The Most Embarrassing 2010s Fads We’re Glad Are Over

By now, you probably know that the decade is about to end. Yeehaw, we made it. And while it’s fun to look back on the crazy sh*t that celebrities or The Bachelor contestants did this decade, it’s even more interesting to think about what we, the normal people, did in the 2010s. We already looked at the worst wellness and fashion trends of the decade, and uh, oof. Today, let’s look back on some of the ridiculous fads and trends that became a thing, and thankfully also stopped being a thing, this decade. 10 years is a long time, and there have been some major rough moments. None of us are making it out unscathed.

Eating For The Insta

Considering how ubiquitous Instagram has become, it’s easy to forget that it didn’t even exist at the beginning of this decade. *Takes 10 hours to ponder my existence* We’ve seen a lot of Instagram trends come and go since its inception, but perhaps the one I’m most glad to see in the past is everyone caring way too much about their food pics. There’s nothing wrong with taking pictures of your food and posting them every once in a while, but we’ve moved past the era of every single girl pretending she’s a food blogger and making a huge scene before anyone at the table is allowed to take a bite. These days, if I’m ever out to eat and someone shouts “the phone eats first!!!”, I slap their iPhone out of their hand.

Overfiltering Photos

Okay, so while many people still spend more time editing their photos than it took me to write this article, thankfully most of us are no longer using 12 Instagram filters and grainy effects on our photos. Facetune is an epidemic, but at least we’ve realized that the toaster filter isn’t flattering on literally anyone. The same goes for fake lense flairs, unnecessary use of black and white/sepia, and those weird effects that make your photo look like a piece of film. What the f*ck even was that?

Planking

I literally had to triple check because I didn’t believe it, but planking became popular THIS DECADE. Who said time flies, because they were mistaken. I never got into this trend, and I still don’t understand why it became a thing. Is there anything more cringe than that one friend’s dad who got super into planking, and would post pictures on Facebook of himself balancing on like, a motorcycle or some sh*t? People are so weird.

Bitcoin

Much like planking, I still have basically no idea what Bitcoin actually is. For a few months in 2017, cryptocurrencies were basically all anyone could talk about, and if you didn’t have at least 10 different dudes mansplain Bitcoin to you, congrats, you’re an outlier. Since 2018, demand for Bitcoin has dropped, in part due to hacks and other security concerns, and, I would guess, also in part because people realized they can just buy legal things with like, normal money. If you’re buying gifts for me, I’m a big fan of good old Benjamins.

Yik Yak

If you weren’t still in college during the brief, problematic fever dream that was Yik Yak, you probably have way less to talk about with your therapist. Basically Yik Yak was like an anonymous, location-based Reddit, where people could say whatever they wanted and get upvoted or downvoted. The app quickly exploded on college campuses, and it was a lot of fun, until threats and hate speech started getting an uncomfortable amount of upvotes. The app also made its way into high schools, which was even more of a disaster. Imagine getting outed on Reddit, but then everyone at your school sees it. Hard pass for me! The app was shut down in 2016, thank god.

Fidget Spinners

As adults with jobs and responsibilities, most of you probably don’t stay super up to date on the latest fads in toys. Somehow, fidget spinners slipped through the cracks, and adults and kids alike became obsessed with flicking these dumb little things around on their fingers. I never owned one myself, but I’ll admit, they’re kinda fun. Still, there’s no reason for everyone to be going about their business in the world attached to a toy 24/7, so I’m glad this was a passing craze. Just download solitaire on your phone like a goddamn adult if you need something to distract you from your responsibilities.

“Getting Turnt”

I could’ve written a whole article on the dumbest slang of the 2010s. Just a few of the ones I don’t miss are on fleek, being shook, and getting litty titty, but none of those could hold a candle to getting turnt. It’s just… so bad. Of course, there’s the issue that turnt was never a real word to begin with, but the bigger issue is with how it’s used. By that, I mean that everyone used it all the time, whether it was supposed to be ironic, or they were actually talking about getting drunk. I don’t even want to know the amount of sh*tty apologies that included the words “too turnt,” but thankfully we’ve moved past this as a society.

