Gwyneth Paltrow's Goop has incited a medical feud and here's what we know so far

Goop critic to Gwyneth Paltrow: ‘I read the post on GOOP and all I can tell you is it is the biggest load of garbage I have read on your site since vaginal steaming.’<em> (Photo: Getty) </em>
Goop critic to Gwyneth Paltrow: ‘I read the post on GOOP and all I can tell you is it is the biggest load of garbage I have read on your site since vaginal steaming.’ (Photo: Getty)

Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle website Goop has been a running joke amongst many in the medical industry since its launch in 2008. From its attempts to sell outrageous products, like a $15,000 24K gold dildo and “sex dust” for your smoothie, to its questionable wellness advice like vaginal steaming and sticking a $66 jade egg up your yoni (vagina) — Goop has been called out repeatedly by medical professionals for its eyebrow-raising and potentially harmful remedies.

But the site had not responded to its many critics until last week when it published a lengthy post defending its “alternative” remedies. The post includes the testimonies of two Goop-supporting doctors and arrows in on Canadian OB/GYN Dr. Jennifer Gunter, accusing her of “taking advantage of the attention” she receives from criticizing Goop and “issuing attacks to build her personal platform.”

But what has caused Gunter to get under the dry-brushed, crystal-charged skin of Paltrow? So much so that the Goop founder herself even tweeted the rebuttal:

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In January, Gunter posted a scathing response to Paltrow’s jade eggs which promises to “increase chi, orgasms, vaginal muscle tone, hormonal balance, and feminine energy in general.”

“I read the post on GOOP and all I can tell you is it is the biggest load of garbage I have read on your site since vaginal steaming. It’s even worse than claiming bras cause cancer,” wrote Gunter.

Gunter states that jade is porous and can contain bacteria which gets transferred to your vagina when women insert them, and by Goop’s recommendation, leave them in all day or as they sleep. This, she wrote, could result in bacterial vaginosis or even the potentially fatal toxic shock syndrome. A statement that Goop has critiqued her for being “strangely confident” about in their recent rebuttal.

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Since her jade egg take down, Gunter has debunked multiple other Goop theories including toxic tampons, adrenal fatigue and goat milk therapy.

A post of hers from May titled “Dear Gwyneth Paltrow we’re not f**king with you we’re correcting you, XOXO Science” went viral, receiving over 10,000 shares on Facebook.

“Your goopsh*t bothers me because it affects my patients. They read your crackpot theories and they stop eating tomatoes,” wrote Gunter. “What do you possibly have to gain by spreading lies to women about bras causing breast cancer? Ever had a breast cancer survivor cry in your office worried that she caused her cancer by wearing bras for 20 years? Probably not. I have.”

And if you’re wondering if the fiery doctor had anything to say in response to Goop’s attack on her last week, fret not. Gunter has fired back a response addressing each of Goop’s criticism against her.

“I am not strangely confident about vaginal health, I am appropriately confident because I am the expert. I did 4 years of medical school, a 5 year OB/GYN residency, a 1 year fellowship in infectious diseases, I am board certified in OB/GYN in 2 countries, I am board certified by the American Board of Pain Medicine and the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in Pain Medicine and I am appropriately styled Dr. Jen Gunter MD, FRCS(C), FACOG, DABPM, ABPM (pain),” she wrote. “A woman with no medical training who tells women to walk around with a jade egg in their vaginas all day, a jade egg that they can recharge with the energy of the moon no less, is the strangely confident one.”

Hundreds of others came to Gunter’s defence on her blog and, ironically, on Gwyneth’s tweet.

She even received the support of Canadian Health Minister Jane Philpott.

Although Gunter is the only doctor that Goop’s post singles out, she is hardly the only one to have criticized Goop’s alternative treatments.

Multiple news outlets, Stephen Colbert and author Tim Caulfield, who wrote an entire book titled “Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong About Everything” have called the actress out on her questionable recommendations. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel even got Paltrow herself to admit, “I don’t know what the f**k we talk about” in an interview last month.

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Following Goop’s post, a spokesperson for Goop told BuzzFeed that “The purpose of the letter is to stand behind our doctors, and stand behind the readers who tell us that advice and guidance from these doctors has had a positive impact on their lives.”

The post also states that it is a “first in a series of posts,” suggesting that this medical feud may go on.

What do you think of Goop and Gunter’s posts?

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