Expert spotlights Novak Djokovic’s health nonsense

Exercise physiologist Nick Tiller, MRes, PhD, has described several scientifically unsupported health products and practices promoted by tennis champion Novak Djokovic. [Tiller N. Novak Djokovic and the pseudoscience grand slam. Skeptical Inquirer, Aug 28, 2023] The dubious practices and beliefs Djokovic has promoted include:

• the TaoPatch, which he calls the biggest secret of his career and wore during the 2023 French Open. (According to the manufacturer, this uses nanotechnology to “convert natural body heat into microscopic beams of light to stimulate the nervous system.”)

• the Pyramid of the Sun, a hill in the Bosnian town of Visoko, said to have been built by an ancient civilization and enshrined with magical healing properties

• “energetic medicine” used by a practitioner who determined Djokovic’s arm strength was diminished when a piece of bread was pressed to his stomach

• “detoxifying” with beverages he prepares for his morning routine

• purifying “toxic” foods and polluted water through “energetical transformation”

• opposition to vaccination.