This author points out some important truths about the wellness-industrial complex. We all need to be aware that there’s a constant stream of fear and misinformation due to the need to sell products and services, she says. Whether it’s obsession with toxins and cleanliness or elevating health beliefs to religious status, there’s much here to consider.
Wellness used to mean a blend of health and happiness. Something that made you feel good or brought joy and was not medically harmful — perhaps a massage or a walk along the beach. But it has become a false antidote to the fear of modern life and death.
The wellness industry takes medical terminology, such as “inflammation” or “free radicals,” and levigates it to the point of incomprehension. The resulting product is a D.I.Y. medicine for longevity that comes with a confidence that science can only aspire to achieve.
Worshiping the False Idols of Wellness – The New York Times
