7 Questions to Ask Before You Buy the Latest Wellness Trend

The wellness industry will always have something new to sell you — red light masks, cold plunge tubs, vagus nerve stimulators, hydrogen water bottles, sleep maxing gadgets. And honestly? Some of them might even be worth it. But how do you know?

In this final episode of the Common Sense series, I'm giving you something more valuable than a product review: a framework for thinking. Seven questions to ask yourself before you buy anything — so you can move forward with clarity, confidence, and yes, a little healthy skepticism.

In this episode:

• The one question that cuts through almost any wellness trend: does this claim actually make sense?
• How to spot "magic wand" language — and why no single product will ever fix your sleep, your energy, or your hormones
• Who's really behind the recommendation, and why that matters more than the testimonial
• What the research actually says about popular trends like vibration plates, infrared saunas, and vagus nerve stimulators
• Why the right tool isn't always the best tool — and how to match a product to your actual needs and lifestyle
• A honest conversation about privilege, economics, and what else that money could do for your health
• How to make sure your wellness choices align with your values and what God is calling you to right now
• A quick-start research guide: how to use AI, Perplexity, Consensus, and PubMed to go deeper than a Google search

Resources mentioned:

• Why Now is the Perfect Time to Integrate the Blue Zones Lifestyle — Season 18, Episode 13
• Sleep Better in Midlife: 16 Common Sense Tips that Actually Work
• Inhale Calm, Exhale Stress: A Common Sense Guide to Breathing
• Perplexity
• Consensus
• PubMed
• How To Fitness Podcast with Kate Lyman and Michael Ulloa

My latest recommended ways to nourish and move your body, mind and spirit: Nourished Notes Bi-Weekly Newsletter

30+ Non-Gym Ways to Improve Your Health (free download)

Connect with Amy:
GracedHealth.com
Instagram: @GracedHealth
YouTube: @AmyConnell

Transcript

7 Questions to Ask Before You Buy the Latest Wellness Trend

Graced Health Podcast

Amy Connell, Host

Hello, and welcome to our final episode of our Common Sense series. I have taken several topics — hot topics as of late — and just kind of dove into them from a common sense perspective because, you know, there's enough stuff out there right now. One thing I hear from a lot of people is that I provide a common sense approach. So I thought, "Okay, well, let's just do this topic by topic." We're not going to get to all the topics, but we can get to a lot of them, and this is the last one.

I'm actually going to approach this a little bit differently today because today we are talking about questions to ask yourself before you buy the latest wellness trend.

This actually came from my assistant. I have this wonderful girl who helps me do some of the back-end stuff after I record and edit, and I'm so grateful for her. She said, "Hey, you're doing this Common Sense series. I think you should talk about red light masks and vibration plates."

And I said, "Huh, well, that is an interesting topic. Let me think about that." As I thought about it, I decided this was something a bit broader — which is all of the health things out there that we're just being inundated with.

Now, full disclosure: I'm actually not on social media anymore. I haven't posted, gosh, I think in two years on Instagram, more or less. I get on and off Facebook for personal reasons — neighborhood groups or something like that — and I'm only on for really a few minutes every day. So I'm not seeing a lot of this, but I know it's out there, and I'm seeing these in discussions. You just come across them. And of course I have clients, friends, and neighbors who know I follow this stuff, and they're like, "Well, what do you think about this? What do you think about that?"

So I thought, "Okay, this is what we're going to do." Rather than talking about products individually, I'm going to kind of turn the tables on you and give you some tools and some ways of thinking before you go out there and purchase whatever it is. Fill in the blank. I mean, let's be honest — there are a ton of things out there. The red light masks, cold plunge tubs, vibration plates, vagus nerve stimulators, hydration water bottles, sleep maxing gadgets. "Sleep maxing" is now a term. I mean, is it in the dictionary? I don't know. But it's basically all of these things to help us sleep really well at night, which of course you know I love my sleep. There are a lot of products and supplements and all of that that people are saying can help. Preparing for sleep could really be a full-time job by this point, I feel like.

And I will say this now and I will say it again: I have no problem with any of these. If you want to do it, great. I actually have one friend — you know I like to Marco Polo — and she more often than not will come on with her red light mask on while Marco Polo-ing, and it's delightful. I have no problem with any of these. But I do think we need to take a step back and use our own discernment before we buy anything, because at the end of the day, it's our choice. That's what this episode is for — to provide you some questions to ask yourself so that you can discern if this is right for you.

