Revealed: 2025 health and wellness trends
What health trends will be big in 2025?
We’ve looked at the UK’s recent online search habits to predict what health and wellbeing trends people will be trying over the next year.
Your health expert: Dr Samantha Wild, Clinical Lead for Women's Health and Bupa GP
Content editor review by: Dr Samantha Wild
Next review: December 2025
Every year, we see a new range of health trends emerge. From food fads to novelty exercises, it may be tempting to try out what you see online for a health boost . But are this year’s health and wellbeing trends safe for everyone to try?
Here, we’ll explore the evidence to find out which could be worth your while, and which should be treated with caution.
Food supplements: Lion's mane
If you haven’t already heard of lion’s mane - a type of mushroom being hailed as a wellbeing hero – we suspect you will in 2025.
Between September 2023 and August 2024 searches for:
Lion’s mane focus
Searches became eight times higher
Best lion’s mane powder
Searches quadrupled
Lion’s mushroom powder
Searches tripled
Used in traditional Chinese medicine, you may have heard it by its scientific name, hericium erinaceus.
It can be taken as a supplement in capsules, liquids and gummies. Or in its full mushroom form. Raw, uncooked or fried, sprinkled on food or in drinks.
Claimed to help improve focus, brain health, gut health, heart health, stress, mood and slowing the spread of cancer. This supplement has seen a rise in public interest over 2024, and it doesn’t look to be going anywhere soon.
Lion’s mane: What does the evidence say?
Currently, there are only small-scale studies that show lion’s mane can have potential health benefits for humans.
The research we do have is largely based on animals, with limited evidence that the same results can be applied to humans. Especially when it comes to reducing the risk of cancer.
Unless you have a mushroom allergy, lion’s mane may be safe for you to try.
However, we need more research to define whether lion’s mane mushrooms have long-term benefits.
It’s also worth remembering that having a healthy lifestyle in general often supports your health in the ways lion’s mane supplements claim to.
If you’re not feeling your best, it could be due to a number of reasons.
It’s best to speak to a health professional to talk through your concerns, and find the best solution to help you to feel better, according to your own health needs.
Bee pollen
We predict that bee pollen will continue to gain popularity as another way of supplementing your diet.
There’s a chance you’ve heard that taking bee pollen for allergies, like hay fever, is a natural way to help ease symptoms, too.
Similarly to lion’s mane, bee pollen can be consumed in a variety of forms, such as capsules and powders. The bee pollen solutions may be soaked in water or ground and mixed into food before they’re consumed. Bee pollen supplements are also claimed to help lower cholesterol, improve metabolism, reduce the chance of depression and even improve your sex life.
Bee pollen benefits for women
UK Google searches became 50 times higher
Bee pollen benefits
UK Google searches doubled
Bee pollen: Is it good for you?
Bee pollen contains lots of nutrients, but it’s not clear if ingesting it has any health benefits, especially in the long-term. Most of the bee pollen research we have currently has been on animals and in laboratory settings. This means we can’t say for sure that the same benefits apply to humans.
If you’re allergic to bees or honey, or you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, it’s best to avoid trying bee pollen. Bee pollen may also have adverse effects if you’re on medication. Whether or not you’re on medication, before introducing any new supplement to your diet, check with a health professional to help keep yourself safe.
Workout classes
If you’re bored of exercising alone, 2025 looks set to be the year that group workouts make an official comeback.
Over the last year, search volumes for lots of exercise have been on the uplift. Like barre, hot Pilates and even sling bungee (a bungee cord used as a form of resistance training).
Hot Pilates near me
Searches were seven times higher
Barre near me
Searches tripled
Exercise near me
Searches have doubled
What are the advantages of group exercise?
Group exercise classes
These can help foster social connection and security - all while getting the physical and mental health benefits of moving your body.
Get your motivation back
If you’ve lost motivation to work out, mixing up your workouts, whether it’s in a group class or using on-demand classes, can help inspire you. Finding belonging in a gym class may encourage you to exercise more regularly, through the connections you’ve made.
It may also offer novelty and ways to move your body differently and work harder than you did when exercising on your own.
Period tracking
Period tracking is a great way to understand your overall general health, along with your menstrual cycle.
Everyone experiences their menstrual cycle differently. Knowing what’s usual for your own – from your mood, to period blood colour - can make it easier to spot any changes and know when to ask for help. Practically speaking, period tracking can help you get closer to your body’s natural rhythms. This can be handy to highlight any patterns in your symptoms and what influences them. It can also help you figure out when you’re ovulating, and spot any abnormalities that may mean you need help with your periods.
