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The Star: This Canadian doctor is going head-to-head with Gwyneth Paltrow over Goop

July 18, 2017 — 

Alum debunks bad celebrity-backed science. 

As The Star reports: 

[Jen] Gunter, now 50 and practising in the U.S., didn’t know then her career as an OB-GYN would intersect with celebrity culture and especially Gwyneth Paltrow, who has refashioned herself into an alternative health guru through her wellness company Goop….

“Dear Gwyneth Paltrow, we’re not f—ing with you, we’re correcting you, XOXO Science,” reads a post from May, a summary of many “crackpot theories” that appear on Goop. Some of the most widely ridiculed Goop-sanctioned strategies include the use of jade eggs for better sex, and vaginal steaming.

“I see the consequences of women doing harmful things they read about online,” Gunter said. “It breaks my heart when I hear people tell me about all the useless therapies they’ve wasted their money on.”

In response to criticism from Gunter and others, Goop sent a statement to the Star in June that says, in part: “We have a disclaimer on the bottom of every article that states the purpose is to highlight alternative studies and induce conversation. It’s not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.”

Gunter attended medical school at the University of Manitoba and completed her residency at Western University. In 2005, she and her family moved to California, where she now practices in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Gunter has been blogging about health and evidence-based medicine for seven years, at first on mainstream topics such as vaccine myths, weight loss and reproductive rights. Two years ago, someone sent her the vaginal steaming article.

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