And of course, if you are like me and you like to do your own research, I'm going to give you a little mini lesson at the end on how to actually research these things yourself, because Googling it may not be enough — and honestly, neither may AI. We've got to have the right questions and the right inputs, and I'm going to share some of those things with you later.

So let's talk about these seven questions.

Question one: Does this claim make sense?

Like, step back. Think about this. Think about the common sense application to whatever this is. So for example — and by the way, full disclosure, I used AI to help me come up with this episode outline. My preferred one is Claude, but it doesn't really matter. Claude helps me come up with a lot of this, and I tell you this right now because Claude gave me this one and I'm like, "I didn't know this was a thing. This is new to me." But apparently it's out there.

Hydrogen water bottles — have you heard of them? I had not, but maybe you have. The claim is that they fight inflammation and boost energy at the cellular level. I would just say: does this pass the sniff test? Because I think for the most part, if we just drink water and drink enough water, that's probably going to help with your energy and a little bit at least with inflammation — just flushing everything out. So is it the hydrogen water bottle, or is it just water in general?

There's something else out there called a vagus nerve stimulator. We talked about the vagus nerve in our last episode, but these stimulators apparently promise to regulate your entire nervous system with a handheld device. The underlying science is real, but do you really need a $300 gadget to do what they say, or can you employ some breathing? In the last episode, I talked about different kinds of breathing to help stimulate your vagus nerve.

So in question one — does this claim actually make sense — I want you to ask yourself: how dramatic is the claim? Because the more dramatic it is, the more questions it deserves, and I think the more skepticism. If it is coming in with all of this hyperbolic language, that deserves a pause and a common sense approach of, "But does this really make sense? Is this how people have thrived for centuries?" Just give yourself that chance to ask and think about it. And if you have to suspend logic to believe it — that's information. That might be something to pay attention to.

Question two: Is this being positioned as a magic wand?

You know I've said it before — there is no magic wand. There never has been. There never will be. This also goes into that hyperbolic language. There's a lot of red flag language to listen for: things like "the one thing," "finally," "what doctors don't want you to know," "works for everyone," "ancient secret." I was noticing today while having lunch and reading headlines — it was like there's a formula. It's something like, "Health professional swears by [X]" or "never does [X]."

Look, yes, we absolutely need to pay attention to our health professionals. But does that mean one cardiologist's opinion on whether we should be plant-based or eat only meat applies to everyone? No — because our bodies are all different, and they may be learning from different things or have their own agenda.

Sleep maxing is a great example here. There's just this whole ecosystem of products: the mouth tape — and mark my words, I don't say this word very often, but I will never try that. Why? Because I have allergies, and I think I might die if I ever put a piece of tape on my mouth. I don't think I breathe through my mouth when I sleep. I've asked my husband. He said, "No, I think you sleep with your mouth closed." I'm not willing to try it. I just don't care. I'm not putting mouth tape on.

Then there's the weighted blankets, the magnesium stacks, all of these different things — and they all say, "This will fix your sleep." But no one product will fix your sleep. All of the magnesium stacks in the world are not going to help if you are having caffeine too late, if you are not paying attention to your nervous system, if you're eating really big meals consistently, if you're having a lot of wine or alcohol. Magnesium just does not cover all of those things. So that one thing is not going to be the magic wand to fix your problem.

This actually brings me back to the episode I did on the Blue Zones — that was season 18, episode 13. I love using the Blue Zones as a litmus test, because these are groups of people who are living the longest, healthiest lives, and they're really not doing any of this. They're moving naturally. They are eating real food. They are sleeping well. They are living in community. They have purpose. Many of them have faith. These are the things that are keeping them alive — not mouth tape.

Okay, I'm getting a little snarky with the mouth tape, sorry. But they don't have one magic wand, and I believe we don't need one either. So if it sounds like a magic wand, put it down and keep asking your questions.

Question three: Who is telling you to buy this, and what's their incentive?

Everyone here is probably aware that most of the people selling things online are affiliates. For what it's worth, currently the only affiliate relationship I have is Amazon, which means I get like one cent whenever you purchase something from one of my newsletters. I'm not keeping the lights on with that, I can tell you right now. Several years ago I was a Skirt Sports affiliate, which meant if you purchased a skirt, it was the same price for you and I got a very small commission. Beyond that, I don't think I've ever been an affiliate. I've never done ads. I have intentionally never monetized this podcast because I wanted my word to be meaningful to you, and I never wanted you to question why I was recommending something.