Muploads

Wow, this makes me feel old. Throwback to 2011, when nothing was more terrifying than waking up after a night out to a notification that “*insert name* tagged you in 14 photos.” And the photos were NEVER GOOD! After surviving the era of uploading absolutely everything to Facebook, it’s a true miracle that any of us got accepted to college, or got jobs, or literally have rights. These days, Facebook albums are pretty much a thing of the past, except for your one married friend who posts photos of her kid every. single. day. Hey Maggie, you don’t have to do that!

Images: Shutterstock; gimmenuggets, betchesluvthis (2), dannnthaman, rad_milk / Twitter; Giphy (3)

The Keto Diet Might Be Bad For Your Heart, A New Study Finds

In a recent turn of events, science has found diets that favor the “cavemen” way of eating might not be the best health bet. What a shame, considering the Paleo and its stricter high-fat cousin, the Ketogenic diet, have both quickly risen the ranks to become two of today’s trendiest diets.

A study published in July 2019 in the European Journal of Nutrition looked at the gut microbiome (the bacteria) of 90 subjects. Half of the subjects were on the Paleo diet, and the other half were the control group. The study followed these subjects for over a year, focusing on looking at the impacts of decreased resistant starch consumption on serum trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO, for short). TMAO is a by-product from our digestive system’s breakdown of fatty foods, and elevated levels of TMAO have been associated with a higher risk for heart disease. The study also looked at the diet’s impact on the abundance of gut bacteria.

The participants of the study were separated into control and experimental groups. The control group was required to make no changes to their diet for the year and practice a well-rounded diet that included dairy, grains, and legumes (the latter are restricted on the Paleo diet).  The experimental group was required to follow the Paleo diet, and consume no more than 1 serving a day of grains and dairy products. Because that’s a pretty f*cking strict rule to stick to for a year, they ended up dividing participants into two groups, those who stuck to the rule (the die-hards) were under the Strict Paleo group (SP) and those who broke the rules were under the Pseudo Paleo group (PP). OOP! They pretty much called a whole group of them fake, and I am here for it.

So, anyway.

The study found that the TMAO levels in the Strict Paleo group were much higher, due to significantly higher levels of red meat consumption. Gut flora (microbiota) levels were also disrupted, with an abundance of the bacterium Hungatella. This bacterium is a producer of TMAO, so that makes sense… more TMAO producer, more TMAO. Two other bacteria, Roseburia and Bifidobacteria, were found to be significantly less abundant in the Paleo groups. These two strains are found to be abundant in subjects that consume starches. The authors of the study suggest that the lower overall fiber consumption levels in subjects that were in the Paleo groups and the lack of starches (that are necessary to help microbiota thrive) in the long-term may have negative implications on gut and heart health.

SIDENOTE: Now of course, just because the subjects in this study had low levels of fiber does not mean your BFF that is on the Paleo diet is also low in fiber because she/he/you could be getting your leafy greens in (a wise tactic on or off Paleo). But because this wasn’t the case here, they don’t have data on your guys’ gut environment, sorry.

So then I, of course, did further research. Roseburia and Bifidobacteria are key bacteria that impact overall health of the host (us). In obese individuals, the levels of Bifidobacteria are reduced and disrupted levels of gut bacteria could be a factor in obesity. But I think the key takeaway from this article is less about demonizing the Paleo diet (so anyone on Paleo and Keto, don’t come at me in the comments) and more about realizing that so many factors of our health, beyond the number on the scale or the pant size, are influenced by nutrition. By restricting your diet too much, or by completely ignoring a food group, you are also impacting certain biological systems and environments in our body.

My message here is this: Our body is an insane system that works together. The fact that a bacteria that lives in our digestive system to digest fat and protein can create a gaseous byproduct that can cause heart disease is just one of the many complicated engineering systems of our bodies. Like, how are you going to live in me and try to kill me? But it’s a way of suggesting your body needs balance. So the fact that fad diet creators and followers have attempted time and again to reduce our entire system to sets of rules should warrant careful observation and monitoring of how your body and mind feels and functions on these diets. Be careful about cutting food groups out completely, be careful about any diets that push their own products on you, and do not only what makes you healthy but also happy.

Images: Giphy (2)