On the Limits of Wellness Culture

Wellness culture, at its best, is people taking responsibility for their own bodies in ways that medicine often ignores. At its worst, it is a long con.

The con is selling the idea that you can biohack your way around problems that require evidence-based medical intervention. The con is suggesting that the right protocol can replace a doctor. The con is the fact that almost every wellness influencer is also selling something.

I am sympathetic to the impulse. Doctors do not always listen. Insurance companies are bureaucratic nightmares. The medical establishment has, in living memory, dismissed entire categories of legitimate symptoms. People feel unheard, and into that gap step podcasters with confidence and supplements.

What I want from a healthier discourse: the wellness gains we know about — sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress management — taken seriously and integrated into primary care. And the wellness claims we do not have evidence for treated as hypotheses, not protocols.

The middle ground is unsatisfying. It does not sell courses. It does happen to be true.