#they debunk dr. oz in one episode and it is glorious

[mkstrigidae]

Aaah your rant about the wellness indu is 100%. I'm really into science behind skincare bc i struggled with acne and I'm so happy finding the ecowell, labmuffinscience, kindofstephen on insta, but also foodsciencebabe. All professionals who goes hard on that pseudoscience that target vulnerable people and giving so much info, and it's so weird that I've never would have learnt the danger of the wellness indu if I hadn't discovered them so always preach about the danger bc not everyone knows!

Right???? I intended to make this a short answer but this is a topic that I get fucking ANGRY about, so i apologize for the essay (but i'm rly not sorry tho).

It really does make me absolutely insane to see what 'health' and 'wellness' influencers and businesses are allowed to do, whether simply because of a lack of regulation to address their actions, or because of inadequate enforcement mechanisms for said regulations (see: instagram wellness influencers pushing non FDA approved products/diets/etc. without disclosing that they're receiving money to promote them- the #ad requirement is so minimal that it's almost never enforced and insta contains basically no factual content enforcement anywhere).

It's impossible to talk about the wellness industrial complex without talking about how the catch all term 'wellness' has essentially just become a less blatant way of saying that in order to be healthy you must be skinny/lose weight (Which is entirely factually inaccurate in multiple ways, but also really shitty towards people with chronic illnesses/disabilities bc you're essentially saying 'unless you are 100% healthy you are not deserving of basic respect' which is absurd. Someone's weight doesn't automatically make them unhealthy, BUT even if someone IS unhealthy, that doesn't mean in ANY way that they are undeserving of respect/consideration/value). Fat people have value and deserve respect as human beings!!! Disabled people, people with chronic illnesses deserve respect as human beings!! Regardless of how society measures their 'health' or 'value' (which in the US often gets equated with an ability to work and contribute to our capitalistic hellscape).

Similarly, it's impossible to talk about it without acknowledging that the people who search for answers within this nightmare of a wellness industrial complex can often be people who have been failed by our medical establishment, and society as a whole! Our medical system is BUILT on a racist framework that we haven't even begun to start dismantling, and it intersects with the sheer cost of healthcare in the US. Joe Biden is our current president, and when his son, Beau, began experiencing health problems that required extensive treatment, he and Jill Biden considered selling their house to cover costs. If Joe Biden- a white man who has been extremely successful in his career in politics- can't afford to support his son after diagnosis of a terminal illness without selling a house, then what the hell kind of a chance do the rest of us have? (there's also the issue of a lot of US health insurance being provided through employer programs and completely screwing over anyone working under 40 hours a week at one place, even if they have multiple jobs- as many people do- but i'll be here all night yelling about that if I get started).

As a result of this systemic bias, people are either priced out of the healthcare system or ostracized and patronized out of it, and I can't blame desperate people for turning to something alternative that seems like the only affordable treatment option for them after they've tried everything else! What I HATE is the corporations that take advantage of this desperation and are seeking to profit off of people who may not have any other choice, and selling products and services that have zero evidence backing them, and which a lot of sellers are aware do not work and can in some cases actively cause harm (and some of which are RIDICULOUS please please do not steam your damn vagina or think that celery juice or moon juice is actually worth the, like, $15 per cup price tag also do not listen to Goop in regards to anything- yes i am talking about the jade egg and the coffee enema DO NOT DO THAT). I have not even scratched the surface here regarding everything shitty about the wellness industrial complex and societal bias in general, but if I keep going, I will be here all night, and I have to get up at 7am for a chem lab.

tl;dr the wellness industry is awful and is reinforcing every harmful bias we have in the most capitalistic way possible while providing products that, at best, don't work, and at worst, cause real harm and can cause patients to delay actual necessary medical treatment, charging people exorbitant prices for this fraud.

Go listen to the podcast 'Maintenance Phase' and Mike and Aubrey will debunk the wellness industry and the biases it perpetuates/upholds much better than i am able to do here.