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Wellness Leaders You Need to Watch

Get to know the people revolutionizing the wellness spotlight with wellness leaders you need to watch.

By James PortersonPublished 8 years ago 10 min read
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It can be a challenge to keep up with what’s next in the world of health and wellness. At any time, there seems to be about 1,000 hot ideas that can help you be the best version of yourself. From tackling unwanted weight gain to regenerative farming practices – there are leaders in every area. But the question is, who is just trending, and who is really going to help inspire you to live well, and stay healthy?

With the global wellness industry grossing over $3.4 trillion dollars a year, it is rapidly becoming a market saturated with consumer demand, and false gurus. But we're here to rid you of the frauds and get you in the know for those wellness trendsetters. From celebrities in the mainstream media and vegan chefs to doctors in the medical field and revolutionary store owners, these are the most important wellness leaders you need to watch.

Amy Schumer

Photo by Mark Seliger

Amy Schumer is the leading lady in comedy and body positivity. Her Comedy Central series, Inside Amy Schumer, as well as her stand up tours, offer a real, raw, and hilarious view on what it is like to be a woman in the 21st century. She offered up a glimpse of her personal life in her feminist driven comedy, Trainwreck, which was a huge box office hit. Though the pressure of the spotlight affects many women, Schumer refuses to conform to the body norms imposed on women in Hollywood and society. She even went as far as to pose almost nude for the 2016 Pirelli calendar, and posted an image to Instagram with the caption, "Beautiful, gross, strong, thin, fat, pretty, ugly, sexy, disgusting, flawless, woman" to prove her pride in her body. She is breaking barriers in comedy and in media, as she proves over and over that being a size two doesn’t equal beautiful and you don’t have to conform to society’s perception of how women should look or act to be successful and likable. Amy Schumer is making waves for women in the 21st century and doing it in her own way, and as a woman who promotes body positivity, she is a wellness leader you need to watch.

Dr. Mark Hyman

When it comes to weight loss, Dr. Mark Hyman has you covered. He is a revolutionary leader in the wellness industry, partly due to his no-nonsense approach to important topics, such as gut health and sugar toxicity, making him a wellness leader you need to watch. Did you know that your digestive system is responsible for a large portion of how of your immune system works, and even impacts why you make the food choices you do? Dr. Hyman would say it is so – and science has proven him correct. He would also tell you that the daily recommendation for sugar intake (on average) totals just ONE regular can of soda. Most people consume over 10 times that amount every day! Dr. Hyman has so much to offer as a medical professional, and if you haven’t heard of him – you should follow him on social media, pick up one of his books or visit his website at www.drhyman.com.

Dr. Sue Hitzmann

Pain relief is an important health issue for most Americans, and it is especially concerning for those over the age of 40. Discover the MELT Method, developed by Sue Hitzmann. As a connective tissue specialist, Hitzmann uses techniques that utilize a soft-body roller and four different balls to rebalance the nervous system, rehydrate connective tissues and release compression in joints and tendons. She developed the method to help reduce the accumulation of years of tension and stress caused by today’s fast-paced lifestyle. Learn how you too can achieve an optimal mind-body connection for lasting natural health, in just 10 minutes a day of MELT, three times a week. Hitzmann’s remarkable method is a fast and simple way to maintain a lifetime of vitality by addressing the causes of chronic pain before they start. Use this proactive holistic treatment so that you feel more energy, and less pain… more often! Sue Hitzmann is definitely one of the wellness leaders you need to watch.

Chloe Coscarelli

Photo by Miki Duisterho

Chloe Coscarelli is a wellness leader you need to watch because she is offering up vegan options that have people waiting in line outside her restuaraunts. The chef, whose By CHLOE restaurants serve vegan burgers, salads, pastas, and sweets have meat eaters turning into vegans. Coscarelli was featured on Cupcake Wars, a popular Food Network series, where competitors bake cupcakes in timed events for the chance to win a cash prize. In a world where butter, milk and more butter dominate the recipes, she prepared vegan cupcakes and wowed the judges. By CHLOE is a fast-casual chain that is dedicated to supply mainstream diners unique menu items that are created using locally sourced ingredients to serve hearty, healthy meals to feed the body and mind.

Deepak Chopra

You may have already heard of Deepak Chopra. That’s because this Indian American author has published about 80 books translated in over 43 languages. As an authority in Ayurveda (traditional Hindu medicine), Chopra gained mainstream notoriety in the early 1990s with an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Currently, Chopra’s combination of ancient Ayurvedic healing principles and an easily accessible online platform makes it simple to participate in guided meditations by Chopra every day! Learn how the mind-body connection aids in maintaining homeostasis – the body’s inherent state of health. Chopra’s ideas promote moment-to-moment awareness and blend physics with healing through quantum mechanics. It sounds complicated, but the reality is that Dr. Chopra is able to guide you through weekly meditations (in just 15 minutes a day) to unlock your unlimited potential, and stay in a natural state of health without any medical treatments. Chopra is also the founder of The Chopra Foundation and the co-founder of The Chopra Center. Board certified in internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism, he is one of the most important spiritual wellness leaders you need to watch.

