I wash myself using only soap, I pick out the cheapest shampoo at the store, and my idea of mental rest is either working on our little forest yard or taking a hike with our two dogs. I’ve never quite understood the wellness hypes — detoxing with weird juices, vitamin supplements, and putting “eggs” in places they shouldn’t belong. 

But the $4 trillion global wellness industry is growing yearly. And they do so by selling happiness and healing in large part through unscientific cures. The problem with the wellness industry isn’t only that it could be potentially harmful to individuals — such as the Chinese woman almost dying from using a homemade IV to inject fruit juice straight into her veins — its impacts can be felt on a much larger scale: from deciding not to vaccinate your children to voting against scientific-backed health policies. 

How did we get here?

Decades ago, people went to doctors for health information. In 1966, more than three-quarters of Americans had great confidence in medical leaders. However, trust in the medical profession has declined sharply — only 34% trust medical leaders and only 23% express a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the healthcare system — and the internet has provided access to a wealth of information previously inaccessible. 

Celebrities and social media influencers have taken advantage of this, with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Gloop as perhaps its most famous example. We’re told we can lose weight forever with one simple trick, cleanse our bodies from “toxins” with a juice, take a supplement or two to cure our insomnia.