trends or fads, people are focusing on longevity and wanting to learn how to nourish their minds and bodies properly. More clients have come to me wanting to learn how to eat for the rest of their lives versus leaning into crash diets or food trends. As we know, the diet industry is a multi-billion–dollar industry, so there is a reason why diet culture exists. As a dietitian, I love that my clients care about their long-term health more than ever before. Although the diet industry won't go away, I am hopeful that people are realizing how harmful yo-yo dieting is and how learning to eat and live well can help people live longer, fuller, healthier lives." — Alli Magier, RDN, LDN, dietitian at Rooted Wellness

15. Mushrooms

16. Thinking About Soil Health

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"Food is medicine, and the closer we get to the source, the more we will find healing solutions that benefit both our bodies and Mother Nature, creating a harmonious balance between us. Soil health plays a large part in that healing, and at Sakara, we source ingredients primarily from organic or biodynamic farms. We hope that the increased interest in gut health will spread awareness around soil health and the importance of eating organic, leading to new efforts to support our environment, which in turn benefits our own health." — DuBoise

17. Plant-Based Diets

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"You'll definitely see the plant-based movement become more mainstream in 2022, as well as a continued focus on foods that aim to support us, like adaptogens, herbs, and spices." — Brief

18. Medicinal Mocktails

19. Adaptogens

20. Herbs and Plant-Based Alternatives

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"Demand for herbs and plant-based solutions to common health complaints will continue to increase exponentially. Alternatives to over-the-counter medications, pharmaceuticals, and alcohol are trends we'll see gain momentum for many years to come. And I'm so glad!" — Robinett

Fitness

21. Intuitive Movement

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"I predict intuitive movement and mental health–based exercise regimens to become increasingly more popular in 2022. Working out is shifting from being a way to obtain a specific body type into something that fuels our mental health and wellness." — Dani Schenone, RYT, ACSM-CPT, holistic wellness specialist at Mindbody

22. Neuroscience and Fitness

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"Neuroscience will become more accessible. Consumer-friendly assessment tools paired with actionable insights will usher in a new era of optimized performance through improved brain function." — Matt Delaney, director of programming and innovation at Equinox

23. Shorter Workouts

24. Bodyweight Training

Sexual Wellness

25. Accessible Sexual Wellness

26. More Probiotics for Women

27. Rise of Horomone Hacking

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"When it comes to women's health, 2021 was the year of expanded hormone health offerings to support everything from menstruation to menopause. Looking ahead to 2022, beyond soothing symptoms, consumers want to know how they can harness the power of their hormones to support their natural hormonal balance, which in turn can increase energy levels, boost mood, reduce stress related to menstrual symptoms, and much more." — Ge

28. Openness About Menopause

Mental Health

29. Emphasis on Community

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"In the 1980s, around the time of the jazzercise craze, group fitness classes became mainstream, memberships at health clubs boomed, and celebrity fitness instructors began to appear frequently in pop culture. The same boom is happening in 2022—only this time, it's for mental health gyms. Group emotional-fitness classes are growing in popularity, while community memberships for mental health services and one-on-one therapy are in high demand. And mirroring the rise of fitness celebs like Jane Fonda in the 1980s, celebrities, athletes, and therapists are quickly becoming social-media influencers as they speak out more on mental health.

"In 2022, mental health will become more community-based and social as people lean into programs that help them stay motivated and accountable to their health goals. People will be looking for more programs that give them a sense of community, like Peloton but for their emotional well-being, and mental health gyms are going to surge." — Alexa Meyer, co-founder and CEO of Coa

30. Workplace Wellness

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"Nearly 80% of employers have embraced the mental-health space with full commitment, increasing their investments in bringing daily meditation, emotional-fitness classes, or subsidized mental healthcare to their staff. Given that burnout is the workplace injury of the 21st century and so many people feel like they need to choose between work and wellness, this is a life-changing shift that will shake up workplace culture and help people become more resilient." — Emily Anhalt, PsyD, co-founder and chief clinical officer of Coa

31. Body-Based Therapies

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"From a therapy perspective, I think body-based and somatic healing approaches will be much more prevalent in 2022. Therapies such as somatic experiencing, EMDR, sensorimotor psychotherapy, and others will become more mainstream and accessible. Embodiment and connection with the physical experience of trauma, distress, and pain is a powerful source of mental wellness and healing that I've seen many clients turn to after feeling disenchanted by traditional cognitive therapies." — Meghan Watson, MA, RP, therapist and managing director at Bloom Psychology & Wellness

32. Digital Mental Health Programs

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"I predict that more people will utilize digital psychological services. Currently, we are seeing individuals who identify as Gen Z experience increased stress. Due to this and to the increase in digital offerings, these individuals will seek out assistance. Mental wellness has also risen in prominence as we continue to normalize these conversations." — Andreas Michaelides, Ph.D., chief of psychology at Noom

"This is an exciting—and a little nerve-wracking—time for the field of mental health as treatment is being transformed by technology. Telehealth, which is now much more popularly used, has made treatment more attainable for people in remote areas that may not be near the type of therapist or specialist that they need to see. With increasing ways to access therapy and efforts to normalize mental health challenges, I believe more people will be encouraged to seek help. Other intersections of mental health and technology are also popping up, as well as alternative treatments that offer promising results. With that said, I believe that education about therapy is still very needed so that clients can make informed decisions. That's what we do with our educational content on Frame. As with any time of crisis, we have to be cautious of companies that look to exploit people in need." — Sage Grazer, LCSW, co-founder of Frame

33. Mental Fitness

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"We are encouraged by the increased awareness around mental fitness and are excited to see it evolve from being predominantly focused on the physical and regenerative drivers like cardiovascular activity and meditation (the latter of which is the second most popular modality for our members both physically in our clubs and digitally via the Equinox+ app) to new areas of interest like actively managing stress levels and the therapeutic use of psychedelics." — Delaney

34. Mental Resilience as a Daily Practice

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"For most people, work is one of the greatest sources of stress, but now that many people have switched roles or even changed career paths during the Great Resignation of 2021, they're on a mission to find more intentionality, purpose, and passion toward how they work. The answer to finding this greater purpose is to build in micro-moments of mindfulness throughout the day in order to work in more sustainable ways every day. It could be something as simple as pausing for 30 seconds to take deep breaths between Zoom meetings, increasing blood circulation by stretching or practicing Tai Chi for a few minutes, or even intuitive eating." — Ge

35. Destigmatizing Mental Health for Men

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"Mental health is increasingly becoming a priority for men's wellness. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 28% of UK men admitted that they had not sought medical help for mental health problems compared to 19% of women. Studies have also shown that men are three times more likely to die by suicide in Australia, three and a half times more likely in the US, and over four times more likely in Russia and Argentina." — Dow

Next: 11 Stress-Relieving Workouts to Try When You're Overwhelmed

Disclaimer

This article is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be used in the place of advice of your physician or other medical professionals. You should always consult with your doctor or healthcare provider first with any health-related questions.

Managing Editor

Sarah is lifestyle writer and editor with over 10 years of experience covering health and wellness, interior design, food, beauty, and tech. Born and raised in Los Angeles, she attended New York University and lived in New York for 12 years before returning to L.A. in 2019. In addition to her work on THE/THIRTY and Who What Wear, she held editor roles at Apartment Therapy, Real Simple, House Beautiful, Elle Decor, and The Bump (sister site of The Knot). She has a passion for health and wellness, but she especially loves writing about mental health. Her self-care routine consists of five things: a good workout, “me” time on the regular, an intriguing book/podcast/playlist to unwind after a long day, naps, and decorating her home.