That being said, there are people who make their living as affiliates, and that's okay. They get to do that, and you get to discern whether or not what they're trying to sell you is something you actually need. And I have no problem with affiliate marketing, but I think we have to walk in with our eyes wide open. I have listened to plenty of podcasts and received plenty of newsletters from affiliates and advertisers who will have the same problem and market different products over the course of a year or two. That's their prerogative. But what it does is make their recommendation — at least for me — go down some, because I question the loyalty, and how true what they are saying really is.

Let's take the red light therapy trend. That exploded largely because celebrities were gifted them and featured them in content, and then of course that trickles down. Someone sees something, they might absolutely love it, and then they want to recommend it. But now we're seeing red light masks everywhere. Does that mean they're not good for you? No. But just know what it is — it's marketing. It's not necessarily an endorsement.

The other thing to think about is whether the product is driven by testimonials. "This product helped me. This cured my fill-in-the-blank. This is what I needed to sleep. This is what made me stop having night sweats." Testimonials are great, but they're not driven by science or research. There is a very big difference. Keep in mind that most research does not have a 100% validation rate. Some things are going to work for some people and not for others. Maybe 80% works well and 20% doesn't — and that's pretty good statistics. But for that 20%, it didn't work. So just because one person on TikTok or Instagram said, "This worked amazingly for me," that's great for them. It doesn't mean it's going to work great for you.

Conversely, when a credentialed, research-driven professional recommends something, that makes me pause and pay attention. It's funny — we had Christina Walsh from Tighten Your Tinkler on the podcast. She's in a business partnership with Jen Lormand. Somehow vibration plates came up in the conversation, and she said, "Oh yeah, I think those are pretty good. When done in combination with strength training, they can really be great for your bone density." And I was like, record scratch — "What?" I said, "I'm really surprised to hear you say that." She said, "Well, the research is there. We've looked it up." So that made me pause, because I don't feel like they're out there pitching everything. I trust them because I know they are research-driven.

Question four: What does the actual research say — not the reel, but the research — and how strong is it?

This is where most people stop, because let's be honest, it takes a little bit of effort. Or maybe we'll Google it, read one article, and decide. But I think it's worth asking — especially as we go up in impact on our wallet or on what the product is — is there any research on it? And then something deeper: is the research strong, consistent, and applicable to me?

If there's research stating that 80% of people were positively impacted by something, but there were only 10 people in the study — I mean, yeah, that's a good percentage, but we need a larger sample. We'll talk about research in a little bit.

The other thing is that sometimes people will pull out bits and pieces of research rather than providing the whole picture. They'll just take the headline. For example, vibration plates — real research does exist showing bone density benefits in post-menopausal women, particularly when used longer than six months. But it works alongside strength training. It is not a replacement for strength training. So if you want to get a vibration plate, go for it — I think it has some great benefits for bone density. However, please lift heavy things at the same time. You can get false hope when you hear, "Plates are great for bone density." Yes — with strength training. So keep in mind you might just be getting a headline rather than the full story.

Another example is the infrared sauna. There is some promising cardiovascular and recovery data, but most of those studies are really small. So hold it loosely. Yes, the research can show benefits, but the studies are small — and that's where you need to overlay the cost. If you're wanting to buy an infrared sauna, I don't know how much those are because I don't have one, but that's a lot of money. And do you want to invest that kind of money when you can also get cardiovascular benefit from high-intensity work with body weight? Go out there and do some running, heavy walking, walk up hills, get on a bike — all good for your heart. People have had strong hearts for a long time without red light therapy. You know how you can recover? Sleep, eat your protein, drink your water. You don't have to have these high-tech things to accomplish your goals. An infrared sauna is not the only way to improve your cardiovascular fitness and recover well. Can it help? Maybe. The research studies are small, so maybe it can — but it's not the only way.

Question five: What problem are you trying to solve, and is this the right tool for you?

This is where your own discernment comes in — how your body was designed, how you will use things, how you know your body. Let's talk about an Oura Ring, a Whoop, or even the Apple Watch. That can give you real data and be super helpful. But if checking your deep sleep every morning stresses you out, it may not be the right tool for you — because you know what is also not good for you? Being stressed out all the time.

