Somewhere along the way, being healthy became incredibly expensive. We now have collagen powders, electrolyte sachets, protein blends, greens powders, probiotic shots, sleep supplements and beautifully packaged little pouches containing mysterious substances we're apparently supposed to add to our morning smoothies if we'd like to remain functioning human beings and young forever.
Which got me thinking about my grandmothers, because I'm fairly certain Olive and Joyce weren't starting their mornings with a £3.50 electrolyte sachet before taking their marine collagen, superfood protein blend and magnesium sleep complex, yet somehow they survived.
Of course, I'm not suggesting we abandon everything we've learned about health and nutrition and start rummaging through Grandma's kitchen cupboards for medical advice. We know far more now, and that's a very good thing. What fascinates me is something slightly different: we're not really comparing old products with new products, we're comparing old habits with modern marketing.
Somewhere along the way, ordinary parts of everyday life have been separated out, concentrated, given an impressive name, put into beautiful packaging and sold back to us as “wellness”. Protein became protein powder, water became hydration, seeds became superfoods, going to bed became a sleep protocol, and looking after our skin somehow became a twelve-step routine.
So I started wondering how many of today's expensive wellness “must-haves” have a simpler, cheaper ancestor hiding somewhere in Grandma's kitchen cupboard.
Collagen Powder... or Grandma's Cube of Jelly?
While researching collagen recently, I discovered that the ingredients behind collagen powders weren't actually a million miles away from something my grandma used to give me as a child: a cube of jelly. I had a terrible habit of biting and peeling my nails to within an inch of their lives, and Grandma was convinced that a daily cube would help them grow. Indeed it did, and I remember my nails growing back beautifully strong and healthy.
At the time, I didn't question the science behind Grandma's medicinal jelly, usually destined for one of her famous trifles, but all these years later I discovered there was a connection. Traditional gelatine is produced from collagen found in animal skin, bones and connective tissue, which doesn't make a cube of jelly nutritionally equivalent to a modern collagen supplement, but Grandma hadn't completely invented the connection.
Then there's vitamin C, which our bodies need to make collagen. Perhaps Grandma's jelly alongside an old-fashioned glass of orange juice wasn't quite the sophisticated beauty regime we'd see advertised today, but there was some sense behind her thinking.
As a vegan, gelatine isn't something I'd eat now, nor are traditional bovine or marine collagen supplements, but our bodies manufacture their own collagen and vitamin C can come from ordinary things like oranges, kiwi, peppers, strawberries and broccoli. Something we now associate with expensive tubs, beauty regimes and gold measuring scoops once started with a much simpler conversation about what we ate.
Electrolyte Drinks... or Grandma's Coca-Cola With Salt?
Long before electrolyte sachets came in beautiful packaging with words like HYDRATE, PERFORM and OPTIMISE printed across them, I remember my grandma doing something considerably less glamorous: she put a little salt in Coca-Cola.
There was some logic behind it. Sodium is one of the electrolytes our bodies need, while her concoction also contained fluid and sugar. Coca-Cola and salt isn't the same as a properly formulated electrolyte drink, of course, and there are times when replacing electrolytes is genuinely important, particularly after intense exercise, heavy sweating or significant fluid loss.
What I'm questioning is when the rest of us started believing we needed them as part of everyday life. If you've walked the dog, pottered around the garden or simply made it through another Tuesday, chances are you don't need a beautifully packaged sachet to “optimise” your hydration. Sometimes water is still just water.
Sleep Supplements... or Going to Bed?
Somewhere along the way, going to bed became a wellness routine requiring its own budget. We have pillow sprays, silk pillows, Bluetooth pillows, eye masks, ear plugs, sleep gummies, magnesium powders, night-time drinks, patches and teas, all promising to help us drift peacefully into eight uninterrupted hours.
Grandma's sleep routine was considerably cheaper: she went to bed, turned off the light and went to sleep. Admittedly, she also didn't take her mobile phone and various social media accounts to bed with her.
Magnesium gets mentioned a lot in conversations about sleep, and some research suggests supplementation may offer a modest benefit for some people, but magnesium also exists in food. Pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, nuts, beans, whole grains and leafy greens can all contribute to our intake, which brings us back to the boring old idea of eating a varied diet.
