Actress Gwyneth Paltrow has come under fire from medical professionals after revealing she's treating the long-term effects of COVID-19 with various "alternative treatments".
The Iron Man actress revealed in a recent blog post on her wellness website Goop she had been left with "long-tail fatigue and brain fog" after recovering from the virus.
Paltrow turned to a "functional medicine practitioner" to help her on the "road to healing".
Some of the practices she's taken up include a "keto and plant-based" diet, infrared saunas, supplements and fasting.
"I fast until 11am every day," she explained, adding that she's cut out sugar and alcohol completely.
Paltrow said that cleaning up her "thought patterns" alongside her exercise and diet regimes had left her feeling "energised and healthier", even while coping with being a COVID-19 long-hauler.
But Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for the UK's National Health Service, says that "serious science" should be applied and that influencers have a responsibility.
"Like the virus, misinformation carries across borders and it mutates and it evolves," he said, according to ITV.
"So I think YouTube and other social media platforms have a real responsibility and opportunity here."
He said he was recently made aware of Paltrow's blog post.
"We wish her well, but some of the solutions she's recommending are really not the solutions we'd recommend in the NHS," said Dr Powis.
"We need to take long COVID-19 seriously and apply serious science. All influencers who use social media have a duty of responsibility and a duty of care around that."
Paltrow has raised eyebrows for some of her previous wellness methods, including 'vagina steaming' and a bee-sting therapy which left one woman dead.
