Health Scoop News

1-Wellness trend: Industry growth📈

2-Gut-healthy soy🫛

3-Anti-inflammatory spirulina🟢

4-Anti-cancer veg diets🥗

I always have my nose in new health research, so I’m sharing some of the most relevant studies (and wellness trends) with you in regular editions of “Health Scoop News.”

[This news summary is a bit reminiscent of my old “This week in science for holistic health” newsletters that I used to do circa 2016 (I deleted most, but here’s one post I kept live), as well as the rEATsearch podcast I used to co-host.]

Below are brief summaries and links to a recent wellness trend, plus three health study picks (comment below to tell me which of these four updates are the most interesting/relevant for you!). All of these studies are more clinically relevant than individual studies done using animals, cells, or isolated chemical reactions because these studies were done with people, or they’re reviews/summaries of dozens of previous studies.

1-Wellness trend: Industry growth📈

The wellness industry keeps growing! Numbers published last year show the worldwide value to be $6.8 trillion (with a “t”)—that’s $6,800,000,000! (*I’m assuming this is in USD, but I don’t see that confirmed on their website.)

Here’s some background info:

• The wellness industry has doubled in size since 2013 and is now larger than the green economy, IT, tourism, and sports!
• The wellness economy is growing faster than the overall economy.
• The largest segment of this $6.8t industry is healthy eating, nutrition, and weight loss (worth $1.148t).
• The next largest segments are: physical activity, personal care & beauty, and wellness tourism.
• “The wellness economy is projected to grow by 7.6% annually over the next five years, reaching an estimated $9.8 trillion in 2029.”

For more information, here is the link to the Global Wellness Institute’s Economy Monitor:

• https://globalwellnessinstitute.org/industry-research/2025-global-wellness-economy-monitor/

To address this wellness trend for your health practice, there are a few things you can do to stand out and claim your part of this huge and growing industry:

1 – Really niche down and specialize.
2 – Become THE credible go-to expert in your niche.
3 – Show up online like the expert you are.
4 – Be real and get personal.
5 – Show people you truly care about them.
6 – Network and meet amazing people.
7 – Do what works for you—it’s your health practice.

I wrote an article a couple of years ago going more in-depth into each of these items:

• The awesome (and scary) news about the wellness industry (2024)

2-Gut-healthy soy🫛

Study title: Soy and the gut microbiome: a bi-directional relationship shaping nutrition and health

This is a review of several studies about soy’s effect on the gut microbiome and how that impacts human health.

Here’s some background info:

• Soy is an environmentally sustainable source of protein and fibre, and is also rich in phytochemicals such as isoflavones. Soy has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
• Soy intake is linked to improvement in metabolic syndrome (blood glucose, insulin), increased satiety (weight management), reduced menopausal symptoms, and reduced risks of diabetes, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, and dementia.
• “The gut microbiota is the dynamic ecosystem of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, viruses that inhabit the gastrointestinal tract, and their genes (microbiome), that play an important role in maintaining physiological functions through interactions with the alimentary, immune, endocrine, and nervous systems, as well as the gut-liver, gut-kidney and gut-brain axes.“
• Alterations in the microbiome are linked with: heart diseases, type 2 diabetes, diseases of immune dysfunction (e.g., Inflammatory Bowel Disease), colorectal cancer, diseases of gut-brain interaction (DGBIs) [e.g., Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)], and potential impacts on neurological diseases.
• “The overall diet composition correlated more closely with the microbiota composition than individual dietary components.” In other words, what we eat regularly has more impact on our gut microbiome than any one single food.

Here’s what the researchers found about soy’s health benefits that are modulated via the gut microbiome (remember, soy has other benefits that are not modulated via the gut microbiome):

• Figure 1 – Schematic overview of soy-modulated gut microbiota effects on health. 

Here’s what the researchers concluded based on the results of this review:

• More research is needed, but there is growing evidence that at least some of soy’s positive health impacts are due to its interaction with the gut microbiome.

In other words, there is plenty of research confirming that soy is good for our health. There are many mechanisms for that, including soy’s protein and fibre content, the health benefits of isoflavones, as well as soy’s interactions with our gut microbiota.

For more information, here’s a link to read the study for yourself:

• https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12901295/

3-Anti-inflammatory spirulina🟢

Study title: Spirulina Supplementation Can Reduce Serum Levels of C-Reactive Protein: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Randomized Clinical Trials

This is an analysis of eight RCTs (Randomized Clinical Trials) that looked at the anti-inflammatory effects of spirulina on people.

Here’s some background info:

• “Spirulina, a blue-green microalgae, naturally thrives in alkaline lakes.”
• “It contains proteins (55–70%), carbohydrates (15–25%), fats (6–8%), minerals (7–13%), moisture (3–7%), and dietary fibers (8–10%). Spirulina is also rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B6, B9, B12, C, D, E), and minerals (K, Ca, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, P, Se, Na, Zn). In addition, it contains pigments and enzymes, including lipase, which further enhance its nutritional profile and health-promoting potential.“
• “Spirulina has been associated with a range of health benefits, including antioxidant properties, immune system modulation, and anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, antiviral, and antibacterial properties.”
• “Its bioactive compounds may play an important role in preventing or managing conditions such as obesity, hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), hypertension, neoplasms, and inflammatory disorders. Spirulina plays a critical role in enhancing immune function through various biological mechanisms.”
• Some of spirulina’s anti-inflammatory and immune modulating responses *may* be due to it’s effect on cytokines such as C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis fact0r-α (TNF-α), and/or interleukin-6 (IL-6).

Here’s what the researchers concluded:

• “Spirulina supplementation significantly reduced serum CRP levels, whereas its effects on IL-6 and TNF-α were not statistically significant. . . .  further high-quality RCTs are needed to confirm these beneficial effects.”

In other words, spirulina’s anti-inflammatory effects seem to stem from its ability to reduce CRP levels in the blood.

For more information, here is the link to read the study for yourself:

• https://www.imrpress.com/journal/IJVNR/96/1/10.31083/IJVNR44330

4-Anti-cancer veg diets🥗

Article title: Vegetarian and vegan diets and cancer incidence: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies

This is a systematic review and meta analysis of several studies that looked at reduced cancer risk in people who consumed vegetarian and vegan diets, compared with people who eat non-vegetarian diets. The goal was to try to determine which specific types of cancers were most impacted by these plant-based eating styles.

Here’s some background info:

• “Several studies have suggested that vegetarian and vegan vs. non-vegetarian diets are associated with lower cancer risk overall, however, results for specific cancer sites have been less consistent. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies on vegetarian and vegan diets and cancer incidence to clarify the associations across cancer sites.”

Here’s what the researchers found:

• Vegetarian diets compared to non-vegetarian diets are associated with statistically-significant reduced risk of total cancer and seven specific cancer types: stomach, colorectal, pancreatic, melanoma, breast, bladder, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
• “Vegan diets are associated with reduced risk of total and breast cancer.”

Here’s what the researchers concluded:

• “Although further studies are needed, . . . these results support recommendations to adopt much more plant-based diets for cancer prevention.“

In other words, people who eat more vegetarian and vegan diets have lower risks of getting several types of cancers, as compared with people who eat non-vegetarian diets.

For more information, here’s a link to read the study for yourself:

• https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-026-01380-8

Signing off and toasting: To keeping up with the latest and greatest wellness trends and scientific research in nutrition, fitness, and health coaching!

Over to you

Which of these updates was the most interesting or relevant to you? Let me know in the comments below!