Those vagus nerve stimulators — wearable devices that send electrical pulses or vibrations to your neck or your ear and claim to calm your nervous system — may be great. Caring about your vagus nerve is something good to do. But you know how else you can do it? Mindful breathing. Go back and listen to the last episode. Diaphragmatic breathing. Foam rolling. Meditation. Prayer. Gentle or cathartic movement. These are things you can do without several-hundred-dollar devices. Maybe those devices do work, but is it right for you, and will you use it? Will you be consistent with it? These are the kinds of questions to ask yourself.

Vibration plates — like I said, go for it if you want one. I hear they have good things for your lymphatic system too. And they can be great for bone density. But they are not a replacement for weight training, for jumping, for pulling — all the things I've talked about.

A gentle question to start yourself with is: what is my body actually needing right now? I am so guilty of seeing something and being like, "Ooh, I need it. Ooh, insta-purchase. Ooh, yeah, I want to try that." I'm more guilty of that with clothes, if I'm totally honest. But with these health products, just pause for a minute.

I heard great guidance once — something like, before you buy anything, give yourself either two days or two weeks to think about it, and if you're still thinking about it, then you can go back and purchase it. I have used that, and I think it is a great rule of thumb. Maybe do the same with all of these health products. If you're still thinking about it without it constantly showing up in your feed, maybe then it's worth exploring and doing your research. Maybe you can get it. Otherwise, if you forget about it — eh, maybe you don't need it. Something to think about. Something to pray about.

We want to steward our resources — our time, our body — and I believe these things are important to God. We want to steward everything He has given us and not flit it away with whatever the latest purchase is for getting a great night's sleep. And look, I get how desperate we can get with sleep and how poor our sleep can be in this season of life. So if you have tried all of the things — go back and listen to my Common Sense sleep episode if you want — then go for it. But try the low-hanging fruit first before jumping to the next magic wand.

Question six: Is this a good use of your resources — your time, your money, your energy?

All of these things cost money. And let's be really honest — all of these things come from a place of privilege. I am dripping in privilege for so many reasons. It's important to remember that just because we're seeing and hearing about something a lot doesn't mean everyone is doing it. It might just be that the circles you are in are talking about it more. Maybe it is helpful, but maybe it's not, and it's okay to pass on it because it's not a good use of your resources.

Cold plunge tubs are $1,000 to $5,000. Red light masks are anywhere from $200 to $500 or more. Vibration plates can be $100 to $1,000. Vagus nerve stimulators, $300 to $800. Wearables, $300 to $500. This is a lot of money, you guys — and I'm pretty sure we can all agree we are not in the best of economic times. So it's worth asking: is this a good use of my resources?

And if you do have the kind of money to spend on that stuff, it's also worth asking what else could that money do for your health? Shameless plug — you can hire a personal trainer. If you've never worked out before you buy the vibration plate, hire a few sessions with a personal trainer so you can learn how to strength train. Maybe it's adjusting your grocery budget for food that nourishes you well. Maybe it's buying a new pair of walking shoes so you can get 300 to 500 miles out of them. Things to think about.

And time is a resource too. All of the sleep maxing — that could be a full-time job. I think some people spend like two hours getting ready for bed. If that's you and you have time for that, great. But it's not a requirement to sleep well. I'll just say that. If your sleep optimization is making you go to bed too late or keeping you from doing meaningful things with people who matter to you, it might be worth shortening that up a little. You don't have to spend a lot of money or use a ton of resources to take good care of yourself. Pull it back. Use your common sense.

Question seven: Does this align with how you want to steward your body and your values?

The one magic wand, the one new product, the one thing that everyone is talking about — it may help. It may not. But what we really want is to approach life and our health from a holistic, faith-grounded place. If we are focusing so much on all of the things, is that taking our heart away from where God wants us to focus? Is it taking our attention away from loving and serving others and putting it onto ourselves?

Obviously, get the tools if they work for you. But not every tool is right for every person. Even if it works for someone else, even if there's a testimonial about it, that doesn't mean it's going to work for you. And if it is so time-consuming, energy-consuming, and money-consuming that it takes you away from doing what you feel God is calling you to do — it's probably not right for you right now, at least.

We just want to be intentional — intentional about everything, which is really just stewardship. It's making choices that are aligned with how God wants us living right now.

Okay, so now that you have the questions, I told you I would give you a little quick-start guide to AI and to research and getting the answers. So let me spend a few minutes here.