Perhaps what's changed most isn't our need for sleep but everything surrounding it. We take work, emails, social media, television and the entire internet into bed with us, then wonder whether we need to buy something to help us switch off. Before buying anything, the unglamorous basics still matter: a consistent bedtime, a dark bedroom, daylight during the day, movement, winding down and perhaps not lying in bed at 11.47pm watching just one more episode of something we weren't even that interested in.
Perhaps before buying something to help us sleep, it's worth looking at what's keeping us awake in the first place. I am very much talking to myself here too.
Superfood Powder... or What's Already in the Cupboard?
“Superfood” really is a brilliant piece of marketing. We can spend a small fortune on beautifully packaged powders containing seeds, cacao, fibre, protein and impressive-sounding ingredients, many of which have been sitting quietly in our cupboards for years without anyone thinking to call them super.
So I wondered whether I could make my own cheaper version, and I did. I use pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds and flaxseeds, whizz them together, then add some unsweetened cocoa and a little vegan coconut milk powder. Nothing exotic, nothing particularly fashionable and nothing requiring a monthly subscription.
Seeds already contain protein, fibre, healthy fats and various vitamins and minerals, while the cocoa makes everything considerably more appealing than one of those green powders that looks and tastes suspiciously like the lawn. I make small batches, keep it airtight and add a spoonful to porridge, overnight oats or a smoothie.
Would my homemade version be nutritionally identical to a concentrated protein powder or targeted supplement? Of course not, and if you need something specific, that's different. But if you're simply looking to add some protein, fibre and healthy fats to your breakfast, perhaps it's worth reading the ingredients on that expensive wellness powder and asking yourself: could I just eat the food?
Sometimes the cheaper alternative to a superfood isn't another powder; it's opening the cupboard.
Complicated Skincare... or Keeping It Simple?
Well, don't frown, you knew I was going to end up here. If there is one industry that has truly embraced the idea that more must be better, it's beauty.
At some point cleansing and moisturising became cleansers, toners, essences, acids, serums, boosters, eye creams, masks, overnight treatments and enough bottles on the bathroom shelf to require structural reinforcement. My mum was a skincare formulator, so skincare was part of my life long before I created Olive & Joyce, but I don't remember my mum or grandmothers having twelve-step routines. They had a few things they liked, used them, and bought more when they ran out. Revolutionary.
Perhaps that's why I've always felt uncomfortable with the idea that the skincare industry should continually invent another step simply so it has another product to sell us. Olive & Joyce was built around the opposite idea: I don't want to create another product simply so I can tell women they need another product. I believe in using fewer things, choosing them carefully and letting our skin get on with being skin.
Clean your skin, nourish it and protect it, then go and live your life. That philosophy isn't really about skincare alone; it's the same thing I've been talking about throughout this blog. More isn't automatically better, more expensive isn't automatically more effective, and complicated doesn't automatically mean clever.
When Did Ordinary Stop Being Good Enough?
None of this is to say that modern wellness products are useless. Some are brilliant, some are convenient, and supplements can be important when we actually need them. We've also learned an enormous amount since our grandmothers' generation, and I certainly wouldn't swap modern medicine for the contents of Grandma's kitchen cupboard.
I just wonder whether we've started confusing expensive with effective and complicated with better.
We've become incredibly good at taking something that already exists in food or everyday life, isolating the interesting bit, giving it an impressive name, putting it in beautiful packaging and selling it back to ourselves. Protein wasn't invented by protein powder companies, electrolytes didn't arrive with sports drinks, magnesium existed before sleep gummies, seeds were superfoods before anybody printed SUPERFOOD across the packet, and looking after our skin existed long before we were told we needed twelve different products.
Perhaps the cheaper alternative isn't always another product; sometimes it's dinner, water, opening the cupboard or turning the bloody phone off and going to bed. Sometimes it's simply deciding that what you've already got might actually be enough.
Maybe that's also why I've always loved simple recipes made from recognisable ingredients. There's something reassuring about opening the cupboard, using what you've already got and making something yourself, and I've collected lots of those ideas on my Olive & Joyce recipe page, rather than feeling as though looking after ourselves has to involve another subscription, supplement or beautifully branded pouch.
Because perhaps that's what this all comes back to: we're not really comparing old products with new products, we're comparing old habits with modern marketing.
Olive and Joyce certainly wouldn't have called any of this wellness. They probably would have called it using what you've got, eating properly and applying a bit of common sense.
Terrible marketing. Pretty good advice.