Between September 2023 to August 2024, research shows:
Cycle tracker
Searches have doubled for this phrase
Free period tracking apps
Searches have doubled for this phrase
Free ovulation tracker
Searches have doubled for this phrase
How to track your period
Tracking your period doesn’t have to be anything too technical – you can use a calendar or a period diary to record the basics.
Make a note of when it starts, when it ends, and how heavy your flow is on each day.
From a top-level view, this means you can calculate the average length of your menstrual cycle, and how much your period varies from month to month.
If you want to take it a step further, you could also record other symptoms throughout the month to cover your mood, physical activity, headaches, bloating and skin changes.
Recording these symptoms may help you to see if there are any links between the severity of symptoms and your lifestyle.
This can be especially useful if you have premenstrual syndrome (PMS), as what you eat and drink, along with stress levels, can influence the effect of PMS symptoms.
Knowing how your period affects you is useful to know anyway, but if you struggle with symptoms, having a record of your cycle over time is handy for a GP.
It may highlight patterns and links between your lifestyle and your symptoms that a health professional can help with.
Detox diets
It’s not unusual to see search interest around detoxes increase after a time of indulgence – for example, Christmas.
Between September 2023 and August 2024:
15 day detox
Searches became 10 times higher
Pressed juice diet
Searches tripled
Cleanse supplement
Searches doubled
Our research shows that diet cleanses and detoxes are becoming increasingly popular all-year round, with many searching for a quick fix to drop weight fast.
You may have been tempted to try something like a juice cleanse to help flush your system of toxins and lose some weight while you’re at it. Detoxes like this can have a few different names and formats, including colon cleansing and periodic fasting.
Do juice cleanses work?
The short answer is: probably not
There’s very little scientific evidence that detoxes or cleanses benefit your health.
If you’ve tried a cleanse in the past and noticed benefits, like an increase in energy or weight loss, current science doesn’t show those benefits are a direct cause of the cleanse.
Juice cleanses aren’t medically regulated
This means even if you buy a product from somewhere, its ingredients don’t have to follow any particular standard.
So you don’t know exactly what you’re fuelling your body with, and if it’s truly healthy for you.
Worried about toxins in your body?
Eating and drinking healthy natural products, and avoiding pollution where possible, is the best way to keep your body functioning well.
For reassurance, speak to a health professional.
Menopause diet
Weight gain affects around 50 per cent of those who are going through the perimenopause or menopause. Our research highlights that more are trying to take weight management seriously at this time of their lives.
Weight gain is so common during the menopause due to hormonal and metabolic changes, and you naturally lose some muscle mass. If you’ve less muscle, you don’t need as many calories to fuel your body. This means it becomes really easy to overeat and gain weight as a result.
Foods to avoid menopause weight gain
Searches became five times more popular
Menopause belly diet
Searches for this phrase have quadrupled
Best diet for perimenopause
Searches doubled
Diet and menopause: What does the evidence say?
What you choose to eat may help to reduce symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.
Along with reducing the chance of weight gain, your diet may even help ease hot flushes.
It’s important to continue the principles of eating healthily and doing regular moderate intensity and strengthening exercises. Keep an eye on your portion sizes and your food types balanced.
Opting for a diet low in saturated fats and high in calcium is an important way to help reduce heart disease and keep your bones strong.
These factors are important as you reach menopause, with the risk of osteoporosis increasing. Take a look at our mediterranean inspired meals for inspiration.
If you experience hot flushes, you might find that avoiding or reducing your intake of certain foods and alcohol can be helpful.
If you’re struggling to cope with your symptoms, speak to a health professional.
A final word from Dr Samantha Wild
“It’s always good to see more people taking accountability when it comes to their health. When new health information and trends emerge, they catch our attention, so it’s only natural to wonder if they might be worth trying.
“Whether a trend has come from a new product, traditional medicine or a recommendation from a friend, I’d always recommend treating them with caution. Stop, and take a moment to ask yourself: is this too good to be true?
“Good health is personal to everyone. It comes from taking care of your body in the long-term, and rarely from a quick fix. If you’re looking to make a change to your lifestyle, make choices that are scientifically backed, right for you, and proven to help over the long term.
“What works for a friend might not work for you – and in some cases it might even be dangerous for you to try. If you’re concerned about your health, whether it be your weight or menstrual cycle, your first port of call should always be a health professional, and not trying the latest fad. Health professionals can work through your concerns and suggest credible, safe and long-term plans to help get your health where you’d like it to be.”
Book a health assessment today
Call us
We may record or monitor our calls. Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 8am to 4pm.
Bupa health assessments are provided by Bupa Occupational Health Limited. Registered in England and Wales with registration number 631336. Registered office: 1 Angel Court, London EC2R 7HJ.