So we'll call this a quick-start guide. AI is really helpful, but here's the important thing to remember: the better your prompts and inputs into AI, the better information you're going to get back. So rather than saying, "Are cold plunges good?" — because then you're probably going to get a consolidated answer that may not be exactly tailored to you — try something more specific.

For example, I got on Google and went into AI mode and asked, "Are cold plunges good for you?" This is what Google AI answered: "Cold plunges are good for some people, but they are not universally healthy and carry severe safety risks. For healthy individuals, short sessions can significantly reduce post-workout muscle soreness and boost short-term mental focus. However, recent clinical studies indicate that they can actively hinder muscle growth if done immediately after weight training. Furthermore, the extreme cold places sudden strain on the heart, making the practice dangerous for anyone with underlying cardiovascular conditions."

I'll be honest — I was relatively impressed with that because it was pretty well-balanced. But then we need to dig in a little bit more. So instead of "Are these good?" you can try: "What does peer-reviewed research say about whole-body vibration for bone density in post-menopausal women? Please cite your sources." That gets very specific and prompts your AI to actually pull sources and show its research. You can then follow up with, "Give me the actual study names, the authors, and the journals where these were published." That gets even deeper. Or you can ask, "Is this from a peer-reviewed journal or a summary article?" Summary articles aren't terrible, but you want to know where your information is coming from.

There are a few tools that are really helpful when doing your research.

Perplexity (P-E-R-P-L-E-X-I-T-Y) is kind of the best starting point for research. It gives you citations built in and shows the sources as it goes. When I wrote my book for young women, Your Core Strength, there were some things where I knew the information was true but I needed to cite my sources. Perplexity was really helpful — I could say, "Is this true, and can you validate it with some sources?" and it provided a lot of sources. Hugely helpful.

Consensus is another one specifically built to search peer-reviewed research. When you want actual studies, that's a great place to go.

And then of course Claude and ChatGPT — those are always kind of neck and neck, with one being better than the other depending on the month. Those are great for analysis, summarizing, and thinking through nuance. They're not as strong on sourcing. Sometimes Claude will tell me something and I'll say, "Show me your source on that," and it's not unusual for it to say, "Oh, actually, I was wrong." So keep pushing. You're not going to hurt its feelings. I kind of felt for a while like I didn't want to hurt its feelings — but it has no feelings. It's artificial intelligence. Keep pushing back to make sure you're getting correct information if you are indeed researching things.

You can also go directly to websites. PubMed is a great one — it's associated with the National Institutes of Health, and that's where peer-reviewed studies live. If AI cites a study, search it there to confirm it's real. You can read the abstract, which is kind of the summary portion at the top. You can find PubMed at pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, or just Google "PubMed."

You can also go to NIH — the National Institutes of Health — the primary federal research agency. Unfortunately they have had less funding recently, but they still have a wealth of research studies available.

And then places like Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, and Harvard Health are physician-reviewed and don't have ad-driven agendas. They tend to be more summary articles, but they're still really helpful.

Another place I'll point you to — and you're going to get to meet her here in a few weeks — is the How To Fitness podcast, hosted by Kate Lyman and Michael Uzowah. They do deep dives into one particular subject and do an excellent job. They provide a masterclass in doing research and presenting a lot of different views. I really appreciate what they do. You can go over to the How To Fitness podcast, do a topic search, and see if what you want to learn is covered there. Even though you won't be looking at the actual data yourself, I trust them to provide quality, unbiased information.

You don't have to become a research scientist for all of this. You just kind of need to ask one more question than you did before. Whatever you're doing, just ask a follow-up question and see where that leads you.

I hope this episode gives you permission to pause, to take a step back, to use your own discernment with all of these latest trends. And this is as of summer 2026 — there will be more. Probably by September, if you're listening then, there will be more products out there being touted as the next latest and greatest thing.

You can get them. That's fine. This is up to you and what you want to do. However, it's okay to question. Curiosity about all of this is good. Discernment is even better. Both together are the goal.

The wellness industry will always have something new to sell you. Your job isn't to buy it or even to reject it. Your job is to care for the body God gave you in a way that is realistic, in a way that is sustainable, in a way that is true to who you are and to who you are called to be.

And with all of that, you can move forward with grace and strength.

Hey, as I said, this is the last in this series. I have an important bonus episode coming up, so be sure to subscribe if you don't already so you can catch that bonus episode coming up on Friday. Okay, that is all for today. Go out there and have a graced day.