If 2024 was the year of green powders and cold plunges, 2025 has been defined by its own mix of helpful fitness innovations, buzzy medical breakthroughs, and developments that left us worried about news to come.
Here’s a look at the 10 biggest health trends of the year, including five to celebrate and five we wish had never happened.
5 Best Health Trends of 2025
1. Japanese Walking Took Off
Walking saw a glow-up this year thanks to the rise of “Japanese walking,” an interval workout that alternates three minutes of fast walking with three minutes of slow walking for a total of 30 minutes, four times a week.
While TikTok creators touted this regimen as a novel shortcut to fitness, the idea actually comes from research dating back to 2007, when Japanese scientists found this rhythm improved blood pressure, strengthened leg muscles, and boosted aerobic capacity. More recent studies show similar benefits in older adults, people with type 2 diabetes, and those simply trying to squeeze more out of a 30-minute workout.
Japanese walking is structured, simple, and requires no equipment (or burpees), which made it one of the most democratic fitness trends of the year.
2. GLP-1 Prices (Finally) Dropped
Price drops for GLP-1 medications could potentially lead to some of the biggest health improvements for the millions of Americans with obesity or obesity-related health issues who don’t have insurance coverage for these drugs and are paying with cash. Until recently, drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound often cost $1,000 or more per month out of pocket.
The latter months of 2025 saw a wave of dramatic price cuts from manufacturers, retailers, and even a new federal portal. Discounted options appeared everywhere — Walmart, Costco, Sam’s Club, CVS — driving typical cash-pay prices down to between $349 to $499 per month.
But injections will still cost between $4,000 and $6,000 a year — a figure that remains out of reach for the many Americans for whom insurance coverage is not an option.
3. Perimenopause Entered the Group Chat
Conversations about perimenopause went from coded and low-key to public and wide-ranging. While just a few short years ago, most women would have needed Google to define perimenopause, 2025 will go down as the year when women began openly sharing experiences about these years leading up to menopause.
Candid discussions about hot flashes, mood changes, night sweats, sleep disruptions, libido changes, and midlife identity shifts happened on apps and podcasts, in group chats, and across social platforms.
A large study on hormone therapy reignited discussion about whether starting estrogen therapy during perimenopause could carry added health benefits. But the cultural shift didn’t stem from a single study or lone expert, but rather a new openness about aging, a deeper understanding of hormonal therapy, and a growing backlash to years of minimizing women’s symptoms.
4. More Americans Kicked Alcohol to the Curb
A record number of Americans are drinking less alcohol for the first time in nearly a century of polling. Fewer than 55 percent of U.S. adults say they drink alcohol, and the number keeps falling.
Younger adults especially view alcohol less favorably, with many saying even “moderate” drinking has health risks. Experts cite a few potential reasons for the shift: Alcohol-free mocktail options abound, and there is evidence that more people might be replacing alcohol with cannabis, aka “California sober.”
Even so, a smaller group of adults is drinking more heavily, a reminder that the national picture is complicated.
5. Women Left Toxic Relationships — and Told the World
Finding the resolve to break free from toxic relationships and love addiction were the focus of U.K. pop star Lily Allen’s latest release, West End Girl and Elizabeth Gilbert’s best-selling memoir All the Way to the River.
Listeners and readers related to the raw honesty, vulnerability, and strength in naming the manipulation, gaslighting, and loss of sense of self that can occur in these dynamics.
This trend isn’t just about dramatic breakups; it’s about clarity, self-protection, and the growing confidence to leave situations that undermine well-being.
5 Worst Health Trends of 2025
1. ‘Scromiting’ Was on the Rise
If one health headline felt ripped from a horror movie, it was the rise of people showing up at ERs “scromiting” — a portmanteau of “screaming” and “vomiting” describing the severe vomiting and abdominal pain tied to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS).
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CHS can affect people who use cannabis (marijuana or weed) long term.
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Hospitals can treat the condition with anti-nausea medications and IV fluids to combat dehydration, but if people wait too long to seek help, the condition can be life-threatening.
Hot baths and showers offer temporary relief from nausea, but the only reliable cure is stopping cannabis use entirely.
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2. Protein Obsession Gripped America
Protein stayed in the spotlight this year, and unfortunately, often pushed other key dietary components right off the stage. Social media influencers helped fuel an obsession with what’s called “protein-maxing,” with some people trying to get as much as 200 grams of protein a day — triple what most adults need.
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While protein is naturally found in whole grains, beans and legumes, dairy, and meat, the food industry hit the laboratory to satisfy America’s hunger for all things protein by artificially adding the macronutrient to coffee, popcorn and other snacks, and an ever-expanding line of powders and supplements.
Meanwhile, studies confirmed that many Americans are already eating far more protein than they need, and concerns grew about contaminants such as lead in some protein powders.
Experts emphasize moderation: Don’t let your focus on getting more protein come at the cost of fiber, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
3. Vaccine Wars Created Confusion and Fear
A series of abrupt federal announcements rolling back long-standing recommendations on vaccination — including decisions concerning newborn hepatitis B vaccines and changes in COVID-19 recommendations — has led to some of the most controversial vaccine guidance in U.S. history.
Many major medical organizations have pushed back, loudly, issuing their own recommendations when they believed new recommendations lacked evidence or clarity.
The result: Many parents felt unsure whom to trust, vaccine rates continued to slide, and public health experts warned that confidence in basic immunizations had become dangerously fragile.
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4. Measles Returned
Measles — officially eliminated in the United States since 2000 — staged a disturbing comeback this year. With vaccination rates dropping in many communities, outbreaks swept through Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah.
Schools sent hundreds of unvaccinated students home for weeks at a time to quarantine after exposure to measles, and in several states, hospitalization numbers climbed. Nationally, more than 1,500 cases were reported, which is the most in over 30 years.
Measles remains the most contagious virus known to humans, which means even small drops in vaccination can trigger large outbreaks. In 2025, that reality became impossible to ignore.
5. Red Meat Allergies Surged
Alpha-gal syndrome is a tick-related allergy triggered by a sugar molecule in red meat and other mammalian products, resulting in symptoms like severe nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. While the syndrome is still considered rare, test positivity has surged 100-fold in the United States over the past decade, and the first fatal case was documented this year.
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Unlike as with most food allergies, symptoms of alpha-gal syndrome often appear several hours after a person eats a trigger food, which makes it hard to connect a meal with the reaction, and therefore hard to diagnose.
The syndrome is caused primarily by the lone star tick. While the tick was once mostly found in the southeast, climate change and rising deer populations are helping expand its territory, which experts believe could be contributing to the rise in cases.
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