Trending in London: Health + Wellness

While passing briefly through London during our travels, we both searched far and wide for the city’s most peaceful yoga studios, bespoke spas, organic beauty boutiques, and neighborhood juice bars (as we do wherever we disappear to in the world).
We were pleasantly surprised to find an abundance of beautiful places to breathe, get fit and dine healthy!

The UK is revamping its health image, with London being the epicenter of the health and wellness movement. Organic, natural, raw, and vegan choices have replaced pubs, fish and chips, and crumpets.
Spas are using natural and organic products and more people are biking to work.
There appears to be a widespread enthusiasm for the introduction of green-themed products into the marketplace. This mindset extends far beyond the individual, though – there is also a greater awareness of environmental impact.

Happy hour has been repurposed in London now that millennials are embracing healthier lifestyles and drinking less than older generations.

Food bloggers, wellness advocates and healthy-minded individuals are embracing cleanse trends such as juicing – but with a twist.
Happy hour has been repurposed in London now that millennials are embracing healthier lifestyles and drinking less than older generations.
In fact, one in four individuals (aged 16-30) says that they do not drink alcohol at all, compared with just one in seven in older people (aged 60 and over).
Catering to this new statistic is Redemption, an alcohol-free bar in London. The restaurant features nourishing twists on the old mixed drinks, such as the apple mock-jito and the coco-rita (still with a salt-rimmed glass, of course). The goal is to “spoil yourself without spoiling yourself.”
This motto transcends to other restaurants, too, like Pure Taste, which is the U.K.’s first Paleo restaurant.

Another drink trend features the use of fermentation. Just like in the U.S., there’s been a surge in products such as kombucha and kimchi.
London’s Rawduck restaurant makes its own ferments, and others are experimenting with healthy flavored vinegars.

In BBC’s upcoming Eat Well Show, chefs, fitness experts, and professional nutritionists all gather to showcase how to balance a healthy lifestyle with a love of good food.

All of these new health trends will be featured in BBC’s upcoming Eat Well Show. Here, chefs, fitness experts, and professional nutritionists all gather to showcase how to balance a healthy lifestyle with a love of good food.
Many of London’s health gurus will be in attendance, including Natasha Corrett, the founder and creator of Honestly Healthy (read her exclusive interview with BWB here)
Natasha is passionate about eating and living green, and advocates the alkaline diet. She is a powerhouse in the wellness field.

We’re also loving the impact Ella from Deliciously Ella (interviewed this month in our magazine, read here) is making on the London community. Ella used a whole foods, plant-based diet to cure her chronic illness that kept her bed-ridden 95% of the time. By eliminating all meat, dairy, sugar, gluten, and anything processed with chemicals or additives, she was able to put an end to her pain, restore her energy, and start living again. Her recipes are featured in her new cookbook Deliciously Ella, which has claimed the number one spot on the Official UK Top 50 this week. Beyond her own recipes, Ella is also a spokesperson for Organic Burst , a UK company that makes superfoods like acai berry and baobab more available to the general public.

Another rising superfood elixir is bone broth. Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley of
Hemsley +Hemsley, a dynamic sister duo who will also be in attendance at the Eat Well Show, are telling everyone to “boil your bones.” Rich in omega 3, 6, and 9, bone broth is nourishing, simple, and cheap. Its benefits range from boosting the immune system to reducing cellulite. (read their exclusive interview with BWB here)

Londoners are taking this newfound energy from eating and living well and channeling it to new workout trends.

Londoners are taking this newfound energy from eating and living well and channeling it to new workout trends. Yoga, for example, continues to grow.
TriYoga in London has become extremely popular, as more people show interest for understanding the mind-body connection. Other trends include: the Xtend Barre (a dance, ballet, and pilates fusion), METCore (combining pilates, TRX conditioning, and tabata training), and 1Rebel (a spin and HIIT studio).

Beyond the gym, London’s Barclays cycle-hire program continues to expand. Research has shown that there has been a staggering 155% increase in cycling to work in inner London in the past decade.
Trendy bicycle workshop cafés such as Look Mum No Hands, located in London, have even been emerging.

Whether it’s a bacteria inspired sculpture or a nutrient-packed mocktail, Londoners are reimagining how we look at health and wellness.
We are falling in love with the idea that holistic health and wellness is becoming a global movement!
Maybe it has something to do with the irresistible sound of “green goddess” juice spoken in a British accent.