‘Maxxing’ Could Be Sabotaging Your Health and Wellness Goals

Key takeaways

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Social media feeds are flooded with influencers and brands touting the benefits of maximizing your health to the fullest.

If something catches your eye and you click on it, the algorithm will serve up additional “maxxing” content on that topic.

The flood of messages can make it tempting to try a “maxxing” trend, but the medical experts at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center say not so fast.

“Depending on the trend, you may not realize you could be causing harm down the road,” said Alison MacKinlay, MD, family and lifestyle medicine physician and clinical associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.

What is “maxxing”? “Maxxing” is a trend promoting extreme ways to optimize your physical and mental health. Examples include:

• Health-maxxing: Intense combinations of diet, exercise and sleep that may include tracking apps and devices aimed at improving physical health

• Wellness-maxxing: Applying a variety of health and wellness strategies for better health and mental well-being

• Strength-maxxing: Adopting an extreme workout regimen to improve physical strength and appearance

• Protein-maxxing: Eating high amounts of protein-rich foods and supplements to increase muscle mass

“Extreme elimination diets can increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies or cause anxiety around food,” MacKinlay said. “Taking excessive amounts of certain supplements can reach toxic levels so it’s important to have lab work done to monitor levels.”

MacKinlay adds, “If you’re spending money on these trends and not having the benefit that you desire or it’s causing you physical harm or stress, stop. Instead put your time and money into something that actually helps the health concern.”

How can people separate fact from fiction? MacKinlay recommends people seek out research-based strategies to improve their health and manage chronic disease. This starts with a visit to your doctor.

“It's good to bring these things up during medical visits,” MacKinlay said. “It means you want to understand and take an effort towards better managing your health. My role as a healthcare provider is to listen for red flags, educate and share decision making to help you choose the best path.”

What is lifestyle medicine? In addition to traditional medicine that offers necessary prescriptions and procedures, MacKinlay’s practice focuses on six lifestyle areas that directly influence long-term health:

• Nutrition: Emphasizing whole, plant-predominant foods

• Physical activity: Encouraging regular, sustainable movement

• Sleep: Promoting restorative sleep habits

• Stress reduction: Teaching resilience and mindfulness techniques

• Substance avoidance: Supporting reduction or elimination of risky substances

• Social connection: Fostering meaningful relationships and support systems

“We focus on different aspects of nutrition, physical activity, stress management, sleep and social connection as the big pillars of lifestyle medicine,” MacKinlay said. “Starting with small goals and scheduling things in the same way we brush our teeth every morning helps form habits and we build from there to achieve health and wellness goals. Everyone is different. There is no easy one size fits all like we see on social media.”

(Newswise/HG)