Kavita Shukla

A diverse diet includes tons of fresh produce, and keeping those vegetables fresh is the key to lasting health. One woman has just made it so much easier to preserve your produce. If you are living a healthy lifestyle, Kavita Shukla is one of the most valuable wellness leaders you need to watch. We know that it is difficult to keep foods fresh in the refrigerator, but Kavita Shukla has just made it easier for everyone! Introducing FreshPaper. This tiny paper helps to solve the global problem of food waste by spoilage, and also stretches your dollar at the grocery store by improving produce life – up to four times longer! This wonderful innovator has encouraged people to eat healthier, and be more conscious about their food consumption.

Light Watkins

We’ve all heard about the benefits and importance of meditation. Most of us may have even tried it. And for Light Watkins, a wellness leader you need to watch, he’s out to prove it truly is for everyone. With over 15 years of experience in the Vedic meditation space, we’ll take this guys advice. His journey began as a practitioner, then as an apprentice before becoming the teacher that many know and love. Watkins spends his time traveling the country to show beginners and masters and everyone in between simple ways to utilize meditation as a beneficial practice. He holds a bimonthly event, The Shine, in New York and Los Angeles which includes meditation, film, community, music and food.

Dr. Jen Faber

Dr. Jen Faber's approach to a successful work/life balance makes it very clear that even healers need to rejuvenate in order to heal themselves. As burnout and chronic stress continue to plague the American workforce, it is also affecting health practitioners. Over the years, Dr. Faber’s approach to her own high-volume chiropractic practice included breaking free from the typical path to grow a six-figure practice and achieve more personal time, less stress and the ability to live the life of her dreams! While Dr. Faber specializes in chiropractic medicine, her unconventional model serves as a template all professionals can follow, making her a wellness leader you need to watch.

Yvon Chouinard

The founder of Patagonia, Inc. has taken his clothing brand from just outdoor necessities to overall wellness, and he is one of the coolest wellness leaders you need to watch! Recently, Yvon Chouinard reached out beyond apparel into other ventures. Happy to announce $20 Million and Change, Chouinard and his family are now working on an internal fund to support other responsible start-up companies to help the environment. Other projects by Patagonia include: Patagonia Provisions (health food line of products), and a full-length feature film, Unbroken Ground that addresses the role food plays in the current environmental crisis.

Cameron Diaz

It’s easy to love Cameron Diaz. Her big smile, her bright blue eyes, her acting abilities, her flawless face. It also makes it easy to hate her. But Diaz offers up some advice on getting older, a fear for many Hollywood favorites, in her book, The Longevity Book. It is a first hand account of her own experience as a woman in the spotlight who is aging, but it is full of tips and trick and scientific secrets for women all over. While it seems the leading ladies of Hollywood never seem to age, or do so much more gracefully than us ordinary girls, Diaz gets real with fans on life and longevity as she says, “With age, I have developed a more nuanced understanding of what beauty really is. Beauty is not just something you are born with. Beauty is something you grow into.” Just another reason to love her, if you ask me.

Sheryl Gibbs

This author, holistic skincare formulator and blogger is also a leader in the non-toxic beauty industry. There is so much to learn about how deadly your skin care regimen can really be and you can learn it all from Gibbs in her book, No Bull Beauty: Cutting Through the Crap. Did you know that approximately 80 percent of what you apply to your skin, ends up in your skin (and your bloodstream)? It’s true! And you will be shocked to find out what you are really putting on the skin you’re in once you read Gibbs’ book. She also offers an entire line of truly non-toxic skincare products for men and women, unlike most greenwashing brands out there today.

The Sweetgreen Guys

Nicolas Jammet, Nathaniel Ru, and Jonathan Neman are the guys who are packing health into the fast food market. Sweetgreen, their farm-to-table salad chain is redefining the sustainable market, from the products to the stores themselves. While attending college in Georgetown, they trio felt there weren’t enough healthy food options and as the true entrepreneurs they are, their one storefront exploded into more than 30 across the nation. Their made-to-order salads are created with products that are sourced from local farms. These guys even went as far as to expose the food waste issue in America by creating salads made from kale stems, cabbage cores, and even broccoli stalks. But don’t come to Sweetgreen if you are looking for anything containing refined sugar. There’s no soda, or even Sriracha here. But don’t worry, if you take it to go and add Sriracha in the comfort of your own home, did it even happen? If this if the future of fast food, then these are wellness leaders you need to watch.

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About the Creator

James Porterson

Former obese teen turned nutritionist. Enjoys writing about staying active and proper nutrition.

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