The Gospel of Wellness: Gyms, Gurus, Goop, and the False Promise of Self-Care is a new book by Rina Raphael.
A path covered in kale is being led by American women. We’re overworked, anxious, and stressed. Too much chaos is felt.
As a result, when we seek salvation, we are given options, but at a cost.
On August 29, Kourtney Kardashian tweeted, “Your skin deserves minerals, not chemicals.”
The star of reality television was showcasing her wellness company, Poosh.
She was specifically hawking a $95 mineral facial mist called “carbon purifying” that was described as a detoxifying concoction of “pulverized crystals.”
Of course, nothing can be “detoxified,” much less with an expensive bottle of rock sand. And just like everything else, minerals are formed of chemicals.
Not to add that something isn’t inherently superior or even safe simply because it includes minerals.
What else can be discovered in minerals, do you know? Arsenic.
The current American wellness market has become a bloated, pseudoscientific business that sometimes resembles a random product generator.
Wellness has evolved into a vague marketing buzzword that is used to describe anything from CBD butt cream to yoga (for “more youthful-looking, chilled-out glutes”).
And who often has the reins?
celebrities, thought leaders, and businesspeople with no training in science or medicine. The more predatory wing of the wellness “movement” is represented by Poosh, Goop, and the Dr. Ozes of the world.
Many of the health techniques and products that these well-known brands promote have little to no scientific backing.
Consider the popular intravenous vitamin “treatment” that Kendall Jenner and yet another member of the Kardashian family, Hailey Bieber, have been promoting.
During a recent episode of The Kardashians, Jenner and Bieber rested on sofas and waxed poetic about their “health journey” while bags of fluid were pumped straight into their veins.
However, doctors claim that there is no evidence that IV infusions are beneficial for otherwise healthy persons.
“Healthy people do not need IV drips.” According to England’s national medical director, Stephen Powis, “at best they are a costly means to fill your bladder, and then pour hundreds of [dollars] down the toilet.”
The effects of the components in these magical mixtures are sometimes greatly overstated.
The claim that “activated charcoal” may “detoxify” the body has led to its inclusion in everything from toothpaste to vegan croissants.
Additionally, although “activated charcoal” is a material that effectively treats certain ingested toxins in an emergency situation, it has little to no impact when used in tiny doses. If we even accept the apparent necessity to get rid of purportedly prevalent “toxins,” that is.
According to dietician Leah McGrath, RD, LDN, of Ingles Markets, health claims regarding ingesting “activated charcoal” in meals and drinks have beyond any kind of study in terms of real value.
In other instances, it may even be hazardous and reduce the efficacy of prescribed drugs, according to McGrath.
A fermented tea beverage known as kombucha is offered in almost all health food shops and is praised for its therapeutic properties. However, the bold claims made by kombucha proponents are not supported by scientific research.
It’s OK to enjoy kombucha, but McGrath advises against expecting it to ‘cure’ your stomach on its own. And if there are probiotics, they could even make some people with IBS worse.
This $4.4 trillion wellness business preys on American optimism (which sometimes resembles magical thinking more), promising women the one thing they really want: control.
America enjoys an instant fix. In particular, one that is sold in millennial pink bottles. It’s a lot more alluring than what’s essential, like changing our behaviors for the better or treating our ailments.
In this regard, self-care might act as a surface-level Band-Aid since meditation classes and spa treats do not deal with the underlying reasons why we feel so poorly.
Women complain that the US healthcare system is often insufficient, inconvenient, and irritating. Chronic health issues affecting women get little funding and study. The risks are great since the majority of Americans don’t have a safety net.
But rather of uniting and calling for systemic fixes—or simply requesting essential social support—we turn inward and engage in self-soothing, self-optimization, and self-pampering. We cycle Pelotons, take bubble baths, and clutch our “healing” stones.
The solution is me, me, and my credit card. And then we ponder why loneliness is on the rise in America.
Customers are becoming more aware of the market’s absurd, snobbish, and pseudoscientific growth.
Many women stockpile fake tinctures, lotions, and nutrients in their bathroom cabinets. They have also become more discriminating buyers after making too many wishful purchases.
Shame on Gwyneth for once playing me. Shame on me if I get duped twice.
People are becoming less susceptible to being misled by the inflated promises of “gut-healthy tonics” or “stress relief” medications. Trendy additives like CBD and “activated charcoal” have suffered.
Owners of pelotons scramble to sell their large clothing hangers on the secondary market. Millions of people follow science-based social media influencers like Food Science Babe.
Goop organized a cruise this past autumn. Nobody arrived.
Women are aware of the underlying sexism as well.
Why aren’t ‘hazardous’ components in everything from their body wash to their pantry promoted to males via fear-based marketing? Why don’t they do “detoxes”?
Part of the reason for this is that health firms, marketers, and influencers target women by appropriating deceptive strategies from the diet, fashion, and beauty sectors.
Many former clothing brand marketers now promote vitamins.
Women are sick of hearing advice like “eat clean,” “arm yourself with non-toxic shopping lists,” and “mediate your problems away.”
Instead of something that organically integrates into your life, health has become something you consume and fetishize.
More than half of young customers, according to market research company YPulse, think wellness culture is “toxic” and “destructive.”
In the wake of the epidemic, Americans are reevaluating their health practices, giving greater credence to the findings of science, and identifying the things they cannot live without.
We’ve realized that the wellness business isn’t doing well.
Real answers are what we want, not crystal-encrusted fairy dust.