Strange new health trends

How far would you go? Here are some strange new health trends to tickle your fancy… or amuse you!

You can always rely on celebs to be first in line to try a bizarre new way to boost health, lose weight, or shave a few years off their appearance. So far, 2014 has produced a number of wacky health offerings, including bird poo and the scarily titled ‘vampire facial.’ Intrigued? We’ve got the lowdown on some of the wackiest health trends doing the rounds in celebsville. Would you dare to try any of these?

1.Oil pulling
An ancient Ayurvedic practice of gargling oil with a view to improving oral health, so called because the cold-pressed oil about it your mouth is said to pull out toxins and bacteria as well as teeth whitening and combatting bad breath. Downsides to the process are that you have to spend up to 20 minutes gargling with the oil during which time the oil doubles in size in your mouth as it soaks up all those nasties. Coconut oil seems to be the most popular choice thanks to its antibacterial properties, but if you do try this, be sure to spit the oil into a bin not a sink when finished, otherwise it can solidify in the pipes and block them. Yikes!

2. Bird poo facial
Also known as the ‘Geisha facial’, this new skin treatment is a tough one to stomach, as your therapist will be merrily smearing bird poo over your face! But don’t go hanging around under bird nests in the hope of getting a surprise facial, the salon product has been treated to remove any harmful bacteria and the droppings come exclusively from a Japanese nightingale farmed on the island of Kyushu. The posh pellets are mixed with rice to form a potent poo paste which apparently acts as an awesome exfoliator, rejuvenates the skin and leaves you with a glowing complexion.

3. Clay cleanse
Boost health by drinking clay? Bentonite clay is the latest substance on a long list of miracle detox and weight-loss products and is credited with immune-boosting and liver-cleansing qualities. The idea, is that the negative charge of clay prompts the absorption of toxins and impurities, particularly heavy metals which the body can then flush out naturally. So far so good? Perhaps not as clay is also a key component in concrete, cat litter and can contain lead or arsenic, prompting warnings from the Food Standards Agency that this could cause serious long-term health problems.

4. Vampire facial
Kim Kardashian famously underwent this procedure on reality TV show, Kourtney and Kim Take Miami. Officially called plasma rich platelet therapy, it involves extracting some of the patient’s own blood, spinning it in a powerful centrifuge to separate the red blood cells from the plasma and then re-injecting the plasma back into the patient’s face. The science behind the treatment is not particularly new and has been used in sports medicine for some time, but it has only recently been embraced in the world of cosmetic treatments. With a hefty price tag and a recommendation to have multiple sessions, we can’t help thinking there must be a better way to rejuvenate skin that won’t leave us looking like an extra from Dawn of the Dead!