Gastroenterologist condemns Gwyneth Paltrow’s use of ‘rectal ozone therapy’

Goop founder faced backlash this week over her daily diet

A gastroenterologist has condemned Gwyneth Paltrow’s use of “rectal ozone therapy”.

The 50-year-old actor was asked about her “weirdest wellness trend” during her now viral appearance on Dr Will Cole’s podcast, The Art of Being Well, where she also detailed her daily exercise routine and eating habits. In response to Cole’s question, she said: “I have used ozone therapy. Rectally. Can I say that?”

As noted by Heathline, ozone therapy refers to the “process of administering ozone gas into your body to treat a disease or wound”.

While she didn’t disclose any more details about doing ozone therapy, Paltrow did confess that there were benefits to it, adding: “It’s pretty weird. But, it’s been very helpful.”

On Twitter, physician Kaveh Hoda, whose focus of study is the digestive system, has now condemned the wellness trend. In his tweet, he also poked fun at what other rectal treatments should be avoided.

“Gastroenterologist here,” he  wrote. “Not that you would but please don’t get rectal ozone therapy. Also, don’t put coffee in your butts either.”

Hoda, who hosts his own medical podcast, House of Pod, also joked about how the Goop founder’s  comments on ozone therapy could impact her fans. “Gwyneth Paltrow might be one of the leading causes of people putting inappropriate things in their butts,” he wrote.

The Independent has contacted Hoda for comment.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, there are some potential health benefits to ozone therapy, including “immune system support,” “improved blood circulation,” and protecting the body from “invaders like bacteria, viruses and fungi”.

However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet authorised the use of ozone therapy. The organisation also stated in 2019 that ozone is “a toxic gas with no known useful medical application in specific, adjunctive, or preventive therapy”.

Vickram Tejwani, MD, a physician who studies the respiratory systems, also explained to the Celevant Clinic that there could be more  potential side effects of ozone therapy than benefits. For example, some side effects included discomfort or cramping in the body or experiencing flu-like symptoms.

The medical professional emphasised that there isn’t enough information about ozone therapy out there to know for sure if it’s safe, explaining: “There are just so many steps to go. There’s a lot of work to be done as far as standardising the dosage, clarifying what illnesses ozone therapy would be effective for and ensuring it’s administered the right way.”

Paltrow’s comments about ozone therapy aren’t the only ones from the podcast that have sparked a response. Dietitians on TikTok have criticised Paltrow for the lack of food she listed, when sharing her daily diet.

To Cole, the Transformers star noted that she would have a coffee in the morning, before eating  “bone broth for lunch” and sticking to her paleo diet for dinner, which consists of either fish or lots of vegetables. She noted that she eats at 12pm and is done by 7pm for the day, as part of her “intermittent fast”.

Dietitian Kim Lindsay went on to duet the viral TikTok video of Paltrow’s routine and pointed out which of the eating habits appeared to be a result of “diet culture”. Speaking to The Independent, Lindsay described how under the disguise of “wellness,” diet culture equates with people’s “health and idolises the pursuit of thinness”.

“Paltrow is promoting many restrictive diets such as intermittent fasting, paleo, replacing meals with low calorie fluids (coffee and bone broth) and detoxing,” she said. “We know that diets are unsustainable and can lead to weight cycling, increased risk of chronic disease and eating disorders.”

She added: “While there is nothing wrong with the food she is eating, the problem comes back to how little she is eating and how much she is restricting. There is nothing healthy or sustainable about that and it should not be promoted as a healthy diet.”