Gwyneth Paltrow gets regular blood tests to monitor her health as she prepares to turn 50.
Gwyneth Paltrow is preparing to turn 50 at the end of September.
The 'Sliding Doors' star has written a candid message to subscribers to her Goop lifestyle brand newsletter admitting she has become much more health conscious as she gets older and now regularly has "blood work" done to collect information about vitamin levels, blood sugar and inflammation.
In her post, she wrote:"I notice that the older I get, the more drawn I am toward monitoring my health, doing blood work, and collecting data about inflammation levels, blood sugar levels, sleep, vitamins, etc."
She explains she has cut down her alcohol intake and is now avoiding grains and sugar in a bid to be health-conscious.
In the note, she also talked about the death of her dad Bruce Paltrow aged 58 in 1999 after a battle with oral cancer and pneumonia, revealing she can remember him feeling anxious about his 50th birthday.
She wrote: "My parents didn't focus too much on ageing. I remember for my dad, 50 was a hard birthday – he was anxious. I wonder if he had some kind of sixth sense, that he would die in his 50s; it seemed like he felt the finiteness of his life in that moment."
Gwyneth insisted she's not too worried about turning 50 on September 27 as the age is being refined by stars like the eternally youthful Jennifer Lopez.
She added: "On some level culturally, we've totally redefined what 50 is for people, both internally and externally. I think of JL - she kind of looks the best she ever has, you know?
"For so many women I know, this is the best time so far, the peak time of their lives. So I'm happy at this big birthday."
Gwyneth also thinks turning 50 will be easier because she really struggled with her 40th birthday.
She went on: "Forty is a turning-point birthday, or at least it was for me. You're getting to the other side of reproductive viability. It's a big transition to move out of childbearing, and we don't talk about that enough.
"There can be grief in that loss, probably mostly unconscious. I think it helps to work on getting ahead of that psychologically, cultivating wisdom and self-worth.
"There's a relief in being a full woman who's heading into this amazing chapter. For me it was a harder transition; 50 feels like a breeze in comparison."
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